Elizabeth Jane Weston: Collected Writings [1 ed.] 9781442674349, 9780802044723

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ELIZABETH JANE WESTON Collected Writings

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E L I Z A B E T H J A N E WESTON

Collected Writings

Edited and Translated by Donald Cheney and Brenda M. Hosington With the assistance of D.K. Money

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2000 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-4472-7

Printed on acid-free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Weston, Elizabeth Jane, 1582-1612 Collected writings Poems and letters in Latin with translations and introduction in English. Includes index. ISBN 0-8020-4472-7 I. Cheney, Donald, 1932- . II. Hosington, Brenda M. III. Money, D.K. (David K.). IV. Title. PA8595.W454A114 2000

871.4

C99-933079-9

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

For Basiliola Cascella Cheney and Howard B. Norland, and in memory of Iris Cheney

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Contents

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? INTRODUCTION

NOTES

? ?

xi

xxviii

PART ONE: Parthenica Book I 2 Book II

100

Book III 168 Catalogus... 282 Manuscript Additions 304 PART TWO: Other Works by Weston not in Parthenica 1. From Poëmata (1602) 310 ?? ?????? ????? ????????? ?? ??? ?? ??? 3. Manuscript letter from Weston to Joseph Scaliger (1602) 330 4. B. Havlik, Elegia (1604) 5. In Obitum ... Ioannae (nd)

332 336

6. Vota ... (Mansfeld-Wartenberg marriage, 1608) 344 7. P čka z Radostic, AM(1609) 350 8. Ad ... Matthiam Secundum (1612)

358

?? ??????????? ?????????? ?? ???????? ?????? ??? ? ? ???? ????????? ????? ????? ?????? ???????????? ???

viii Contents PART THREE: Other Tributes to Westonia 1. In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae (1612) 376 2. Johannes Bocatius 386 3. Andreas Calagius (1549-1609) 388 4. Georgius Carolides (1569-1612) 390 5. Johannes Cörber 394 6. Balthasar Exner (1576-1624) 396 7. Hermann Fabronius (=Mosemann) (1570-1634) 404 8. Paul Fleming 405 9. Christoph Girsner 408 10. Daniel Heinsius 410 11. Joannes Petrus Lotichius (1598-1669) 412 12. Bernhard Praetorius, of Nürnberg (1567-1616) 416 13. Johann Joachim von Rusdorf (1589-1640) 420 14. Lambert Thomas Schenckel (b. 1547) 424 15. Sir John Stradling (1563-1637) 430 16. Frid. Taubmann (1565-1613) 432 17. Matthias Zuber (1570-1623) 434 INDEX

OF N A M E S

439

Illustrations follow the introduction

Acknowledgments

At every stage of our preparation of this edition, the editors have enjoyed the assistance of many more individuals and institutions than we can easily summarize. We are especially grateful to the staffs of those libraries in Europe and North America where we were able to examine rare or unique books and pamphlets, and to the numerous compilers of the monumental bibliography of Czech Humanism cited in our introduction. At an early stage of the project, Susan Bassnett was most gracious in providing biographical information she had unearthed, and in withdrawing from an earlier plan to prepare an edition of Weston. Other scholars who helped us were James W. Binns, Joseph B. Dallett, R.J.W. Evans, Chris Heesaakers, the late Jozef IJsewijn, Lubomir Konecny, Andrew Lass, Walter Ludwig, Carol Pendergast, Louise Schleiner, Jane Stevenson, Vladimir Urbanek, and Lozek Wysocki. Special thanks are due to Josef Hejnic, who served as an indispensable guide to Westonia material in Prague at the initial stage of this project and who has continued to send materials as well as expressions of encouragement. The time spent in Prague was made possible through a SSHRCC Internal Grant awarded Brenda Hosington by the Universite de Montreal, for which we are grateful. O.K. Money carefully reviewed our translation from the perspective of a trained Latinist and rescued it from numerous infelicities, ambiguities, and downright blunders. Our thanks also go to the two anonymous readers appointed by the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, who provided valuable advice and practical suggestions for the improvement of the manuscript. Finally, our dedication expresses a special debt of gratitude to those closest to us, who patiently bore and sympathetically fostered our labours over the past decade.

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Introduction

Widely celebrated throughout the Neo-Latin republic of letters as Virgo Angla, 'the English Maiden/ Elizabeth Jane (or Joan1) Weston arguably enjoyed the greatest international fame during the first decade of the seventeenth century of any English writer who was not - like More or Sidney - of predominantly extra-literary interest to Europeans. 'Westonia' exchanged correspondence and verse tributes with the major humanists of her time; one indication of her eminence is the fact that Thomas Farnaby's 1634 list of eminent ancient and modern writers, his Index Poeticus, published in London, includes her as one of only seven English writers, and the only woman of any place or time. That she is virtually unknown today is largely a consequence both of the triumph of vernacular literatures, which obliterated the vast corpus of Neo-Latin writing, and of the fact that she spent her life in Prague under conditions that have remained obscure to this day - partly no doubt as a result of her own felt need for discretion in alluding to her family connections. In this, the first modern edition of her writings, we have attempted to give an accurate transcription2 and a literal translation of all known works by and to Weston. We hope that our labours will encourage and facilitate the further study that is needed before these writings can be adequately annotated and evaluated as to both their intrinsic worth and their position in the cultural milieux of their time and place. Although we have tried to provide identification of names and allusions, it is obvious that there is still much to be learned about the details of Weston's life and times. Western's Biography On the basis of early biographical studies by Karel Hrdina and Bohumil Ryba, published in Czech in 1928 and 19293 and first made available to

xii Introduction

Western readers by Susan Bassnett in 1988 and 1990, and by J.W. Binns in his monumental overview of English Neo-Latin literature,4 we now have a sense of the main outlines of Weston's life. Parish records show that John Wessone and Joane Cowper were married on 29 June 1579 at Chip ping Norton, Oxfordshire;5 the bride was probably the [?Jo]ane, daughter of Thomas Cowper, who had been christened there on 28 June 1563.6 A son of this union, John, was christened on 23 July 1580, and Elizabeth daughter of 'John Weston/ was christened some time later, seemingly between 4 March and 31 October 15817 John Weston, 'dark/ was buried on 6 May 1582. A week before Weston's burial, Edward Kelley, who had been serving as skryer or crystal-gazer to Doctor John Dee at the latter's house outside London, reported that the Archangel Michael had told him that he must marry; this injunction was repeated on May 4th.8 Shortly thereafter, Kelley married the recently widowed Jane Cooper Weston. The following year, Dee and Kelley left with their wives (but apparently without the two young Weston children, who are not mentioned in Dee's diary account of the voyage, and who presumably stayed behind with their maternal and paternal grandmothers for the time being, as Weston's elegy for her mother would suggest) for an extended voyage that brought them to Poland and subsequently to the court of Rudolf II in Prague. Although Dee returned to England in 1589, Kelley put down roots in Bohemia (his brother Thomas was married to Ludmilla von Pisnitz, niece of Heinrich, Rudolf's vice-chancellor and mayor of Most) and stayed on as the emperor's alchemist. When he received the title of ecjues aureus from Rudolf, he added de Imany to his name, affirming his origins in Irish nobility; but in fact almost everything about Kelley remains obscure. At present we have little reason to believe either his own claims or the reports of a disreputable past levelled against him by detractors. When Dee first met him, he went by the name of Talbot, but attempts to trace his origins under either name have been largely unsuccessful. In any event, it seems likely that the frequent claims by her admirers that Westonia came from a glorious and noble family were based on the grandeur and pretensions of the Kelley household in its heyday, and not on any family connexions of 'John Weston, dark/ whose memory had died with him in Chipping Norton. During his period of prosperity at the court of Rudolf, Kelley seems to have cared for his stepchildren Tike another father,' as Weston would say in the elegy for her mother, providing both of them with a superior education even as he fell deeply into debt. After schooling locally at the

Introduction xiii

Clementine College, John Francis was sent to Ingolstadt (which his kinsman Heinrich von Pisnitz had attended), where he was enrolled for the summer term, 1598, as 'loannis Westonius Oxoniensis Anglus nobilis philosophiae studiosus/ presumably in a glancing allusion to his birth in Chipping Norton.9 (In chronically poor health, he was to die there on 4 November 1600.) His sister, in a tribute published in Poemata but left out of Parthenica, expresses gratitude to a Latin master, John Hammonius or Hammond, who may be the person of that name whom Dr Dee had employed in Trebon in 1588. Her writings give abundant evidence of this training in the Latin language, although compliments on her mastery of numerous other languages remain unattested by any surviving writings. Kelley's fortunes took a turn for the worse after 1591, when he killed a member of Rudolf's court. A series of stays in prison ensued, along with reports of attempts at escape. Whether or not these, and the rumour of a suicide in prison assisted by family members, are to be believed, he seems to have died by or around 1597, leaving his family destitute and their properties encumbered by creditors. It was at this point that Elizabeth Jane began to compose the many letters and lyrics which she addressed to members of the court and other learned members of the international republic of Neo-Latin letters (some of whom may have known her stepfather and/or been sympathetic to his alchemical projects) who might be able to intercede for her family with Rudolf. As the present edition makes clear, she was to continue writing verse appeals for the rest of her life, although her output diminished strikingly after 1603, when she married Johannes Leo and may have attained a measure of financial security along with the distractions of bearing and raising a family over the remaining nine years of her life. At the time of her death on 23 November 1612, she had borne seven children, three daughters who survived her and four sons who had followed her father, stepfather, and brother into premature death. Western's Publications Two collections of Weston's writings were published during her lifetime, both of them assembled and 'polished' by an aristocratic Silesian, Georg Martinius von Baldhoven.10 Born in 1578, Baldhoven was close enough in age to have entertained thoughts of marriage with his much-admired friend, or at least close enough to be presumed slighted when she married another man without warning; the letter announcing this marriage (111.30) seems to evince some anxiety along these lines, though Baldhov-

xiv Introduction en's inclusion of it may be evidence of his unawareness of such anxiety, or his desire to seem unaware.11 In any event, his selfless commitment to promoting his friend's verse is testified by strenuous efforts on her behalf over the better part of a decade, as seen both in his publication of the two collections and in the numerous letters he circulated among friends and acquaintances, encouraging them to write in support of her. No sooner had he published the first, two-book collection of Poemata in 1602 than he encouraged her to continue assembling her writings for an expanded edition, including letters to and from her, which eventually was published in or around 1608.12 While its title, Parthenicon ... Libri III, 'Maidenly Writings in Three Books/ is not strictly accurate in characterizing the volume's contents, as Weston noted with some acerbity in manuscript verses found in two copies of the work, it is true to the image of Virgo Anglo, that Weston had cultivated. Like other writers of her time and place, Weston published innumerable verses in tiny pamphlets, often of no more than a single folio, and contributed many others to the collections and miscellanies of her friends and correspondents. Much of the credit for tracking down these writings must go to the editors of the monumental bibliography of Czech Humanism undertaken by Antonin Truhlaf and Karel Hrdina and continued by Josef Hejnic and Jan Martinek.13 All but a handful of the items included in Parts 2 and 3 of this edition are cited in that work. Weston in the Context of the Neo-Latin Literature of Her Day The body of Neo-Latin literature produced in Europe between 1400 and 1700 is vast and covers all genres. It is one of the most remarkable cultural phenomena of the period. Yet its attraction for scholars is of relatively recent date. Perhaps the first important study that goes beyond examining writings within a single national boundary was Paul van Tieghem's La litterature latine de la Renaissance. Etude d'histoire litteraire europeenne, published in 1944 (Paris; repr. Geneva, 1966). For the first comprehensive study of Neo-Latin writings of all genres and from all countries, along with a catalogue of Texts and Editions/ one has to wait until 1977, with the publication of IJsewijn's Companion to Neo-Latin Studies (revised edition Leuven, 1998). During this period, three anthologies of Neo-Latin poetry made texts from a variety of countries more readily available.14 Subsequently, studies of Neo-Latin writings have proliferated, becoming too numerous to list, although Binns's survey of English writers, cited above, is a distinguished example, and one of particular pertinence to Weston.

Introduction xv

From these many studies, certain traits of Neo-Latin writers and their compositions emerge. Foremost is the international character of the writing, made possible through the medium of a common language, learned in schools and universities. Latin brought together writers and audiences of different nationalities but whose tastes, concerns, and backgrounds were similar. Not that its appeal was limited solely to libraries, private collectors, or even a small intellectual or wealthy elite: the sheer number of texts produced in the period proves otherwise. However, literary production and appreciation obviously remained the province of those who had studied Latin. Although Van Tieghem claimed (191) that for this reason women were almost totally excluded, we now know that far more women read and wrote Latin than has hitherto been believed. Neo-Latin writing, transcending linguistic and cultural boundaries, was thus central to the European literary context of its time, a shared experience from Scotland to Dalmatia. Nowhere is this clearer than in the vast body of Latin correspondence that dates from the time. Some letters treat of political or topical subjects, or discuss philological or literary matters; many others are of a personal nature, linking friends and colleagues across Europe by means of a common language; still others reveal information about patronage and publishing in the Renaissance, showing how Latin compositions were solicited, commissioned, and circulated, again in an international context. Another unifying factor was the existence of a common expressive ideal. The emulation of Classical texts both inspired the full gamut of genres and forms of literary discourse and supplied an antique paradigm for many aspects of contemporary culture. The works of Neo-Latin writers are imbued with the themes, words, phrases, and images of their Classical models, but rewoven into the fabric of the new compositions so that, in the best writers at least, they take on new life. Such allusions and echoes would of course be common currency between writer and audience, regardless of nationality, since all were comparably immersed in the Classics. Imitation was not however limited to allusion and verbal echo. Genres and themes were also borrowed. While prose and drama attracted some authors, poetry represented the greatest output of Neo-Latin literary creation, in ode, elegy, epitaph, epistle, panegyric, or epigram, modelled on such authors as Catullus, Horace, Ovid, and Martial. Many of these poems were gathered together in anthologies under titles such as Toemata/ 'Varia/ or 'Delitiae/ so-called occasional collections of verse, sometimes celebrating a special event, sometimes grouped around one

xvi Introduction

central theme, or sometimes simply drawing together one or two famous names and a plethora of lesser lights. Although the verse forms/ metre, and language were borrowed from Classical authors and the works abound in mythological allusion and formal ornaments of speech, Neo-Latin poetry imparts a sense that the author is drawing upon his or her own experience. This is achieved by bringing into the world of nymphs and muses expressions of one's private, inner life as well as details concerning everyday experience. These can include religious as well as amatory sentiments, political or private day-to-day concerns, problems ranging from health to finances, accounts of travels or conversations, comments on spouses and children, and of course the twin themes of exile and death that are particular favourites. And finally, Neo-Latin poets also write about poetry itself. The act of poetic creation, the need to be inspired by the Muses, the comparison of oneself with Classical predecessors, and the fear of always being found wanting inspire many a page of Neo-Latin verse. In conclusion, then, this is frequently an intensely personal type of poetry although it was written for a wide network of family, friends, and patrons that spread beyond social, national, and geographical boundaries. Of the international character of Weston's writings there is no doubt. The fact that she chose to publish only in Latin despite being able (we are told) to speak four or five vernacular languages with ease, enabled her to correspond with poets, scholars, friends, and admirers across northern and central Europe. In England there were Elizabeth's ambassador to Rudolf, Stephen Lesieur, whom Weston had met in Prague; Edward Dyer, an Elizabethan courtier whom she had also met in Prague and to whom she sent poems (111.31); and King James I, to whom she sent a poem on the occasion of his coronation; in Holland, the humanist scholars and Neo-Latin poets, Jan Dousa and Joseph Scaliger; and in Germany, the poet laureate, Paul Melissus, and other writers and theologians. Through the indefatigable Baldhoven she became known to other international figures mentioned in Parthenica, such as the scholar-poets Daniel Heinsius and Justus Lipsius. (The latter appears to have been unimpressed by her talents, however.)15 Further testimony to her international reputation is found in the uncollected poems and tributes contained in Parts 2 and 3 of this edition, some written by Weston, some addressed to her during her lifetime, and others composed in her honour after her death: in England, by Sir John Stradling; in Hungary, by Bocatius, the imperial poet, and King Matthias II, whom she congratulated on his coronation as Holy Roman

Introduction xvii

Emperor in Frankfurt in 1612, barely four months before her death; in Germany, by Neo-Latin poets like Fabronius in Hesse, Lotichius and Zuber in Frankfurt, Girsner and Praetorius in Niirnberg, Schosser in Wolfenbuttel, Taubmann in Wittenberg, and Hornmold in Tubingen. Weston's correspondence demonstrates the variety of subject matter that is characteristic of Neo-Latin letter writing. Matters of topical interest appear: in the letter to Baldhoven she asks if the plague is indeed raging in England (111.31), and in a religious poem 'for the birth day of our Saviour/ she prays that 'the anger of the Turk be smashed' (II.l). These are far outweighed, however, by personal matters. She exchanges letters with her brother John Francis, a student in Ingolstadt (111.16-20), in which she expresses concern for his poor health and rather testily comments that he has said nothing of his studies, while he complains of her silence and gives her news of their relatives. She laments his passing in 1602 in a letter to Baldhoven (111.27), in which she also mentions the death of Melissus, and receives from Feighius a letter of consolation and a request for her portrait (III. 12), which echoes a similar request from Melissus himself (III.9). Weston's personal comments in other letters concern the family's precarious financial state and her increasingly futile attempts to recover what they have lost (III. 13, 29), although she often complains about tiredness and, on one occasion, an eye ailment (111.24). The subject that occupies the largest place in the correspondence, however, is the composition, circulation, and publication of verse, and the solicitation of patronage. In a series of letters that Weston exchanges with her most devoted supporter, Baldhoven (111.21-32), it is clear that he revises her work, 'polishing' it as she says, then delivers it to potential patrons and sends it to other Neo-Latin poets. He also writes about her to influential scholars like Dousa and Joseph Scaliger and asks Melissus to compose verses in her honour (III.5). It is evident from these letters - and from poems in the Parthenica - that Weston's verse, like other Neo-Latin poetry, circulated in manuscript and in several copies before it was finally printed. In one letter to Baldhoven (111.30), Weston describes how she has laboured for several months to collect and transcribe her poems and letters in order that they be printed together. She asks that copies of her letters to Dousa and Scaliger, the originals of which she has lost, be sent to her and adds that she is enclosing three copies of her poem to James I, two of which are to be sent to Dousa and Scaliger. Writing to Gruningius, a law professor at Erfurt, she says she has sent copies of his poem to her friends (III. 14). A similar process is revealed in a letter addressed by Melissus to Heinrich

xviii Introduction

von Pisnitz, Rudolf's vice-chancellor, whose niece was married to Kelley's brother Thomas (III.7). Melissus is sending him duplicate copies of poems addressed to Weston. Pisnitz, as three of Weston's poems dedicated to him make clear, was her lord and patron' and also her 'benefactor,' because of his help in pressing her mother's lawsuit (1.7-8,25). Here he is entrusted with copies of poems which he must 'deliver correctly' in Prague. These, Melissus says, have been solicited by Baldhoven. In another poem she asks Denichius, a physician in New Prague, to give her songs to Carolides (1.33). It was common practice to solicit poems, as we learn from the numerous references by Weston to Baldhoven's requests. In one letter, Gernandus asks her to write a lament on the death of Melissus (111.10). Elsewhere she concedes to Gruningius's request to write a poem delineating his 'entire life and course of studies, and your increasing honours' (111.14). Oswald Croll asks her to take the time to write a few distichs in honour of his forthcoming Chemical Basilica (11.106). The times that she confesses to her dedicatees that she has been too busy to accede to their requests for poems are too many to mention. It was equally common to solicit patronage. The letter addressed to James I hints, albeit discreetly, at the family's need of aid and protection in references to 'my widowed and abandoned mother' (III.l). The letter to Lesieur (III.3) reveals how poets addressed verses to notable figures in the hope of obtaining patronage, and how their verses were delivered to the dedicatee. Weston says she is very distressed to hear that her verses dedicated to James I of England have been mocked and that she has been accused of plagiarism (a common accusation levelled at bright young women in the period)16; in response, Lesieur reassures her, not too convincingly, that the monarch 'perused' her poem and that no criticism was made (III.4). Nor of course was any gesture of generosity or support: James, unknown to Weston, was no admirer of learned young women. The praise lavished on Weston by the legion of her admirers invariably ranked her favourably with Sappho and Sulpitia, while sometimes declaring her to be in the same company as Virgil and Ovid. Again and again she is called the tenth Muse, the fourth Grace, an English Venus, a sister to Phoebus Apollo.17 This is not surprising for a poet whose work, in the tradition of Neo-Latin poetry, is so thoroughly imbued with Classical allusions and echoes. The depth of this immersion is examined in some detail by Kolaf .18 Like her fellow Neo-Latin poets, Weston was not content simply to borrow tag phrases, expressions, mythological allusions, and other sty-

Introduction xix

listic features, but replicated the full range of verse forms, genres, and themes that she found in her Classical sources. She offers us elegies, like that written on the death of Havlik's young daughter (2/4), epitaphs of particular tenderness and sorrow, like those on the deaths of her brother and mother (1.28 and 2/5), epithalamia, like the acrostic Talm Tree' (2/6) and the poem on Margaret von Baldhoven's marriage (1.41), and shorter verse forms like the epigram, of which she publishes no fewer than seventy-nine in Parthenica, on a variety of secular, moral, and religious topics (II.6-84). True to Neo-Latin tradition, she also composes much occasional verse. She celebrates the birthdays or name-days of Blasius (1.46), von Pisnitz and his young son (1.7,14), and Oswald Croll (11.104), as well as the scholarly achievement of the young Gernandus (1.43). On St Elizabeth's Day, her own name-day, she writes to von Pisnitz to thank him for his assistance (1.8); on the feast of St Andrew she thanks God for choosing a holy retinue (II.4). One of her most noteworthy poems, modelled on Ovid's account of the flood in the Metamorphoses, is inspired by a flood in Prague caused by the Moldau breaking its banks (11.99). Two others are occasioned by the coronations of James I (III.l) and Matthias II (2/8). We have said that Neo-Latin poetry, despite its classical borrowings and formalized style, served as a vehicle for expressing extremely personal interests, sentiments, and beliefs while placing private joys and sorrows in traditional, universal contexts. Much of Weston's poetry reveals what she felt about family relationships, friends, and everyday problems, particularly financial; it explores those favourite paired themes of exile and death, the former bound up with her preoccupation with national identity; it expresses her anxieties about writing but also her ambitions to become a well received published poet; and, finally, it deals with religious themes. Weston's sense of family is seen in references scattered throughout her poetry to her beloved mother, but especially in the long autobiographical elegy written on her mother's death and published with epitaphs from Maius and Carolides. It is a loving account of a mother who can no longer 'advise me with maternal words' or make 'the sign of the cross on forehead and breast.' Weston's affection is also present in the poem to her brother, 'blessed in your virtue/ whom she tries to console in the loss of their 'dear Parent' by urging him to turn to the Muses (1.27). A short while later she was to compose his epitaph, 'written out of sisterly love' (L28). Her 'dear parent/ the controversial Edward Kelley, is also mentioned elsewhere, though not by name. In a poem to Maius, Weston calls

xx Introduction

him 'my beloved father and teacher' (1.18) and in the In obitum elegy she says that she was 'content' with him as a stepfather, for he loved her as a father and took care of her and John Francis. More equivocal is her epigram on love for a parent' (11.73): 'If fate has given you a just parent, you should venerate him; if not, put up with him patiently.' Kelley's family must have felt at times that they had been asked to put up with a great deal. The depth of Weston's feelings for friends is not easy to gauge. Five epigrams on friendship are conventionally moral in tone: friends should warn other friends of their faults or be guilty themselves; one should value old friends more than new; disquieting situations test friendship; quarrels and betrayal turn friends into enemies (11.79-83). These tell us nothing about how Weston felt about friendship, never mind specific friends. Moreover, in her writings friendship often appears bound up with gratitude for favours shown. This perhaps accounts for the fact that female friendship is totally absent from the Parthenica and her other writings. Her closest friends are probably Baldhoven and Maius, both of whom she calls 'singular friends.' In one poem to Baldhoven (1.38), she tells him that his 'name of friend/ to me can in no way be disguised.' In a letter she quotes Plutarch that 'a friend is more necessary than fire and water' and expresses gratitude for Baldhoven's friendship, 'perfect and stable as it is' (111.28). To Oswald Croll she sends poems that are 'bonds of friendship' and asks for bonds in return (11.104). So often, however, the men in her circle are benefactors and protectors. Poems to Petr Vok z Rozmberk, a member of Rudolf's court, patron of the arts and former protector of Kelley (1.5), Lobkovic, Rudolf's chancellor and also a patron of the arts (1.6), Barvitius, a lawyer and close adviser of Rudolph's (1.9-13), von Belvitz, legate to Rudolf, (1.24), Barthold von Breitenberg, Metropolitan Designate of the Prague Cathedral (1.25), and Philippe de Monte, Flemish Chapel Master to Rudolf (1.26), all express gratitude for financial support or promises to intervene with Rudolf on behalf of her mother's lawsuit to recuperate her confiscated property. There is a certain irony in the fact that Weston, young, foreign, helpless, and destitute, as she likes to describe herself, can nevertheless call upon a circle of such rich and powerful men. This is in part due to connections forged by Edward Kelley; but perhaps more important, it is fostered by the traditions of learned Latin poetry. Encomia, one of the most highly regarded forms of Neo-Latin poetry, and penned by a young woman at that, obviously impressed in a way that writing in the vernacular would never have done. Male exclamations of praise for such a lettered female

Introduction xxi

prodigy are equalled only by expressions of astonishment at such erudition in one of the female sex. Weston's description of herself and her mother as impoverished and disgraced, her anger at the injustice of the situation, and her conviction that the reason is envy, run like a leitmotiv through her poetry. Over and over, she decries her state and begs for assistance. The Parthenica opens with four poems to Rudolf, the first of which merely hints in the final lines at her need for his aid; the second is more explicit, with Weston requesting Rudolf to be an Alexander, settling money on a 'poor daughter' in search of a 'modest dowry'; the third refers specifically in its original version in Poemata to their situation being the result of Kelley's 'modest offense/ but even the later Parthenica version from which this is omitted explicitly requests partial restitution of their confiscated goods; the fourth describes herself and her mother as 'wretched' and pointedly reminds Rudolf of the aid he promised. Fourteen poems follow in which Weston casts herself and her mother as the victims of envy and complains of the unfairness of their situation because they are innocent of wrongdoing. Four poems plead with Barvitius, one of Rudolf's counsellors, to take up her cause and release her from 'Envy and mad Calumny.' Even in the poem that is ostensibly a description praising his garden (1.13), she inserts a hint regarding the role of the good courtier who hears 'the prayers of widows and ... the petitions of clients' and another to the 'envy' that ever threatens his life.19 Over and over, Weston blames 'rapacious envy' (1.24) for ruining Kelley and threatening her, and devotes several epigrams to the subject (II.34-6,2/1). She blames the fates that have robbed her of happiness and stability, the 'evil mischances of my life' (1.40) and 'hostile fates' (1.42) that are her 'enemy.' Weston's sense of injustice nevertheless goes beyond the confines of the Kelley affair and the family's subsequent impoverishment. Exile and death also play their part in what she perceives as her cruel fate. The former, a favourite theme of Neo-Latin poetry - one has but to think of Petrarch and Du Bellay - is particularly present in. Weston's poetry. Casting herself as the Virgo Angla, torn from her native land when a baby, never able to return, and nostalgically clinging to the English family of Westons, whose name she retains for publishing purposes even after her marriage, she reminds James I of her loyalty to her 'native land.' In a letter to Baldhoven, who has just visited England, she expresses her love for her 'beloved Fatherland/ envying his opportunity to 'observe and judge... that English territory and all its advantages and also to take part in its exclusive and regal ceremonies.' She compares her adopted country unfavourably with England, that 'terrestial Paradise' (111.31). There is

xxii

Introduction

something rather amusing about these nostalgic longings for a country she left when six months old and about her assertion that she would be happier there but has chosen to stay in Bohemia and be 'content with my lot/ She would certainly not have benefited from the same network of powerful and wealthy friends in London or, as a Catholic, have enjoyed the same freedoms. Her nostalgia for England is given fullest rein in the poem she modelled on Ovid's Tristia, Book II (1.39), a favourite text of Neo-Latin poets. Like them, she identifies with Ovid in his exile, but is able to inject a further personal note into the poem by alluding specifically to her loss of father and family in England, the theft of her goods, her innocence and unjust punishment, and her inability to move Rudolf's heart, all of which (she goes on to say, with Ovidian bathos) make her situation that much worse than Ovid's. The theme of death in Neo-Latin poetry is ever present; epitaph and elegy abound and the funeral collection or tumulus is a favoured form of anthology. Weston, like other Neo-Latin poets, infuses her laments for relatives with a convincing degree of sincerity and genuine sorrow. A series of deaths, the buffets of fortune, is narrated like a litany in the elegy to her mother: father, grandmothers, stepfather, brother, and children follow in quick succession. In this poem we sense an underlying anger at the 'excessive savagery' of death. Like exile, it plays a large part in her perception of her young life as one of unhappiness, and it contributes to her sense of injustice. The sorrows brought about by death and what Weston perceived as envious calumnies, the result of the fates ruling her life, are invoked repeatedly in her comments on writing poetry. On the one hand the Muses are a source of consolation. She tells her brother that they have taught her to relieve her bitter griefs with song and offers him her 'immature verses of lament/ the 'first fruits' of her wit (1.27). When all else perishes, she tells the young Johann Heinrich von Pisnitz, the Muses remain (1.17). Yet the Muses repeatedly fail her. Worn down by care and sorrow, she is unable to create poetry, as she tells Nicholas Maius in three poems (1.18-20). To Fabronius she complains that her destiny is denied her and her languishing state prevents her from writing (1.45). To Ecber Maius she claims that the very subject of her poetry, 'my pen's business/ is sorrow, an inauspicious start to her future as a poet (1.42). For such a future she certainly envisioned. Despite the conventional modesty topoi of 'slender Muses/ 'unpolished verses/ and 'rustic pipes/ and the self-deprecating comparisons with more experienced poets and more learned Classical women, she clearly

Introduction xxiii

believed that she would become an accomplished poet. While she pleads her social condition, she also asks indulgence for her youth, promising her admirers that she will improve (1.37, 11.100, III.6, etc.). She tells Balthasar Cremer, Silesian Poet Laureate: 'I do not deny that I attempt to achieve something in the realm of letters ... perhaps I may realize the better hope of friends from my studies' (111.35). Although she assured Carolides that the only goal of her Muses was to be pleasing to God and that she did not want to be preferred before the ancient bards, she ends the poem by wishing to be 'as Lesbia was,' sharing her fortune and writing more poetry 'as another Lesbia' (1.34). Her comments on the publication of her verse, particularly the handwritten complaint in the British Library Parthenica that her poems had been intermingled with those of another writer and printed with many typographical errors, also show that she took a very lively interest in where and how the work would appear, and suggest that she was still, after her marriage to Leo, hoping for further renown as a poet. Although Weston confesses in her poetry and correspondence to being buffeted by sorrows, beset by financial problems, forced to throw herself on the mercy of benefactors, and at times unable to write despite the encouragement of patrons and admirers, she finds comfort in her religious faith. In the epitaph to her mother, where she lists the catastrophes that have befallen her, resolution is found in the final lines: God will bring her consolation and finally reunite her with her loved ones. Here is the conventional response of Christian Renaissance elegy. A similar faith inspires seven poems on religious subjects in book II of the Parthenica. Unlike many Neo-Latin poets, Weston does not heavily decorate Christian themes with pagan allusions. She only fleetingly refers to Phoebus, the Muses, Acheron, Calliope, and Midas although she starts one poem by calling God 'ruler of splendid Olympus' (II.3). In another, she contrasts the bargain made between Jove and his sons Pollux and Castor with that made between God and Christ for our redemption (II.5). The strongest Classical influence is however felt in the poem 'On the Name of Jesus,' where she begins in Vergilian mode: 'Change your note, my Muse; let earthly things draw back/ and lighter matters now recede from your pen/ She then enumerates the worldly preoccupations of which her Muses will not sing and, in a line evocative of the Aeneid, states: 'Rather, we shall meditate more serious things in ancient mode' (II.2). This poem and three others, 'A meditation and giving of thanks for the birth day of our Saviour,' 'Palm Sunday, Lazarus lying before the rich

xxiv Introduction

man's house/ and Tor the day on which is remembered St Andrew the Apostle, brother of Peter' (11.1, 3, 4), all mark events in the Christian calendar. As such, they are representative of Neo-Latin religious poetry, being not so much poems of intense religious lyricism as meditations occasioned by church festivals into which the poet can interject a personal note. While many works constitute occasional poetry, they are nevertheless often inspired by religious sentiment. This is true of Weston's verse, which in its celebration of Christ's birth and name, its evocation of Lazarus, Dives, and the Good Samaritan, and its gratitude for holy ministers in the tradition of the twelve Apostles, also gives expression to her own faith in God. Four brief poems are perhaps more personal. In 'I wish to be dissolved' and 'Who will give me water for my head?' Weston expresses her desire to lead a better life, not preoccupied with worldly cares, one in which her sins will be washed away (II.6, 7). In two epigrams she rejects salvation through human means, mistrusting art and images and clinging to her only hope, Jesus (11.92,93). Weston's greatest strength lies, however, in secular verse. Possibly her religious sentiments were inhibited by the uneasy tension between Catholic and Protestant interests around the court of Rudolf, much as her discretion in writing about her family was inhibited by the controversy over her late stepfather. Classical models afforded the Virgo Anglo, a safer haven for self-expression. Modelled on the works of Classical poets, imbued with their language and imagery, cast in their verse forms and metre, her lyric and occasional poetry stirred Neo-Latin poets and scholars across Europe, both those who knew and perhaps supported Kelley's obscure designs and those who responded more simply to the pathos of this eloquent orphan. Their praise was unstinting and continued after her death. The greatest number of compliments were directed at Weston's gifts as a poet or at her poetry itself. Flights of admiration cause Jan Dousa to exclaim that by her verses the times of Dousa will be judged (111.39) and prompt Paul Melissus to crown her with laurel (111.45). She is praised for her learning, her knowledge of the Classics, her ability in Latin and other languages, and hailed as a worthy successor to the learned women in classical myth and history. True to the times, she is also praised for her chastity, modesty, and piety, virtues on occasion placed above her intellectual gifts (11.102,111.17). Nor are absent those other 'feminine' virtues: gravity, sweetness, delicacy, gentleness. However, undercutting the praise of this amazing young woman are the inevitable condescending remarks on her abilities 'as a woman.' Has she not been inspired by a 'more

Introduction xxv

manly Muse' (111.48) and shown herself full of 'manly powers' (111.56)? Over and over again, Weston's admirers point to the unprecedented intellectual gifts and the courage, prudence, and poetic abilities that she embodies, all the more impressive because so rare in women. It must be emphasized that Weston's achievement was unusual for the times in which she lived. Her poetry is impressive, and not only because it was written by a woman. As many a contemporary poet observed, it was learned and inspired, written in the best tradition of Neo-Latin verse. What is surprising, however, is that it was published. There is no other substantial body of extant Neo-Latin poetry penned by a woman; perhaps many compositions never reached the printer. Weston, however, by perseverance and motivation, did manage to circulate her manuscripts, creating a place for herself in the international network of male Neo-Latin poets and scholars. As a young woman of twenty, she encouraged Baldhoven to publish the Poemata; some seven years later, she played an active role in seeing through publication a second volume of writings, the Parthenica. Meanwhile she continued to publish single poems, generally at the invitation of others. Without seeking her permission, her male editor allowed male writers to join their verses to hers and added a list of learned women poets. The result was in her eyes an unpleasing jumble of 'others' verses mixed in with my own,' compounded with typographical errors. The two final lines of the poem written in the flyleaf of the British Library Parthenica contain a hint of the independent and ambitious character that Weston must have had: 'A time will come without you (if only Fate is willing) when Weston herself can fill her pages with poems/ That time unfortunately did not come; but Weston's voice in the poems that she did leave inspired praise for her long after her death. We may hope it will earn her a lasting place in the canon of Neo-Latin poetry. On This Translation The translation of Latin into fluent English is never easy, as generations of translators of the classics have discovered. Renaissance Latin poses the same problems of syntax, grammar, and vocabulary as its classical ancestor; it throws down the same gauntlet of having to transfer the succinct sentences of an analytical language into a synthetical one with articles, minimal verbal paradigms, and even more minimal case endings. The translation of poetry, regardless of the languages involved, presents

xxvi Introduction a different set of problems. Suffice it to say that we tend to believe, along with many another translator, that the dynamics of verse are best left to poets. All translators are confronted with choices. The first, as in a game of chess, often determines those that follow. Our objectives in presenting Parthenica were twofold. First, we wished to make Weston's poetry and correspondence, as well as works written to and about her, available for the first time in one volume. Second, we thought it important to render the texts accessible for the first time to non-Latinists, thereby widening the scope of scholarly interest in a poet who has been unjustly neglected. We therefore chose to give primacy to semantic accuracy, and to provide a literal rendering. Two reasons supported this approach. We are not poets and therefore felt that we could not do justice in any case to the expressive qualities of the verse. We also felt that the original text must be allowed to stand on its own, to assert its own cultural values, and that our translation should not inscribe it within ours. While all translations particularly those that are distant in time from their originals - are encoded in a language whose structure and cultural values are fundamentally different from those of the source text, we hope it has been possible to produce a version that neither domesticates nor subordinates Weston's compositions. Despite our reluctance to attempt turning poetry into poetry, we have tried to keep some of the physical appearance of the original, translating verses in such a way as to keep the sense of each distich self-contained whenever possible. We are also at times conscious of having opted for a formal rather than a colloquial expression, or for a slightly archaic rather than a resolutely modern word, in order to render some of the flavour of the Renaissance text. All translating inevitably alters the values of the foreign language text and the culture in which it is embedded. To translate a text is after all to interpret and rewrite it for an audience that has different cultural values. We hope that we have kept such alteration to a minimum and that our rendering reflects the language and cultural norms of Weston and her interlocutors as accurately as a translation can. A Note on Texts We have examined copies of Poemata and Parthenica located at the British, Harvard, Yale, New York Public, Folger, and Newberry Libraries as well

Introduction xxvii

as at the Bibliotheque Rationale, Paris, and various libraries in Prague. Our copy text for the former is that of the Folger, and for the latter that of Harvard's Houghton Library. We have not attempted any systematic collation of copies, since we have not seen enough substantive variation among them to justify a total listing of variant punctuation and other accidentals. Copies of Poemata appear to fall into two distinct states, as may be seen from Plates 4-7, illustrating the title pages and a sample page from the Folger and Harvard copies. Apparently some of the more distinctive type used for titles and proper names in Book I of that work was distributed after a first run and reset from a different font for a second; we have not seen any evidence that argues for the priority of one or the other of these versions. Also, the authorizing line 'Cum gratia et privilegio ...' is cancelled on the title pages to Books I and II in some editions and not in others. Although broken type and other accidentals are visible in some copies of Parthenica and not in others, all copies of that work seem essentially identical. We have examined all the pamphlets and other works which have come to our attention as containing works by Westonia or addressed to her; these works appear in Parts 2 and 3 of this edition. Most of them are extremely rare, and many of them are to be found only in Prague or other eastern European libraries. The location of our copy text for each is indicated; we wish to express our profound gratitude to the many librarians who have graciously allowed us to see these volumes or sent us photocopies. We have made the full text of Parthenica the principal work in this volume; notes to each item (poem or letter) will indicate the existence of significant variants (other than minor spelling or punctuation changes) in Poemata or elsewhere. (With respect to Book III of Parthenica, it may be assumed that none of the items is in Poemata unless otherwise noted.) Where we have silently corrected an obvious error in the original, without reference to Poemata, the textual note will give the emended version first and that in Parthenica second. Where con appears in these notes, it refers to a page of corrigenda printed with the work. Parthenica was evidently the more widely read of the two collections of Weston's writings: the few copies of Poemata that survive in libraries today show signs of physical deterioration that probably come more from the work's being printed in a smaller format and on inferior stock than from its being more frequently consulted. A further justification for our choice of the later volume as our principal text is that it shows many

xxviii

Introduction

signs of revision in the poems that had appeared in Poemata - an argument for the superiority of its readings as representative of the author's best or latest judgment - or perhaps of Baldhoven's. Notes to the translation identify Weston's correspondents and her literary and topical allusions wherever it is possible, and indicate our inability to do so wherever it is not, as an open invitation to betterinformed readers to add to the sum of our knowledge about this poet. At the same time, we believe it has been incumbent upon us as editors to avoid venturing into interpretations that seem certain to be challenged as we discover more about Weston's position as a Neo-Latin poet and as a distinctive voice in the Humanist circles of her time. On a similarly modest note, we must conclude by calling attention to what we have not found in our search for information about Weston. We have found no evidence of any writings in a language other than Latin, despite her friends' lavish praise of her mastery of tongues. We have seen only two portraits claiming to represent her, and they are so different from one another that we can make no claims as to her appearance; though the Darmstadt drawing may be more likely to resemble her than the Balzer engraving which was part of a series. Finally, the two sets of manuscript verses in copies of Parthenica are in different hands, and neither resembles that of the Munich letter to Scaliger; so at present we have no basis for identifying her handwriting. Notes 1 It should be noted that the Latin form of her name, Joanna, can be translated as either Jane or Joan; in the absence of any contemporary evidence to the contrary, and in view of the fact that Doctor Dee's diary refers to her mother as Jane, we have kept to the traditional usage. The two names (or spellings of the same name) seem to have been almost interchangeable in England at this time. 2 We have elected to give the text as originally printed, without modernizing or standardizing spelling or punctuation except where a typesetter's error was obvious. 3 Hrdina, 'Dve prace z dejin ceskeho humanismu,' Listy filologicke 55 (1928), 14-19; Ryba, 'Westoniana/ IF 56 (1929), 14-28. 4 Bassnett, 'Elizabeth Jane Weston - the Hidden Roots of Poetry/ in E. Fucikova, ed., Prag um 1600 (Freren/Emsland, 1988), 9-15, and 'Revising a Biography,' Cahiers elisabethains 37 (April 1990), 1-8; Binns, Intellectual Culture in Elizabethan and Jacobean England (Leeds, 1990).

Introduction

xxix

5 W.P.W. Phillimore, ed., Oxford Parish Registers. Marriages, vol. 1 (London, 1909), 4; Jack Howard-Drake, Oxford Church Courts Depositions 1542-1550 (Oxford, 1991), item 3; Chipping Norton parish register typescript of September 1992, by the Chipping Norton History Society and the Misses Meades, checked against an anonymous copy of ca. 1790. 6 John Dee, the philosopher and polymath (1527-1608), notes in his diary (see note 8 below) that Jane Cooper was born on 23 June 1563, 'toward evening/ which would be consistent with her baptism five days later. Nothing is known about John Weston or his family, though he may be related to the Isabella (or Elizabeth) West whose marriage to William Cowper in Ambrosden was challenged in the Oxford Church Courts by a William Hawkins. 7 The record appears between two christenings dated thus. Although such a date would conform to the date of the father's death 'when I was scarcely six months old/ in the words of Weston's elegy for her mother, it would contradict Weston's traditional birth date of 2/8 November 1582, derived from her tombstone in St Thomas Church, Prague. (The dual dating of the latter reflects the Julian and Gregorian calendars variously in use at the period - a further source of confusion.) 8 Meric Casaubon, A True and Faithful Relation of What passed for many Yeers between Dr. John Dee ... and Some Spirits... (London, 1659), fol 39v: Kelley reported to Dee that 'He sayd that I must betake myself to the world, and forsake the worlld. That is that I shold marry. Which thing to do, I have no naturall inclination: neyther with a safe Conscience may I do it, contrary to my vow and profession. Wherefore I think and hope, there is some other meaning in these theyr wordes.' Dee records at some length the troubles of Kelley's first years of marriage; they may have led to the episode of wifesharing (similarly under angelic injunction) between the Dees and Kelleys in Bohemia in 1587. 9 Annales Ingolstadiensis Academiae, Part II (Ingolstadt, 1782), 152; Gotz Freihenn von Polnitz, Die Matrikel der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Ingolstadt-Landshut-Milnchen, vol. 1 (Munich, 1937), 1374. 10 Although the evidence is seldom clear that someone other than Weston herself was responsible for minor changes in the poems, the fact that the acrostic poem to Pisnitz (1.14) appears in the earlier collection with many lines failing to read acrostically suggests that someone, most likely Baldhoven, had sought to improve her style without recognizing that he was breaking the acrostic pattern. Neo-Latin poetry, with its strong drive toward the imitation of classic models, is especially subject to 'perlustration' or polishing by well-meaning editors. 11 Not included in Parthenica, whether by accident or design, is the poem from Carolides' Parentalia of 1601 (3/4) which praises Weston as 'Virgo digna

xxx Introduction boni toro Poetae/ a maiden worthy of marriage to a good poet, seemingly glancing toward the laureated Baldhoven. And the letter to Scaliger of 1602 (2/3) suggests some discomfort over the emotional intensity emanating from Baldhoven's circle in Leiden. 12 Although the traditional date of Parthenica is generally given as ca. 1606, the catalogue of learned women at the end of the volume cites Helena Maria Wackeriana von Wackenfels as having died in Prague. Since her death occurred on 30 May 1607, the book obviously went to press sometime after that date. A copy in the National Library of Prague (Signature II.Ff .12) bearing the bookplate of Prince von Lobkovitz has a contemporary vellum binding with the date 1608 stamped on it; this seems likely to have been the date of its binding and probably of its publication as well. 13 Rukovet humanistickeho bdsnictviv Cechach a na Morave / Enchiridion renatae poesis Latinae in Bohemia et Moravia cultae, 5 vols (Prague, 1966-82). The entry for Westonia, the responsibility of Martinek, is at 5.470-7. 14 Musae Reduces, ed. Pierre Laurens and Claudie Belavoine (Leiden, 1975), presents sixty-two poets from nine countries and provides French translations and copious notes and bibliography. Renaissance Latin Verse: An Anthology, compiled and edited by Alessandro Perosa and John Sparrow (London, 1979), contains the work of eighty-five poets from eleven countries. An Anthology ofNeo-Latin Poetry, edited and translated by Fred J. Nichols (New Haven and London, 1979), gives samples of fifteen poets from Italy and eleven from northern Europe. 15 The fact that Weston had not heard from Lipsius by March of 1602 (letter to Baldhoven, 111.24) may be explained by Lipsius's letter to Jean Moretus of 27 December 1601: 'I have read the letter sent from Prague about publishing the verses of that English girl. I quite agree with you that they will not sell in the thousands, as they claim, but more likely in the dozens ... Anyway, do as seems best, but as for me, please make my excuses and say frankly that I am indisposed and cannot carry on any further correspondence ... I once praised that French girl [Marie de Gournay, protegee of Montaigne whom L had praised extravagantly in 1589] and neither I nor perhaps others are happy with the judgment I made. The sex is not to be trusted, they're more surface than substance.' A. Gerlo and H.D.L. Vervliet, eds., La correspondance de Juste Lipse conservee au Musee Plantin-Moretus (Antwerp, 1967), 134-5. 16 See Anthony Graf ton and Lisa Jardine, From Humanism to the Humanities (Cambridge, Mass., 1986), especially chapter 2,29-57, 'Women Humanists: Education for What?' 17 For fuller discussion of the praise that Weston received, and of the selffashioning that elicited it, see the essays by Brenda Hosington and Donald

Introduction xxxi Cheney in Lafemme lettree a la Renaissance I De geleerde vrouw in de Renaissance (Brussels, 1997), 107-28. 18 Antonin Kolar, Humanistickd Bdsnifka Vestonia, Sbornik Filosoficke Fakulty University Komenskeho v Bratislave 4 (Bratislava, 1926). 19 For an analysis of 'In hortos eiusdem' see Donald Cheney, 'Westonia on the Gardens of Barvitius/ American Notes and Queries 5 (1992), 64-7.

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1 Unknown artist: Portrait of Elizabeth Jane Weston. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, inventory number Hz.1696; 188 x 147 mm. See Gisela Bergstrasser, Niederlcindische Zeichnungen 16. Jahrhundert im Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt (Kunst in Hessen und am Mittelrhein 18 and 19, 1978 and 1979), number 124; and An Zwollo, Tieter Stevens, Addenda zu seinem Werk, mit einem Anhang iiber ein Portrat der Westonia,' in E. Fucikova, ed., Prag urn 1600 (Freren/Emsland, 1988), 326-32. Reproduced by permission of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt.

2 Johann Balzer Elizabeth Jane Weston In FM Pelzel, Abbildungen Bohmischer und Mahnscher Gelehrten und Kunstler, III (Prague, 1777), 77

3 Title page of Parthemca, Book I, copy in Houghton Library, Harvard University. Copy text for this edition.

4 Title page of Poemata, copy in The Folger Shakespeare Library, 168545 Copy text for this edition By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library

5 Title page of Poemata, copy in Houghton Library, Harvard University, showing uncancelled 'grace and privilege' line. See Introduction, p. xxvii.

6 Poernata, Folger copy, sig A2 verso By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library See Introduction, p xxvn

7 Poemata, Houghton copy, sig A2 verso Note different type faces for 'Caesar' in lines 1, 2, and 9, double hyphen at end of third line of title, variations in indentations See Introduction, p xxvn

8 Manuscript verses in British Library copy of Parthenica, C61.d.2. By permission of The British Library. See pp. 304-6.

9 Manuscript letter to Scahger Munich, Bayensche Staatsbibhothek, Clm lat 10383 f 277 See p 330

PART ONE

Parthenica

Parthenicon ELISABETHS IOANNME WESTONLE, Virginis nobilissimae, poetriae florentissimae, linguarum plurimarum peritissimae, Liber I. opera ac studio G. MART, a BALDHOVEN, Sil. collectus; & nunc denuo amicis desiderantibus communicatus. PRAGUE. Typis Pauli Sessij.

[Alv] Cautum est singular! Sacree Caesareae Majestatis privilegio, ne quis Typographorum per Romani Imperil & universes Regnorum suae Majestatis fines, Elisabethas Joannas Westoniaa Anglaa opuscula, quae vel hactenus edidit, vel imposterum editura est, excudere intra decennium praeter ipsius voluntatem possit. Qui secus faxit, praeter librorum confiscationem mulctabitur, uti latius patet in diplomate Caesareo, &c.

[A2r] [1.1] AD DIVUM RUDOLPHUMII. Invictissimum Romanorum Imperatorem Dn. Dn. Clementissimum. Vt DEus in caelis libamina sacra clientum Suscipit, & placide munera parva capit;

The Maidenly Writings of Elizabeth Jane Weston, Most noble Virgin, most eminent poet, fluent in numerous tongues, Book I. Assembled by the care and devotion of Georgius Martinius von Baldhoven, Silesian; and now newly communicated to desirous friends. Prague. At the press of Paulus Sessius.

[Alv] Warning: It has been provided by the exclusive prerogative of his Holy Imperial Majesty that no printers within the entire boundaries of the Roman Empire and the realms of His Majesty may issue without her own authorization within the next ten years the writings of the Englishwoman Elizabeth Jane Weston which she has hitherto published or which she will publish in the future. Whoever does otherwise will be liable to fine in addition to the confiscation of the books, as is set forth more fully in the Imperial patent, etc. [A2r] [LI] To the godly Rudolf II, most invincible Roman Emperor and Most Merciful Lord. As God in heaven receives His servants' sacred offerings and gently accepts their modest gifts,

4 Parthenica Sic DEus in terris CAESAR, cui sidera rident, Westoniae servas suscipe primitias. 5 Si solet auxilium differre JEHOVA roganti Saepius, ut mage sit nostra probata fides: Spero; nee addubito, quin post tot vota, salutem Nunc, 6 nunc parili Tu ratione feres. Ut DEus in coelis bonus est, precibusque movetur; 10 Sic mea, DIVE, tua spes requiescit ope. Ergo tibi, Patri Patriae, mundique MONARCH/E, Ingenij fcetus, munera prima, dico. Accipe fronte pia; nee parvula rejice, CAESAR: Interdum parvis gratia magna subest. 15 Exaudi miseram: tristem solare Camaenam: Adfer & optatam, qui potes, unus opem.

S. S. C. M. Humil[l]ima Cliens Elisabetha Joh. West. Virgo Angla. = Poem, [i.2] fol. a2r. Tit: Imperatorem ...] Imperatorem, semper Augustum; Bohemiae ac Hungariae Regem &c. Dominum, Dn. Clementissimum. 4 Westoniae servas] Maxime nunc minimas 14 magna subest] inesse solet 17 S.S.C.M.] Suae Sac. Caes. Mtis.

[A2v] [1.2] EIUSDEM SACRJE OESARLE, NEC NON HUNGARIAE, AC Bohemia REGIME MAIESTATI: Sis precor, Abdias meus, Invictissime C^SAR, Magnus Alexander sis mihi, Caesar eris. Ille, suis dapibus centum servare Prophetas Qui voluit, meriti praemia digna tulit. 5 Hie, quando exiguam paupercula filia dotem Orat, in orantem multa talenta locat. Caesar ut AUGUSTUS sua largus praemia Musis Auxerat, Augusto nomine nomen habet. Sic Caesar RUDOLPHE, meis alimenta benignus 10 Si Musis aperis, Caesare digna facis. Me tua, ne peream, dementia provida servet; Inque vadum insontem Gratia larga locet. Exaudita tibi sint vota, precesque rogantis, Quae dat cum gemitu Virgo misella pio.

Book I 5 thus, Caesar, a god on earth, on whom the heavens smile, do you accept the humble first fruits of Westonia. 5 If Jehovah is often wont to defer aid to a suppliant, that our faith may the better be tested, I hope, and do not doubt, that now, after so many prayers, you too will give aid, and in a similar way. As God in heaven is good, and is moved by prayers, 10 so does my hope rest in your assistance, Divine One. Therefore to you, Father of the Fatherland, Monarch of the World, do I dedicate these first gifts, the offspring of my wit. Accept them with respectful demeanour, Caesar, and do not reject these trifles; sometimes trifles contain great grace. is Hear a wretched woman, comfort a sad muse: and furnish the desired aid, you who alone can do so. Of His Holy Imperial Majesty the most humble client, Elizabeth Jane Weston, English maiden.

[A2v] [1.2] By the same, to His Holy Imperial Majesty and also king of the Realms of Hungary and Bohemia. I pray you to be my °Abdias, unconquered Caesar, be great Alexander to me, and you will be Caesar. The former, in choosing to preserve a hundred prophets in his feasts, won praise deserving of his worth. 5 The latter, when a poor °daughter sought a modest dowry, settled many talents on the suppliant. When Augustus Caesar generously rewarded the Muses, this augmentation entitled him to be called august. Thus, Caesar Rudolf, if you kindly offer support 10 to my Muses, you do deeds worthy of Caesar. May your provident mercy care for me, lest I perish, and may your ample Grace shelter an innocent woman. Let my prayers be heard by you, and the requests of a suppliant which a wretched maiden offers with pious groan.

6 Parthenica 15 Sic erit in reprobos felix victoria, Turcas: Sic AUGUSTUS eris: sic benedictus eris. = Poem, [i.3] fol. a2v. 12 Inque vadum ... locet] Eque vado ... levet 15 in reprobos ... Turcas] in Turcas ... Caesar = Carmen ad ... Rudolphum II (1601), fol A2r. Tit: Carmen ad invictissimum et potentissimum principem ac dominum, Dominum Rudolphum II sacri Romani Imperii Imperatorem semper Augustum &c. 5 quando] postquam 6 in orantem ... locat] munificus ... dedit 7 sua largus praemia Musis] Musis sua praemia largus 8 Auxerat, Augusto nomine nomen] Contulit, et nomen, ne moriatur 10 Si Musis aperis] Si confers Musis 11 provida servet] provida, Caesar 12 Inque vadum insontem ... locet] Seruet et insontem ... iuvet 15 in reprobos ... Turcas] in Turcas ... Caesar Signed: T.S.C.M Deuotissima Elisabetha loanna Westonia suo et matris mcestissimae nomine.

[1.3] INVICTISSIME AC POTENTISSIME OESAR, DOMINE CLEMENTISSIME Maesta prius querulo quam plectra sonore resumam, Nostra tibi fatur cartula, CAESAR, ave. C/ESAR ave; & tandem votivos accipe questus; Quos gemibunda dabit voce tremente CLIENS. 5 Nam nisi me audieris Caesar, nostrive misertus Ni fueris; non spes amplius ulla patet. [A3r] Ut facies terrae languet, cum Phaebus aquosis Nubibus involvit, se radiosque tegit; Sic miseraa Divi nos vultu Caesaris orbae 10 Angimur, & nigris opprimimur tenebris. Tu mihi sol Caesar; sed dum tua lumina condis, Quae mihi subsidij spesve salutis erit? Respice nos humiles, Invicte Monarcha, ministras, Ut te respiciat, qui videt omne, DEus.

15 Quae tulimus, non sunt versu memoranda Maronis: Restat adhuc gemitus, res & egena domi. Pauperies aliquot fecit didicisse per annos Esuriem, curas, frigora acerba, sitim.

Book I 7

15 Thus there will be a happy victory against reprobate °Turks: thus you will be August, thus you will be blessed. [Abdias: or Obadiah, protected 100 prophets from persecution and death at the hands of Jezebel (I Kings 18); daughter: not identified; Turks: a continuing concern of Rudolf in his eastern capital]

[1.3] Unconquered and most powerful Caesar, most merciful master. Before I resume my sad song with complaining tune, my poem says Hail to you, Caesar, Caesar, hail; and at last accept my complaining prayers, which a groaning client will submit with trembling voice. 5 For unless you hear me, Caesar, and unless you take pity on me, I have no further hope. [A3r] As the face of the earth languishes when Phoebus is wrapped in watery clouds, and hides himself and his rays, Thus we wretches suffer, deprived of divine Caesar's face, 10 and are oppressed by dark shadows. Caesar, you are my sun; but while you hide your light, what will be my hope of support or salvation? Have regard for us, your humble maidservants, mighty monarch, so that God, who sees all things, may have regard for you. [in Poemata version only: For if Kelley offended you formerly, he suffered a great punishment for a modest offence. He paid the penalty of death: will his death appease your wrath? He has amply paid the penalty with his death!] 15 What we have borne is not to be recalled in Maro's verse: we are left with sorrow and destitution. For several years poverty has made us know hunger, cares, bitter cold, thirst.

8 Parthenica Et quod adhuc inopes vital! vescimur aura; Mutual id nobis, datque aliena manus. Ergo fer auxilium miseris mitissime Caesar: Et nos semineces eripe, quaeso, neci. Ne tua se bonitas, ne lux tarn clara recondat: Sed mihi per tenebras luceat ilia meas. 25 Paupertate gemo Matris, quae tristia natae Fata dolet: saevus crescit utrinque dolor. Dij melius nobis finirent morte dolores; Quam vita indignis sit superata malis. Effice demtorum sit portio tanta bonorum 30 Reddita, quae miseras sufficienter alat. Aut tantum largire tua bonitate misellis; Quo gravior fugiat tot mala nostra fames; Ne peream, ne desperem, ne mater inani Spe frustrata, neci praeda petita cadat. [A3v] 35 Quod FACIES C/ESAR: sic reddet fcenore multo, Conferet & vitae tempora sera, DEus; Mitis ut es cunctis, ita sis cum VIRGO precatur Orphana: FAC viduae damna nociva leves.

20

= Poem, [i.4] fol. a2v. 5 audieris] exaudis 6 patet] subest 14a-d: Quod si Kelleus tibi quid deliquerit olim, / Supplicium modico crimine, grande tulit. / Morte dedit poenas: mors illius eluat iram? / Interitu pcenae sat dedit ille suo! 16 res & egena domi] pauperiesque subest 22 quaeso] rite 31: Nunc bonitate tua tantum largire misellis. 32 tot mala nostra] saava pericla 38 leves] levent

[1.4] EIDEM.

Per tua sceptra Themis rogat Augustissime CAESAR, Ut miseram misera cum genitrice juves: Hactenus ingemino gravibus mea vota querelis: Nosce tua nostras pro bonitate preces. 5 Sic DEUS imperium plures firmabit in annos: Sic ausus facilis provehet ille tuos. Tu modo, quod spondes, re praesta Caesar: egenaa Virginis instituas damna levare. Vale. S. S. Caes. Mti humilime supplex Elis. loan. WEST. ORPHANA, Suo, & MATRIS mcestissimae nomine. = Poem, [i.5] fol. a3v.

Book I 9

And even the living air we still breathe as paupers is loaned to us, the gift of an Outsider's hand. Therefore, most gentle Caesar, grant aid to the wretched, and I beg you, snatch us, half-dead, from death. May your goodness and mighty splendour not hide themselves, but rather shine on me through my darkness. 25 I groan at my mother's poverty, she laments her daughter's sad fate; bitter grief grows on both sides. Better might the gods finish our grief by death, than that life should be overwhelmed by undeserved ills. Arrange that a sufficient portion of our confiscated goods 30 be restored for us to be nourished in our misery Or out of your goodness lavish on us wretches enough to make more extreme hunger flee our so numerous woes; lest I perish, lest I despair, lest my mother, frustrated by her empty hopes, fall prey to the death that seeks her. [A3v] 35 What you will do, Caesar, God will repay with comparable interest, and grant you long life. As you are gracious to all, be so when an orphaned Virgin prays: arrange to lighten a widow's hurtful losses.

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[outsider's: 'alien' presumably in the sense of someone not a member of the immediate family, e.g., Pisnitz (see 1.7-8 below)]

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[1.4] To the same. Most August Caesar, Themis begs by your sceptre That you aid a wretched girl and her wretched mother. Thus far I magnify my prayers with heavy complaints: out of your goodness, heed our prayers. Thus God will confirm your rule for many years, thus He will readily advance your undertakings. You, then, Caesar, give in fact the aid you promise, and arrange to lessen the griefs of an impoverished maiden. Farewell. To his Holy Imperial Majesty from his humble suppliant, Elizabeth Jane Weston, orphan, in her own name and in that of her sorrowing mother.

10 Parthenica

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[1.5] ILLUSTRISSIMO PRINCIPI, & Dno, Dno PETRO WOCK a ROSENBERG &c: Dno ac Mecaenati suo gratiosissimo. Inter minora sidera Qualis refulget Cynthia, Quum nox lacessit horridum Morphei redux insomnium: [A4r] Tails Dynastas emicas Inter, jubar late explicas Virtute, PRINCEPS inclute, O PETRE flos virens Rosae! Sacri efficace Numinis Ardes amore; literis Clemens faves: patronus es Egentium inter divites. Te liberalem in hospites Cum fratre jure dicerem: Meo Parenti indulseras Possessiones liberas; Quas LIVOR immerentibus Rabidis refrendens dentibus, (6 fata) tollens, pauperes Coegit esse flebiles. In rebus his est innocens C/ESAR; malus nocet, docens Nostri fame aeris. Numinis Vindicta summi noveris! Sed cum modo, Illustrissime Princeps, referri commodae Pro liberali pectore Sat vix queant tibi gratiae: Cum matre id unicum precor, Ut exigas nostri memor Annos tuos: sed suaviter, Vivas DEO, prece gnaviter. [A4v] Ut hoc solutus corpore, Pertaesus hujus seculi, Durante laudis adorea, Petas beatus sidera.

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[1.5] To the illustrious prince and lord, Lord Petr Vok z °Rozmberk etc, her most gracious lord and Maecenas. As Cynthia shines amid lesser stars, when night returns to challenge Morpheus's horrid dream: [A4r] so do you shine forth among princes, display your brilliance far and wide in virtue, renowned Prince, 0 Peter, flourishing crown of the °rose! You burn with a powerful love of the Holy Will, you graciously favour the letters, among the rich you are patron of the needy. 1 would rightly call you generous to guests, along with your brother: to my °Parent you granted freely held properties, which Envy carried off from us, who deserved no such treatment, gnashing its savage teeth (what a fate!), making us sorrowful paupers. In these matters Caesar is innocent; a wicked man harms us, misleading him out of hunger for our wealth. You will know that, Divine Vengeance! But since now, most illustrious Prince, it is hardly possible to provide a fitting recompense for your generosity: With my mother I ask only this, that you spend your life mindful of us, but graciously, live zealously in prayer to God. [A4v] So that when you have sloughed off this body, tired of this age, with lasting glory of praise, you may blessedly seek the heavens.

12 Parthenica = Poem, [i.6], fol. a4r. 3 horridum] horridam 13 hospites] hospitem 28 vix] non vix 30 nostri memor] feliciter 31 sed] &

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[1.6] ILLUSTRI AC GENEROSISS. HEROI, AC Dno, Dno SDENKONI ADELBERTO POPPL. DE LOBKOWITZ In Clumnitz, & Gistebnitz Sac: Caes: Majest: Consil. ac S. R. Bohemiae Cancell: Supr: &c: Dno Dno suo dementi ac benigno. Forte quid hoc, dices? quod Virgo carmina mittat, O Lux POPPELL/E non moritura domus: Da veniam facilis: pietas hoc jussit; & omni Quam colis officij munere, sancta Themis. Pauperis ergo, manu dementi, carmina sume Virginis, & numeris perge favere meis. Non ego vulgarem quaero mihi carmine plausum; Non abs te posco munera larga mihi. Ne miseram vidua patiaris matre puellam, Quod queror, indigni mole perire mali. Non injusta peto: causam modo respice nostram, Dixeris insontes nos mala tanta pati. Nee tibi major erit virtus & gloria, quam si Clementi miseras pro bonitate juves. Jam dudum nobis justissima Cassaris aula Vt favet, auxilium sic quoque ferre jubet. Tu modo Mecaenas sis nobis praesto, jubeque Pars de distractis detur ut aequa bonis. [A5r] Sic tibi succedant feliciter omnia: perstet Sic e consilijs Caesaris aula tuis. = Poem, [i.7], fol. a4v. 1 mittat] mittam 3 Da veniam facilis ... omni] Ne mirere rogo ... imo 4 officij munere, sancta] assiduus pectore & ore, 11 injusta] iniuncta con. iniusta 16 favet] facit con. favet 19 succedant... perstet] succedent... perstat 20 e] & = Meditatio, cum gmtiarum actione ... Prague, Typis Georgii Nigrini (1601). [Prague, Strahov, AM IX, 100 pfiv. 44.] 1: Esse quid hoc dices? mittam quod carmina, virgo, 3 Da veniam facilis: ... omni] Ne mirare, rogo, ... ipsa 4 officij munere, sancta] integro pectore & ore 9-10: Sed rogo ne miseram Vidua cum matre puellam / In causa iusta

Book I 13 [Rozmberk: or Rosenberg (1539-1611), younger brother of Vilem, the highest ranking officer of Rudolf's court, and like him a highly cultured patron of the arts and bibliophile. He showed continuing hospitality to John Dee and Edward Kelley, lodging them in his castle at Trebon; rose: a play on Rosenberg's name; Parent: W's usual way of referring to her stepfather]

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[1.6] To the illustrious and most noble hero and lord, Lord Zdenek Vojtech Popel z °Lobkovic, in Clumnitz and Gistebnitz Counsellor to His Holy Imperial Majesty; and Supreme Chancellor of the Holy Kingdom of Bohemia etc: her graceful and benign lord. Perhaps you say, what is this, that a maiden sends songs? O immortal light of the house of Popel: Graciously grant a favour, for piety demands it, and holy Themis too, whom you cherish in every duty of your office. Therefore, receive the songs of a poor maiden with graceful hand, and grant favour to my poems. I seek no vulgar applause by my poetry, nor do I ask any great gifts from you. What I beg is that you not let a wretched maiden and her widowed mother perish under the weight of an unfair evil. My plea is not without merit: only look at our case, and you will say that we are innocent in bearing such ills. Nor will you have any greater virtue and glory, than if you help us wretches out of your benign goodness. Since the most just court of Caesar has long since favoured us, so it also orders the bringing of aid. May you only be at hand as our Maecenas, and command that a fair share of our forfeited property be granted. [A5r] Thus may all things turn out well for you; and may Caesar's court endure thus by your counsel. [Lobkovic: (1568-1628), Rudolf's wealthy and powerful Chancellor, leader of the Spanish faction in Prague. In 1603 he married Polyxena, widow of Vilem Rozmberk, and together they established a fine collection of books, acted as patrons of the arts, and supported the Counter-Reformation in Prague.]

14 Parthenica deseruisse veils. 12 Dixeris] Dices 13 Nee] Non 14 Clement!] Faemellas 15 justissima ... aula] dementia... ipsa 16: Fault, & auxilium ferre benigna jubet. 17 jubeque] bonisqu 18: De nostris detur portio ut aequa, juua. 19 succedant... perstet] succedent... stabit 2 e]&

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[1.7] Natalibus ILLUSTRIS AC MAGci. Dni. Dni HENRICI DE PISNITZ Dn. in Hertenberg & Schoenbach Sac. Caes. Majest: Consil. ac S. R. Vice Cancell: Domini & patroni sui colendissimi. Ter quatterna diem, reducis lux prodit Juli, Quae nomen celebrat magne PATRONE tuum. Quid faciam? quae vota novo nova carmine dicam? Aut quae de veteri vincula more feram? Sum devincta tibi propter benefacta: resumsi Ergo iterum ad resonas plectra lyramque manus. His mihi vinctus eris: nee demam vincula: donee Mi referas; tutor, Virgo, manebo tuus. Sed, ni fallor, ais: cesset dubitatio: cesset Maeror, ego insontem, qui tueatur, ero. Ergo DEUM precibus, meritis superata, rogabo: Vt mihi, ut & multis te superesse sinat. Quo patriae prosis, & rerum publica cures Commoda; pupillos quo tueare tuos. Non tibi livor edax, qui carpit honesta, nocebit: Sed virtus salva te pietate teget. Haec ego vota DEO toties solemnia solvam, Natalis quoties lux reditura tibi. [A5vJ Saepius ut remeet felici sidere supplex Ante DEUM socia cum genitrice precor. = Poem, [i.8], fol. a5r. Tit. S.R.] S.R. Bohemiae 1 Ter quatterna diem, reducis lux] Ter cum decima lux caelo 7 vincula: donee] vincula collo 8 Mi referas] Ni dicas 15 qui carpit honesta, nocebit] noceat, qui plurima carpit 16 salva te] salvum cum

[1.8] AD EUNDEM, DE DIE S. ELISABETHS. Lux hodierna mihi fulsit, PATRONE; quid ergo Hospitibus ponis fercula lauta meis?

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[1.7] For the °birthday of the illustrious and magnificent lord Heinrich von °Pisnitz, Lord Counsellor in Hertenberg and Schoenbach, and Holy Roman Vice-Chancellor, her revered lord and patron. The thrice fourth dawn of another July reveals the very day which celebrates your name, mighty Patron. What shall I do? What new wishes shall I utter in a new song? What bonds shall I celebrate in traditional vein? I am bound to you by your acts of kindness: hence I have again picked up lyre and plectrum in my resounding hands. These will bind you to me; nor will I unbind those bonds, so you will reply: 'Virgin, I will remain your protector/ But if I err not, you say: 'An end to your doubt, your sorrow, for I shall be the protector of an innocent person/ Therefore, overcome by your services, I shall ask God in my prayers to let you survive me, and many others. Thereby may you benefit the nation and care for the good of the commonwealth; thereby may you care for your wards. Hungry envy, which grasps at honest works, will not harm you, but virtue will clothe you in secure piety. These solemn vows I shall renew to God as often as your birthday returns to you. [A5v] I pray that under a happy star this suppliant may often return before God, along with her mother. [birthday: i.e., the feast of his patron saint, Henry, usually celebrated on 15 or 13 July rather than the 12th as here ('thrice fourth dawn/ but cf. tertia cum decima lux., or 13th, in Poemata version); Pisnitz: (1555-1608), deputy to Lobkovic and uncle of Ludomilla Kelley, wife of Edward Kelley's brother Thomas]

[1.81 To the same on the feast of Saint Elizabeth. The light of day has shone on me, O Patron; so why are you serving elegant courses to my guests?

16 Parthenica Apposite solvis Baccho mea vincla; solutam Suscipis & mecum more parentis agis. 5 Jure tuo perago grates, tu munera promis Jure meo: imparibus das, capioque modis. O tibi natalis fausto tuus aethere currat Saepius, & faciat nos meminisse tui! Sic pia sit conjunx longos in Nestoris annos 10 Salva, diu valeant pignora cara tori. His etiam, nostri memores quos nominis esse Convivas video, fata benigna precor. Si res arcta sinat, proprio nunc aere pararem Pocula, magnificas instrueremque dapes. 15 Sed fortuna meam siquidem rapit invida sortem, Alterius vivo (quam patienter!) ope. Hinc quia sum nodis aliorum libera, per te Vincta tibi meritis fio, patrone, tuis. = Poem, [i.9], fol. a5v. 3 vincla; solutam] vincula vinctam 4 Suscipis] Eripis 14 instrueremque] construeremque 17 nodis] vinclis

[1.9] Illustri Viro Dno. IOANNIBARVITIO ICto S. C. Matis CONsiliario, & Secretario Intimo, Dno ac patrono suo colendissimo. [A6r] Desine mirari, tua quod VIR MAGNE frequentat Limina, Nata (eheu!) matris egentis egens: Nos pietas, nos sacra Themis, nos Phoebus, & ipsae Cum Musis Charites dicere pauca jubent. 5 Tu modo, quod solitus, miseras ne despice, caussam Suscipiens; justam quam Themis ipsa docet. Dispereat, perdatque suum, mala causa, patronum: Et confusa malo probra rubore ferat. At DEUS est testis, mens aequi & conscia recti 10 Prodiderit; nos haec non nisi justa queri. Accipe, pauca loquar: tibi plura negotia jussu Caesaris, in partes pectora fessa trahunt. Orba parente gemo: genitrix viduata marito Ingemit, ereptis, vi superante, bonis. 15 Si causam quaeris, nulla est: nee juris & asqui Regula nos dicet criminis esse reas.

Book I 17

You free my bonds with the wine you have set out; you maintain me in freedom and treat me as a parent would. 5 I give you thanks as your right, you give me gifts as mine; you give and I receive disproportionately. O may your birthday come often and auspiciously, and make us mindful of you! May your worthy wife remain well for the long years of Nestor, 10 long may your dear children flourish. And I pray for a happy fate for these guests with whom I see you feasting, mindful of my name day. If my straitened circumstances allowed, I would fill cups at my own expense, and order a splendid feast. 15 But inasmuch as envious fortune snatches away my lot, I live (however patiently!) by another's wealth. Hence, since I am free of others' bonds, thanks to you, I am made bound to you, my patron, through your merits.

[1.9] To the illustrious lord Johann °Barvitius, Advocate and Counsellor to his Sacred Imperial Majesty, and private secretary, her revered master and patron. [A6r] Do not be surprised, Great Man, that an impoverished daughter (alas!) of an impoverished mother frequents your door. We are obliged to say little, by piety, by sacred Themis, by Apollo, and by the very Graces and Muses. 5 But you, have regard for women in distress as is your wont, and take up our cause, which Themis herself finds just. Let the evil cause fail and lose its patron, and bear reproach, confused with evil shame. But God is our witness, a mind conscious of right and justice 10 will reveal that our complaint is nothing if not just. Believe me, I shall say little: your many duties at Caesar's insistence distract your weary breast. I grieve at having lost a parent, my widowed mother laments her lost husband, property snatched by overpowering force. 15 If you ask the reason, there is none: no rule of law or equity declares us guilty of any crime.

18 Parthenica

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Livor, & usa suis vesana Calumnia technis, Vt nocuere Patri, sic nocuere mihi. Singula non novit Caesar: sub nomine quamvis Caesario passim multa patrata vides. Vendita sunt vili precio bona nostra; nee inde, Quae jus promittit, sunt alimenta mihi. Vltra dimidium precij si laeditur insons, Reddere laedentes jure tenentur idem. JEra aliena quidem praetendit callidus hostis: Sed reliquum precij qua mihi lege negat? Nee satis est bona defuncti rapuisse parentis: Propria sed Matris sunt bona rapta meae. [A6v] Nescit idem Caesar, cujus dementia nostram Pectore condoluit commiserante vicem. Et mandata dedit, ne justum injuria mergat: Verum aequa maneat lance cuique suum. Est audita quidem justissima causa; sed ilia Jam latet: effectu mortua pene suo. O quoties precibus nos sollicitavimus aulam, Quaerentes causae mite patrocinium? Judicium longas & adhuc differtur in horas! Hoc queror, hoc mater nempe relicta dolet. Interea miseras adeo nos urget egestas, (Ignosces lacrymis, vir generose, meis:) Vt te suspense cogamur adire pudore, Nostraque praesidio credere jura tuo. Nam te Justitiae memorem, verique tenacem, Jamdudum nobis fama probata refert. Ergo juva miseras, & justam respice causam, Sic tibi de supera faverit arce DEUS. Caesaris ah leni mentem: refer omnia: certum est, Te curante suum pondus habere preces. Quod decet, aequa bonis, de nostris portio detur, Quae mine nescio quo nomine Sector habet. Aut ubi sit precium, dicat: cui solvent emtor: Et FIAT, quod fas, quod pia jura volunt. Caesaris efficiat placido dementia vultu, Ne nos pauperies invidiosa necet.

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Envy, and mad Calumny relying on its stratagems, not only injured my father but injured me as well. Caesar did not know the details: though you see how many acts were carried out indiscriminately in Caesar's name. Our goods were sold at a debased price; nor do I have from them the sustenance that the law promises. If an innocent person is defrauded of over half the sale price, the defrauders are bound by law to restore the same. The crafty foe indeed claims to be recovering a debt, but by what law does he deny me the rest of the price? Nor is it enough to have taken my dead parent's property, but property belonging to my mother is taken as well. [A6v] Caesar does not know this; his clemency has sympathized with our situation, with a commiserating spirit. And he gave orders that injury shall not bankrupt the just; but that each shall hold his own in equal balance. Indeed, this most just cause has been heard; but the outcome is still unresolved, with hope of resolution almost dead. O how many times have we appealed to the court with our pleas, seeking a kindly support of our case? Judgment till now has been deferred for a long time: this is what I lament, and indeed what grieves my widowed mother. Meanwhile poverty drives us in our misery to this (may you forgive my tears, O noble lord), that we are forced to suppress our modesty and come forward to you and entrust our rights to your aid. For reliable report of long standing tells us that you are mindful of Justice and committed to the truth. So help us wretches, and consider our just cause, thus God shall show you favour from His exalted citadel. Ah, soften Caesar's heart; tell him everything, it is certain that our prayers will have weight if you take them on. As is fitting, let a fair portion of our property be granted us, which the auctioneer now holds, I know not by what claim. Or let him say what the price may be, and to whom the buyer paid it; let that be done which right and pious laws demand. May Caesar's clemency ordain, with calm countenance, that hateful poverty not destroy us.

20 Parthenica 55 Haec res grata DEO est: homo idem plus expetit, ecquis Invideat, viduos si fovet aula lares? [A7r] Ni nunc eveniet, quod jura, vel ordinat aula; Ni dabitur querulis quod dare jura jubent: Nos lacrymas inter solatia nulla videntes, 60 Cogimur infami disperijsse fame. Sed qui justa probas, qui caussam pauperis audis, Incluta Barvitiae gloria flosque domus: Deprecor, auxilium fer justa rogantibus: & te Sic nunquam poterit deseruisse Deus. 24 tenentur] tenetur = Poem, [i.10], fol. a6r. 2 Nata (eheu!)] sed natae 11 jussu] iussae con. jussu 14: Condole & bona sunt omnia demta simul 24 tenetur] tenentur 40 Ignosces] Farce precor 41 adire] audire 48 curante] meditante 49 aequa bonis] & dignum est 50: Quae nunc (nescio qui) detinet ille, bonis 56 si fovet] cum tegat 57-8: Sin minus eveniet; nisi nunc miseratio franget / Pectora; ni dabitur, quod Deus ipse jubet; 60: Turbidula coget morte perire fames, 61 caussam] curas

[1.10] AD EUNDEM Hanc tibi, BARVITI, mittit mea carta salutern, Virginiaeque offert tristius artis opus. Quid cupiam, quaeris? justam ad te desero causam; Et patrocinium quaero puella tuum. 5 Visa tibi sunt, lecta tibi, tibi cognita f acta; Exaudita tibi sunt mea vota quidem: Non minus immeritam tamen anxia perfero sortem, Vrgemur proprijs nempe carere bonis. Sunt homines, quos Musa suo tibi tempore pandet; 10 Qui rapiunt nobis, quae superesse vident. Siccine cum viduis agitur? tu singula lustrans, O DEUS, an poteris tot mala ferre diu? Ah natam cum matre polo transpone: malorum Sistat ut optatum mors properata modum. 15 Redde meum, qui justa probas, justissime JOVA; Signaque justitiae da manifesta tuae. Caesaris & mentem sic ad mea vota guberna; Vt placido tandem pectore praestet opem.

Book I 21

55 This matter is pleasing to God, and a pious man seeks it, for who would begrudge that the court favour a bereaved hearth? [A7r] Now, unless what laws and court ordain come to pass, and unless what laws award the plaintiffs be given, we see no relief amid our tears and are forced 60 to perish of disgraceful hunger. But you, the glorious fame and flower of the house of Barvitz, who judge of right and hear the cause of a pauper, I pray you, give aid to those making just requests; then God will never be able to desert you. [Barvitius: Johann Anton Barvitz (ca.1555-1620), a Dutch lawyer, close advisor of Rudolf, and leading patron of Prague poets]

[1.10] To the same. My poem, Barvitius, sends you this greeting, and offers the melancholy product of a maiden's art. What do I want, you ask? I am leaving my just cause in your hands; a girl, I seek your sponsorship. 5 Indeed, the facts have been seen by you, read by you, made known to you, and my pleas heard out by you. Yet I am no less anxious in reporting my undeserved fate, for we are forced to do without our own property. There are men, whom the Muse will reveal to you in due time, 10 who are stealing from us whatever they see we have left. Is this how the bereft are treated? Surveying these details, O God, can You bear all these evils any longer? Ah, transport this daughter with her mother to the heavens, so that a speedy death may put a desired end to these ills. 15 Jehovah most just, who judge what is just, render what is mine, and give a clear sign of Your justice. And thereby direct Caesar's mind to my prayers, that he may finally give aid with a calm resolve.

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[A7v] Quod dare constituit miseris, cito conferat. ecce! 20 Jam fracta ex nimio membra dolore labant. Haec ego quid frustra sic turbida conqueror? audi Fautor 6 incepti portus & aura mei. PISNITIUS tibi non deerit; qui nutrit egentes, Et studet officio damna levare suo. 25 Tu modo sume animum, tuque hoc fac Caesari apertum; Vt ferat invictam commiseratus opem. Quis jubeat differre? dies labuntur & anni: Post sua quis grates reddere fata queat? Viva tibi vivo fundam modulamina, causam 30 Tu modo susceptam, qua potes arte, juva. Sed quid ego addubito! mihi de te spero salutem Et dico: CESAR judicat aequa. Vale. = Poem, [i.12], fol. a8r. Tit.: Illustri Viro Dno. IOANNI BARVITIO, SAC. Cces. M. Consil. 3 ad te desero] tibi dedico 12 O DEUS ... diu] Mi DEUS ... dius con. diu 20 labant] cadunt 21 Haec ego quid frustra] Hoc ego quid mecum 22 6] & 23 egentes] egenos 26 invictam] optatum 28 queat] potest

[1.11] EIDEM Pellegat haec Caesar BARVITI scripta, rogamus: Augustum miseris auxiliumque ferat. Sic DEUS in rebus tibi tristibus applicet aures. Spondeat & votis prospera fata tuis. = Poem, [i.14], fol. blv. Tit.: Illustri Dno. IOANNI BARVITIO, SAC. Caes. Matis Consil. 2 Augustum] Optatum 3 applicet] applicat 4 Spondeat & votis ... tuis] Spondet & oranti... tibi

[1.12] EIDEM Dum queror, & tristem BARVITI consecro causam, Virgo tibi, precibus tu sinis esse locum. Quae loquor, ingenua sic accipis omnia mente, Vt credam ob gemitus te doluisse meos. 5 Quin etiam sperata diu solamina dicis, Et das pollicitis congrua signa tuis. Caesar enim, quod ais, mea damna levabit abunde, Et Faciet, voti compos ut esse queam: [A8r] Jam mandata dedit STERNBERGIO; & ille dolentem 10 Discussis hilarem luctibus esse jubet.

Book I 23 [A7v] Let him quickly confer what he has decreed the wretched be given. 20 Lo! our limbs already tremble from excessive grief. Why in my distress do I lament these matters in vain? Hear me, O protector, the favouring wind and port of my venture. Pisnitz will not desert you; he cares for the needy, and labours in his duties to ease burdens. 25 You, now, take courage, and make this clear to Caesar, that he may take pity and bring undefeated aid. Who could order its deferral? The days and years wear on; who can give thanks after one is dead? Alive, I shall pour forth tunes to you while you live, if only you take 30 up and aid my cause to the best of your skill. But why do I doubt? I hope for help from you and say, 'Caesar is our judge of equity/ Farewell.

[1.11] To the same. We ask that Caesar read these writings, O Barvitius, and that he supply Augustan aid to the wretched. Thus may God lend ear to you in troubled times, and promise a happy outcome to your prayers.

[1.12] To the same. While I, a maiden, lament and consign my sad cause to you, Barvitius, you make place for my prayers. All that I say you accept with so noble a spirit that I believe you have grieved on account of my sorrows. 5 Indeed you utter the long-hoped-for consolation, and give apt tokens of your promises. For Caesar, you say, will greatly lighten my sorrows, and arrange that I have my wishes come true. [A8r] Already he has given orders to °Sternberg; and he orders that 10 the sorrower be joyful, once the sorrows are dispersed.

24 Parthenica Ergo, quid est causae, quod spe solata relinquor? Cur differt alius, quod dare Caesar avet? Tu nisi BARVITI mandatum Caesaris urges, Vix jussam (6 jubeas) experiemur opem. 15 Tolle moras, quicunque mihi differre videris Caesarij auxilij robora; tolle moras: Si, mea quae patitur genitrix, tibi fata precarer; Sentires, quid sit, quam grave, ferre famem. = Poem, [i.15], fol. blv. 4 ob gemitus] gemitus 5 solamina] solatia 16 Caesarij] Caesaris

[1.13] IN HORTOS EIUSDEM. Hortus odoratis hie est cultissimus herbis, BARVITI assidua cultus, & altus ope. Hie, quoties lassum te Caesaris aula remittit, A curis relevas pectora fessa tuis. 5 Hie locus est fidis etiam concessus amicis; Hie datur aspectu colloquioque frui. Hie audire preces viduarum, & vota clientum Suscipere, innata pro bonitate, soles. Sic Domino servit decoratus floribus hortus: 10 Atque horti Dominus gaudet honore sui. Quid precer huic igitur? ne vel Zephyritida Cauri Aut Euri rabies impetuosa fuget. Sed vireat varijs ita fructibus, atque quotannis Suppeditet Domino munera grata suo. 15 Quidve precer Domino? ne laedat livor in aula; Virtuti semper qui comes esse solet. - Poem, [i.16], fol. b2r. 2 assidua] Celebris 4 relevas] relevat 6 Hie ... aspectu] Heic aspecta con. aspectu 15 ne] me con. ne

[A8v] [1.14] Nobilis: ac choro virtutum ornatiss: juvenis Dn. GUILHELMIFRIDERICI, A PISNITZ, lucem recolentis natalitiam, genio gratatur. G Ratulor Aonidum tibi dulcis Alumne DEarum V ersiculis, libro carminis apte cani. L aeta quod effulsit lux, quae te primitus aura I mbuit: hie usus nominis unde tibi.

Book I 25

So why am I abandoned, after being consoled by hope? Why does another defer what Caesar wishes to give? Unless you, Barvitius, urge Caesar's mandate, we shall hardly experience the commanded aid. (Oh, command it!) 15 Remove the delays, you who seem to be deferring the powers of Caesar's aid to me; remove the delays. If I were to wish on you the fate my mother experiences, you would know how painful it is to suffer hunger. [Sternberg: probably Adam Steinberg, head of the powerful and wealthy Bohemian family of that name]

[1.13] On his gardens. Here is a garden richly cultivated with aromatic plants, cultivated and nourished by Barvitius's °assiduous care. Here you relieve your wearied breast of its cares, whenever Caesar's court releases you in a state of exhaustion. 5 This place welcomes your trusted friends as well; here is an opportunity for seeing and conversing. Here you are accustomed, out of your intrinsic goodness, to hear the prayers of widows and take up the petitions of clients. Thus his flourishing garden serves a Lord, 10 thus a Lord rejoices in the splendour of his garden. So what should I pray for it? That no sudden blast of North or East wind should drive Zephyr's offspring away; but that it should flourish thus with its varied fruits and annually supply welcome gifts to its Lord. 15 What shall I wish for its Lord? Not to be bruised at court by that Envy which is always wont to accompany Virtue. [assiduous, busy, but probably with a play on the alternate Latin sense of 'wealthy, property-holding/ opposed to proletanus]

[A8v] [1.14] Greetings to the most noble youth, distinguished for his array of virtues, Master Wilhelm Friedrich von Pisnitz, on the return of his birthday. I congratulate you in little verses, sweet disciple of the Muses, you who deserve to be celebrated in a book of song. That the happy day has broken which first shone on you, this is the source of your name.

26 Parthenica 5 E L M V S 10 F R E D E 15 R I C V S 20 D E P I S 25 N I T 5

t primogenitus matrique patrique tulisti uce tua, geruli gaudia prima tori. aximus ut natu fratrum es, sic moribus omnes, irtute, ingenio, sic pietate praeis. ed nee ego his tua solius natalia canto esta, quod & tecum sit DBA nata duplex. espice; si dubitas, aut Divas nosse laboras; n faciunt, Pietas cum Gravitate duas! igna viro facies juvenilibus additur annis; t sine laudanda nil pietate geris. espicis ad magni laudes genitoris avitas, ncedens patrio stirps generosa gradu! andor inest illi, matrique poemate major: elle tuum tantum est, quos imiteris habes. is f acilis, facilem sed te natura serenat; e patrioque nequis flectere calle pedem. [Blr] rgo age Virtutis succresce propago, domusque atriciae, Pyleos enumerando dies. nter totque dies, non curis canus, at annis iderii properes serus ad astra poli. unc cape, non quod Musa queat, nam vincula tantum sta tibi tenui fert, Gulielme, metro. u fac, ut ad me iterum pede vel tria verba recurrant: ic mini non vinctus, nee mihi victus eris.

= Poem, [i.26], fol. b8r. Ut. Nobilis: ac] Nobilis: eruditi, ac 1 GRatulor... dulcis] Impiger ... grator 3 primitus aura] prima sub axem 4 Imbuit... tibi] Protulit... tibi est 5 Et] Tu 9 Sed nee ego his] Verum ego non 10 nata] nota con. nata 11 Respice; si dubitas] Quaer 6 addubitas? 12 En faciunt,] Nonne facit 14 laudanda] laudata 19: Quid moneo? innatus te candor dirigit ipse: 25 Nunc cape, non quod Musa queat] Qvod mallem, mea Musa negat 26 fert, Gulielme] dat, Friderice

[1.15] AD EUNDEM. Munera, vota, chelyn, pulchro de flore corollas, Quae tribuis, peragis, tendis, & ipse dicas: Cuncta velut solida compagine nexa jugarunt Pectora, quae grata mente, manuque fero, 5 Munera muneribus pensabo carmine carmen: Proque pijs votis mutua vota dabo. Pro lepidis referam bene olentia serta corollis: Hoc fuero nodis more soluta tuis?

Book I 27

5 And as the first born, you brought your mother and father, with that dawn, the first joys of their °fertile bed. As you are the greatest of your brothers in age, so do you lead them all in morality, virtue, wit, piety. But I do not celebrate your birth as that of a single person, 10 for with you was born a biform goddess. Reflect, if you wonder or labour to know these goddesses behold, Piety and Gravity are those two! An appearance worthy of a man is added to your youthful years, and you do nothing without showing praiseworthy piety. 15 Reflect how your noble line advances on the father's side, to the ancestral praises of your great parent. There is a greater than epic splendour inherent in him and your mother: you need only choose to imitate these models. May you be gracious; but nature illumines your grace; 20 you cannot turn your steps away from the paternal path. [Blr] Therefore, grow to maturity as an offspring of Virtue and a noble house, measuring out the °Pylian's lifespan. And after all those days, hoary not with cares but with years, hasten at last to the stars in the spangled heaven. 25 Now take what my Muse cannot give you, for she delivers these bonds to you, William, in too slight a metre. Answer me, please, in a poem, even a brief one, so that you will be neither bound nor beaten by me. [fertile: Latin gerulus is a noun, 'bearer, carrier, doer' from gero, but here the word seems to be an adjective modifying tori, 'wedding bed.' We have taken it as carrying the sense of bearing or producing, hence 'fertile'; Pylian: Nestor]

5

[1.15] To the same. The gifts, prayers, lyre, crowns of lovely flowers which you yourself give, fulfil, tune, and dedicate, have all linked our spirits together in a secure embrace which I recognize with grateful heart and hand. I shall compensate with gifts for the gifts, song for the song, and for your devout wishes I shall offer mutual ones. For the lovely crowns I shall return sweet-smelling garlands: shall I thereby be loosened from your bonds?

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Firma tamen restent inter nos fcedera amoris, Quis Charitum Genio juncta caterva sumus. Ipsa tibi semper devota tuisque manebo; Si mihi constanter tu Guilielme, faves. Vtque faves, valeas; salvi sint opto parentes, Et soror, & frater, totaque salva domus. 8 more] mora = Poem, [i.27], fol. b8v. Tit.: Ad Doctis: & Nobilissimum luvenem GULIELMUM FRIDERI. de Pisnitz, in die Elisabethae. 6 Proque pijs votis mutua] Digna pio votis pectore 7 Pro lepidis referam bene olentia] Pro blandis reddo benolentia 8 mora] more 12 Guilielme] Gulielme 13: Sicque diu salve, salvi sint oro parentes

[1.16] EIDEM.

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, Gulielme salve nobilis; Patri salutem die tuo, [Blv] Et fratribus simul tuis, Valere quos tecum velim. Novensilum colas chorum Et nesciam matris DEAM, Perita, quas te carmine, Docebit horas fallere. Plectrum manu frequens tua, Et ungue sint motae fides: Et ora melleus lepor Decebit, & nervos decor. His tempus ordines tuum: His turpe fraenes otium: Elimines ignaviam Ditis Megaeraaque hospitam. Molestiarum molibus Neu parce, nee laboribus. Labore dum gemis probo, Gaude imminente praamio, Indulseris si lusibus, Jocisque curta temporum Momenta donaris, merum Te pcenitere manserit; Ergo licet vel lineae Paucaa tuo restent lucro;

Book I 29

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Yet let there remain powerful covenants of love between us, by which we are a band joined by the spirit of the Graces. I myself shall remain ever devoted to you and yours if you constantly show me favour, William. And as you favour me, so prosper; I pray health for your parents, health for sister, brother, and the entire household.

[1.16] To the same. Hail, noble William, give greetings to your father, [Blv] and your siblings too, whom I wish good health with you. May you worship the chorus of °Novensiles, and the °goddess not born of a mother, who will teach you skilfully to beguile the passing hours in song. May the plectrum be moved by your busy hand, and the lyre by your nail; a honeyed elegance will befit your lips and beauty your strings. May you order your time with these things, and with them restrain base idleness, avoid sloth, the guest of Dis and Megaera. Do not avoid the burdens or labours of troubles; while you groan in worthy labour, rejoice at the imminent reward. If you indulge in games, and give your brief moments of time to jests, you will be left with °undiluted repentance. So even if few limits remain to your wealth,

30 Parthenica

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Solertiae tamen suae Vestigium locaverint: Seu quaeris herbas florido Cubans humi rosario: [B2r] Seu forte vires arguis Florum, vel ipsos colligis. Sic, si implicatarum amites Avium fatigent agmina: Aut comminus canum in feras Est impetus per devium. Quin & daturus Martijs Parata telis brachia, Idem tibi negotium Exterminabit otium. Quicquid capis, quicquid cupis, Laboriosas cogita Musas, capis sic, quod cupis: Rei usque sunt accommodae. Gulielme, parce, te rogo, Quod impolita carminis Inusitati mi hactenus Tibi loquatur Pieris. Apollo jussit illicce Me thyrso, amabiles palam His incitare versibus, Monent Sorores & Charis. Audaciae culpam meae Gulielme, lenis accipe: Sincera quod mens obtulit, Interpretere mitius. Vale, vale, valeat pater Carissimus: felix domum [B2v] Redi tuis cum fratribus: Quod caelitus faxit DEus. = Poem, [i.32], fol. c2r. Tit.: GVLIELMO FRIDERICO a Pisnitz, nobili juveni 1 Gulielme Guilelme et passim 16: Cui nee locus prae foribus 19 gemis] genus con. gemis 27 suae] tuae

Book I 31

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cunning schemes will still find the path, whether you seek out greenery, lying on the ground in a flowery rose bed, [B2r] and either praise the powers of flowers, or pluck them. Similarly, if net-poles weary multitudes of entangled birds, or there is a close assault of dogs against beasts in their lair; or else, if you prepare your arms for martial weapons, that same business will bring an end to your leisure. Whatever you get, whatever you wish, think on the laborious Muses, thus you get what you wish; they are always adequate to the matter. William, pardon me, I beg, that an unpolished Muse has thus far spoken to you in my unaccustomed song. Apollo has bade me thus, with °thyrsus; Charis and her dear sisters openly urge a quickened pace in these verses. Kindly forgive the fault of my boldness, William: and interpret gently what a sincere mind has offered. Farewell, farewell, and good health too to your dear father; may you blessedly [B2v] return home with your brothers: may heavenly God allow this. [Novensiles: or Novensides, literally 'new gods' as opposed to the Indigetes, but here evidently identified with the Muses (and falsely derived from novem 'nine' rather than novus 'new.' See also 1.18 below, line 32, and Novenales in 1.17, line 8); goddess: Minerva; undiluted: with a likely play on the two related meanings of merum, 'unmixed' and 'wine'; thyrsus: an attribute of Bacchus, not Apollo, but here suited to the 'unaccustomed' metre and tone of this song]

32 Parthenica

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[1.17] NOBILI ET DOCTO ADOLESCENTI Dn. IOHANNI Henrico de Pisnitz. Nescit adhuc metrico valedicere Musa labori: Sed caussam, SALVE, cur iteretur, amat Nam tibi, quae regnat mansueto in pectore virtus; Non facile immemores nos sinit esse tui. Insitae enim quadam virtutis imagine fulges: Omine nee vano nomina patris habes. Nunc igitur dotes Musarum fructibus orna; Sit natura tibi cultior artis ope. Nempe Novenales maneant tua cura sorores: Sic te Phoebus amet: sic tibi praesto Charis. Juridicis Clarias studijs conjunge puellas: Sic magnse facies utilitatis opus. Nulla dies abeat, quae non toleranda laboris Signa habeat: ponet Pieris ilia tibi. Omnia si pereant, solas remanere Camenas Novimus: hae superis terrigenisque placent. Ergo suprema tibi sint Musae, HENRICE, voluptas. Diique tuis faciant te superesse diu. Sed quid agas, moneo te pauca referre vicissim? Ecquid agunt fratres? quid pater? anne valent? 18 Diique ] Dijsque = Poem, [i.29], fol. civ. 1 valedicere] subsistere 2: Ne tibi sit nostro carmine nulla salus 4 immemores nos] immemorem quern 15 remanere] superesse 16 hae superis terrigenisque placent] hinc superis gratus es, inde DEO 17 suprema] sola 18 Dijsque Diique

[B3r] [1.18] AD MAGNIFICUM NEC NON NOBILISSIMUM VIRUM Dn. NICOLAUM MAJUM, Sac. C«ES. Mtis. in Regia Appellationum Curia, Consiliarium ac turn Supr. vallis loachimicae Praefectum; amicum sibi patris instar colendum. Nominibus quod MAIE, meis tot jungis honores, Et mihi plus tribuis, quam tribuisse decet; Quod tua Musa gravi tenues Epigrammate laudes Evehit, atque operas quid putat esse meas;

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[1.17] To the noble and learned youth, Master Johann Heinrich von Pisnitz. My Muse has not yet learned to say farewell to her metric toil, but she delights to have reason to give repeated greetings, for the virtue that reigns in your gentle breast does not easily allow us to be forgetful of you. For you shine with a certain image of inherent virtue, and by no vain omen do you bear your father's name. Now, then, deck your inheritance with fruits of the Muses, let your nature be adorned with the aid of art. Indeed, may the °Nine Sisters remain your concern, so may Phoebus love you, and Charis be present for you. Wed the Clarian maidens to your legal studies; you will thereby create a work of great utility. Let no day end without lasting signs of your labour; the Muse will give them to you. If all else perishes, we know the Muses alone remain, for they please earth- and heaven-dwellers alike. Therefore, let the Muses be your supreme joy, Henry; and may the gods let you live long with your dear ones. But I urge you to reply in turn briefly: What are you doing? What are your brothers doing? Your father? Are they well? [Nine Sisters: Latin Novenales seems to be a nonce term; see note on Novensiles above, 1.16]

[B3r]

[1.18] To the magnificent and most noble gentleman, Nicolaus °Maius, Counsellor in His Holy Imperial Majesty's Court of Appeals and Supreme Prefect of Joachimstal; a friend to be cultivated like a father. Since you link so many honours to my name, Maius, and bestow more on me than should be bestowed, since your Muse conveys subtle praises in weighty epigram, and considers my works to be of some value,

34 Parthenica 5 Quid referam? vel quo me denique munere gratam Exhibeam meritis die mihi, Maje, tuis? Vt sim grata quidem me virtus excitat in te, Me Musae, quod idem Phoebus Apollo probat. Nescio quid faciam cum Musa negata mihi sit; 10 Musaque Castalio cassa liquore gemat. Nee minim, rarumve, mihi si fluminis expers Aonij, aeternum patria fata fleat. Namque ea vix Clarijs libarat munera Nymphis; Nee pede Pegasiam turn penitrarat humum; 15 Cum carum perimendo mihi patrem Magistrumque Impediere gradus invida fata meos. Vnde dolor tenerum surgentis germen alumnae Reprimit, & pressum surgere ad alta vetat. lam tolerare vices fortunae, ictusque protervos 20 Invidiae, & legum jurgia docta pati! [B3v] Fata dies demunt inimica: renuntio Divis; Quae gaudent hilari sede, quiete vigent. Sed dolor ambages fugat (6 sors invida cceptum Sic inhibes? inhibe; meque perire sine!) 25 Limine desieram: sic haereo limine; Musa Principio, ut medio, sic quoque fine caret. Nominis ergo tui qui digne encomia inepto Aggredier, Celebris carmine, Maje, queam? Id faciant Helicona quibus sua Pallas amcenum 30 Pandit, & Aonio dat latitare solo: Vel quibus auricomus placato numine Phoebus Plena Novensilibus vasa propinat aquis: Et quos fata beant; quibus omni congrua vota Tempora sunt vitae prosperiora magis. 35 Ne tamen e multis taceam: tua nomina flectet (Parce precor) rudibus rustica avena notis. Quo se Musa prius divertat, nescio: tot sunt Membra tuae laudis materiaeque penus! Seu genus extollam egregium, proavosque celebres 40 Ordine commemorem, sic glomeremque decus? Haec aliena puto, peregrine parta labore, Tu gemina duplicas nobilitate genus. Gazas, rura, greges, monimentum, tecta, tapetes; Aut semeles puerum, Te Cereremve canam?

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5 how shall I respond? With what gift, then, shall I show myself grateful for your praises? Tell me, Maius. Indeed, the virtue in you stimulates me to be grateful, and so do the Muses, for Phoebus Apollo judges likewise. I know not what to do since the Muse is denied me, 10 and the Muse laments her loss of Castalian drink. Nor is it strange or rare for me if, deprived of the Aonian stream, she weep eternally my father's fates. For she had hardly offered libations to the Clarian Nymphs nor yet set foot on Pegasean ground, 15 when envious fates hindered my footsteps by destroying my beloved father and teacher. Hence grief represses his rising offspring's tender bud, and holding it fast keeps it from rising on high; by now I have learned to tolerate fortune's turns 20 and envy's shameless blows, and to endure legal quarrels! [B3v] Hostile Fates diminish my days: I renounce them to heavenly beings who rejoice in a happy seat and thrive in calm; but grief banishes uncertainty (O envious fate, do you frustrate 25 my undertaking? Frustrate it, but let me perish!). I stopped at the threshold, I am stuck to the threshold; my Muse is deprived of beginning, middle, and end. How shall I then be able worthily to undertake the praises of your famous name in my inept song, Maius? Let them do it to whom their Pallas offers pleasant Helicon, 30 those whom she allows to dwell apart on Aonian soil; or to whom golden-haired Phoebus with gracious godhead pledges cups filled with the waters of the °Novensiles; and whom the fates bless, those for whom happier times are prayers granted throughout their lives. 35 Yet unlike many others, let me not be silent: my rustic reed will sound your titles (pardon, I pray) in rough notes. I know not where the Muse will turn first: there are so many headings to your praise and such a store of material! Shall I exalt your noble race, or commemorate in turn 40 your celebrated ancestors, and thereby heap up your glory? I find these beside the point, the product of another's labour, for you augment your race with double nobility. Shall I sing of riches, fields, flocks, monuments, houses, tapestries, or Semele's °child; or of you, Ceres?

36 Parthenica 45 Digna parum sunt haec, modicum mansura per eevum: At virtute tua, Maje, superstes eris. Nee Themidos repetam, divinae aut Pallados artes: Phoebus enim propria te movet ipse lyra. [B4r] Immo nee ulla fere, qua virtus prominet, ars est; 50 Quae non in nitido pectore germen habet. Invasit penitas Pietas sincera medullas: 'Intima possedit Candor, & ora lepor. Has te virtutes dudum fecere beatum; Coelo aequant, ipsis assimilantque Dijs: 55 Et tuus ut mensis (qui campis gramina reddit Et picturato flore coronat humum) Totius apparet tempus pretiosius anni: Cui merito primum jure canatur epos: Sic tu prae multis velut auro gemma nitescis, 60 Et velut astrifero stella corusca polo. Tu vere Majus: vernantis tempore Maji Flora tibi flores spiret honora suos. Quos neque frigoribus Boreas, neque Sirius aestu Torret, ab aeterno veris honore rubent! 65 Cetera grandiloquis mandat mea cura Poe'tis Grandia mi parvis sit tetigisse satis: Nunc flore, ut floret Phoebo gratissima Laurus: Multaque victurum secula nomen habe. Interea & miserae non immemor esse puellae 70 Mavis? grata animo sint rata vota tuo. 15 patrem] patremque 70 vota] voto = Poem, [i.19], fol. b3r. Tit.: Magnifico Viro, DN. NICOLAO MAIO, S. Caes. M. Consil. &c. amico sibi patris instar colendo. 3 Quod tua Musa gravi tenues] Aut tua Musa nimis nostras 6 Exhibeam] Exhibeo 9 Musa] vena 13 libarat munera Nymphis] libasset vota Deabus 14 Nee... penitrarat] Et... tetigisset 17 tenerum surgentis germen alumnae] tenero surgentem germine Musam 18 pressum] pressam 21 renuntio Divis] renuncio Musis 32 vasa] vitra 33 omni congrua vota] almis congrua Musis 35 flectet] Psallet 39 egregium] egregiam con. egregium 47 Themidos... aut Pallados] Musas ... Pallados 52 Intima] Pectora 56 coronat] colorat 61 vernantis tempore Maji] sed Maji tempore transis: 63 Sirius] seirius 64 ab] at 65 cura] Musa 67-70: Sic vivas viridis tu semper Majus: & ingens / Casurum nullo tempore nomen habe. / Floridus & felix ita seros Majus in annos / Flore: grata animo sint rata vota tuo.

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45 These are not worthy enough and will last but a short time; but you will survive them, Maius, through your virtue. Nor shall I undertake the arts of Themis or divine Pallas, for Phoebus himself moves you with his own lyre. [B4r] Indeed there is almost no art by which virtue shines forth, 50 which does not have its seed in your glorious breast. Sincere Piety has penetrated to the innermost marrow, Purity possesses the heart, and Grace the lips. These virtues long since have made you blessed; they lift you to heaven and make you comparable to the gods. 55 And as your month (which returns seeds to the fields and crowns the earth with colourful flowers) appears as a more precious time of the entire year, to which rightly an epic should be sung, so you outshine many, like a gem set in gold, 60 and glisten like a star in the heavenly pole. You are truly May: in the time of burgeoning May let honour-granting Flora bear her flowers for you. Neither Boreas with chills nor Sirius with heat blasts them; they blush with spring's lasting bloom! 65 My care consigns the rest to lofty poets; for me it is enough to have touched great matters glancingly. Flourish, now, as the laurel most pleasing to Phoebus flourishes, and enjoy a fame that will triumph for many centuries. And meanwhile, do you choose to be not forgetful of a wretched 70 girl? May the granting of wishes please your heart. [Maius: (ca.1551-1617), Apellationsrat, Prefect of Mines at Joachimstal, author or transcriber of alchemical texts; Novensiles: see note to 1.16 above; child: Bacchus]

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[1.19] AD EUNDEM, Cum periculoso Pragae affligeretur morbo. Non equidem immerito miraris candide Maje, Et mea jure tuo Musa vocatur iners, Quod raro calamos tractet, quod tempore tanto Torpeat; & scribat carmina nulla tibi. [B4v] Non torpore tamen, sed mcestis anxia, curis Ilia latet; gemitu semisepulta suo. Aspice cum lumen Phcebi sit nube subactum, Quam tristem tellus exhibeat faciem? Quum Regni Rector fatis agitatur iniquis, Quam torquet populos anxia cura leves! Quando tremiscentem sors desperata senatum Angit, quae cives sollicitudo premit? Quis vetet Aonias Phcebo lugente sorores Suspensis Cytharis squallidiora sequi? Cum mihi sis Phcebus, die cum te dira fatiget Febris, & hac Stygiae torreat umbra DE^E; Num. tua suaviloquas spirabunt pectora Musas? Num poteris numeris applicuisse fides? Magnum opus, & labor est; nee curant maesta Camenae; Nee luctu raptos dia poesis amat. Carmina tranquillo scribentem pectore quaerunt: At vere lyricum neglegit aeger opus. Haec mihi causa fuit, Musis haec causa rigoris: Hac vivam amota, vivet & ipsa chelys. Turn demum calamos teretes, plectrumque reposcam; Gaudiaque erepto laeta dolore canam. Salve, vive, vale, plures viridissime in annos MAJE; petas sero CANDIDUS astra senex. = Poem. [122], fol. b6r. Tit.: NICOLAO MAIO S.C.M. Consil. & Vallis loach. Praef. sum. amico sibi patris instar colendo. 15 fatiget] fatigat con. fatiget 16 Febris, & hac ... torreat] Sors, cum te... terreat 24 chelys] chebis con. chelys 27 viridissime in] viridissimus 28 MAJE; petas sero] MAIVS: & hinc penitres

[1.20] AD EUNDEM. Vndique convolitent cum, floride MAJE, Poetae Vt tibi gratentur carmine, voce, manu. [B5r] Quid sileat mea Musa, quid haec lassata remittat Brachia, quid carmen differat, anne rogas?

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[1.19] To the same, when he was in Prague, afflicted with a dangerous illness. Indeed, not without reason do you wonder, °honest Maius, and you rightly call my Muse sluggish, since she seldom wields her pen, and for so long is idle, and writes you no songs. [B4v] Yet she holds back not from idleness but from anxiety, with sullen cares, half-buried by her grief. Do you see when the light of Phoebus is suppressed by clouds, how sullen a face the earth displays? When the Kingdom's Ruler is stirred by hostile fates, how anxious fear torments the fickle people? When a desperate situation constrains the trembling senate, what concern presses on the citizens? Who will forbid the Aonian sisters, when Phoebus grieves, to pursue wretchedness with their lyres hung up? Since you are my Phoebus, speak, though heavy fever vexes you, and thereby the shadow of the Stygian goddess parches; will your heart breathe forth the sweet-speaking Muses? Will you be able to apply your lyre to song? It is a great work, and a heavy chore; nor do the Muses love sad songs; nor does divine poetry love the grief-stricken. Songs seek out the writer who has a calm breast, but truly a sick man neglects the task of lyric. This has been my reason, this the cause of my Muses' inertness, and when it is over, my harp and I will live. Then at last I shall ask again for smooth pens and plectrum, and sing of happy joys when grief has been banished. Be well, live, fare well, flourishing for many more years, Maius; as a °hoary old man may you at last seek the heavens. [honest, hoary: here and in the last line Maius is called candidus, a word meaning both 'honest, candid' and 'white-haired']

[1.20] To the same. Since poets on all sides converge, °lovely Maius, to greet you with song, word, and craft, [B5r] do you ask why my Muse is silent, why she wearily slackens her arms, why she postpones her song?

40 Parthenica 5 Jure quidem, cum me tibi non studiosior ullus, Aut magis observans debeat esse tui; Scribere deberem, votis & jungere vota: Cum pateat celebri gloria laude tibi. Sed timui tumidas nimium procedere ad undas; 10 Et strepere inculta, Maje diserte, lyra. Attamen & medios inter caput exsero vates; Laudibus, & meritis exhilarata tuis. Me virtutis amor vincit, timidumque pudorem Ponere pro Phcebo casta Thaleia monet. 15 Ergo puellares reliquis intersere curis Pieridas, salva dum modo pace licet. Officiosa DEO pietas tibi pectore floret, Vnde DEO, unde tuis gratus es, unde meis. Ingenium laudem? proprio splendore refulget 20 Illud; & exemplis clarius usque nitet. Majus es, ac ipso virtutem nomine complens Majores magno vincis honore tuos. Est tua nota fides, rerum experientia, Candor; Qui fucum odisti, qui simulata negas. 25 Odisti ex animo falsos, tibi hypocrita sordet: Semper amans recti, non nisi justa probas. Hinc te Rudolphus Caesar, mundi ille Monarcha, Praefecit mineris auriferisque vadis. Munera magna dedit; titulis adjecit honorem; 30 Teque a Consilijs nunc jubet esse suis. [B5v] His igitur potiare bonis, frustraque fremente Invidia; facti praemia digna cape. 19 refulget] coruscat 27 ille] illi 31 fremente] frementi = Poem, [i.13], fol. blr. Tit.: Magnifico ac Nobilissimo Viro, DN. NICOLAO MAIO, SAC. Caes. Maiestatis Consiliario, ac sup. vallis loachimicae Praefecto, amico sibi patris instar colendo. 9: Sed timui virgo nimium procedere ripae 14 pro] cum 15 intersere] intersero 16: Pieridas, liceat quod mihi pace tua. = Carmina gratulatoria honori... Nicolai Mali... scripta ab anticis, Calendis Octobris anno 1601 stylo correcto [copy in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin], fol. A2r. 5 ullus] alter 6 Aut] Vel 9: Sed timui virgo nimium procedere ripae, 11 exsero] erigo 14 pro ... Thaleia] cum ... Thalia 15 intersere curis] intersero Musis 16: Pieridas, liceat quod mihi pace tua. 16a-b: At quid Musa canet? quo prima exordia sumet? Quo dicet laudes ore Minerua tuas?

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5 Well you may, for no one should be more zealous toward you than I, or more respectful of you. I ought to write, and add prayers to prayers, since your fame is extensive and widely praised. But I have feared to approach the overly swollen waves, 10 and make noise with my untrained lyre, learned Maius. Nevertheless I raise my head amid these bards, exhilarated by your praises, and by your merits. The love of virtue conquers me, and chaste Thalia urges me to set aside my timid shame for Phoebus's sake; 15 so interpose my girlish poems among your other cares, if it is not too much trouble. A dutiful piety toward God flourishes in your breast, whence you are pleasing to God, and to your people and mine. Might I praise your wit? It shines with its own splendour, 20 and examples of it glisten ever more brightly. You are °Majus, and realizing your virtue through that name, you surpass your forefathers with great honour. Your honour is famed, and so your experience, your frankness; you hate pretension, and scorn falseness. 25 You wholeheartedly hate liars, you find the hypocrite unclean; ever loving of what is right, you approve justice alone. Hence Emperor Rudolf, the world's monarch, has made you prefect over lodes of gold-producing mines. He has made you great gifts and added honour to your titles, 30 and now calls you to serve among his counsellors. [B5v] Take charge of these properties, while Envy seethes in vain; take these prizes worthy of your achievement. [lovely: Latin floridus, 'flowering/ plays on Maius as 'May'; Majus: here, play is on contrast between forms of majus, greater: 'ancestors' are majores]

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[1.21] PAULLO MELISSO FRANCO, Eqv. Aur. Comit. Palat. Civi Romano Sic ego, si faveo, tibi nomen inesse probarim Amorum & Musee fertilitate tuaa. Namque lepore tuo me sic tibi jungis & unis, Laurigenumque pio sic melos ore canis; Vt liquidis aluisse favis, melica ora putaris: Hinc mihi das melos & mella Melisse simul. Carmina quando facis mira dulcedine; lis est Cum Nasone tibi cumque Marone tibi. Grajugenae certant & tecum carmine vates: Sed palmae tribuit praamia victa Chelys. Vive Melisse, diu vatum Phcebique Sacerdos: Et bene; ne noceat vespa maligna, vale. Nunc ego, nunc referam viridi pro daphnide grates: Non jam pro lyricis, dive Poeta, favis. Cum mage me veniens numerosam effecerit aatas, Et flarit votis lenior aura meis; Musaque erit clario mea percita plenius cestro; Liba feram sacris, Phoebe diserte, tuis. Inter [e] a haec Franci censura admittit oloris; Sed Genio tanti conveniente viri.

cf. Poem, [i.17], fol. b2v: Ad nobiliss. ac ampliss. Virum PAULLUM MELISSUM Francum, Com. Pal EQ. aur. Civ. Rom. Elector! Palatino a Consilijs. Qui tibi lecta putant a dulci nomina melle, Melligenum callent quid meletema qveat. Sed bene si videas id nominis esse probarim Amorum & Musaa fertilitate tuae, 5 Namque lepore tuo me sic tibi jungis & unis, Pegasiumque pio sic melos ore canis; Ut liquidos posuisse favos dulci ore puteris Hac ratione mihi spero Melissus eris. Carmina ducta facis mira dulcedine; lis est 10 Cum Nasone tibi, cum'Cicerone tibi.

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[1.21] To Paulus °Melissus, Franconian, Palatine Count and Knight of the Golden Spur, Roman Citizen. I would judge, approvingly, that the fruitfulness of your °loves and Muse is inherent in your name; for you so link and unite yourself to me with your wit and sing with pious tongue such a laureate song, that you'd have thought your melodious voice nourished on liquid honeycombs; so, Melissus, you give me both melody and honey. When you make your songs with marvellous sweetness, you compete with Ovid and Vergil. Greek-born bards, too, compete with you in song; but the vanquished lyre awards the palm's premium. Live long, Melissus, priest of bards and of Phoebus; and live well, lest any evil wasp harm you. Now I shall give thanks for the green laurel: and indeed for your lyric honeycombs, divine Poet. When the passage of time will have made me more fluent, and a lighter breeze will have wafted my prayers, and my Muse will be stirred more fully by Apollonian frenzy, then shall I make libations to your rites, learned Phoebus. Meanwhile my judgment of the Franconian swan admits this much; but only if the Genius of so great a man consents. [Melissus: Paul Schede (1539-1602) took his Latin surname from his mother's family name, Melisse. Librarian at Heidelberg, he was granted his titles during a visit to Padua in 1577; loves: a rare instance of W's failure to observe the requirements of metre, since the first vowel in Amorum is short]

[Version in Poemata:]

To the most noble and mighty man, Paulus Melissus, Franconian, Palatine Count and Knight of the Golden Spur, Counsellor to the Palatine Elector. Those who think your names taken from sweet honey will know what the honeying practice can do; but if you look closely, I'd judge that the fruitfulness of your loves and Muse is a part of your name; 5 for you so link and unite yourself to me with your wit, and sing with pious tongue so Pegasean a song, that you'd be thought to have dropped liquid honeycombs from your sweet mouth; hence I hope you will be Melissus for me. You make drawn-out songs with marvellous sweetness; 10 you compete with Ovid and with Cicero.

44 Parthenica Romulei certant hinc tecum carmine vates; Sed palmae tribuit praemia, victa Chelys. Vive Melisse diu, Dux vatum, gloria Phcebi: Et bene, ne noceat vespa maligna, vale. Non ego mine referam viridi pro Daphnide grates; Non jam pro Lyricis, dive Poeta, favis. Cum mage me fugiens numerosam effecerit aetas; Et flarit fatis lenior aura meis; Musaque erit vestro mea percita plenius cestro, Liba feram sacris, Phoebe diserte, tuis. Interea haec Franci censura probabit oloris, Sed genio tanti conveniente viri.

[B6r] [1.22] EIDEM. Multa simul vidi quae divite pectore fundis Carmina; Dii quantus, dii stupor ora tenet! Jure ego sic mecum (quis enim tarn digna loquentem Arguat?) a primis vatibus, orsa, loquor. 5 Plaudite Phcebicolae, nam nascitur alter Apollo; Actiacam superat Musa Melissa lyram. Te stupeant, quotquot restant, sua Numina Musae: O vir, b aetheria digne cohorte coli. = Poem, [i.18], fol. b3r. 1 quse] quis 2 tenet] quatit 3 quis] quis con. quae 7 Te stupeant, quotquot restant,] Te quotquot restant, stupeant

[1.23] IN OBITUM EIUSDEM. Vix potero querulos cohibere puella dolores, Ex obitus fama Magne Melisse tui. Jam tibi responsum, jam metra petita parabam, Festinant vultus ipsa videre tuos. 5 Ecquid in hoc mcestis jucundius orbe relictum est, Quam tanti adspectus colloquiumque viri? Te duce sperassem laudabile ludere carmen: Et mea judicio subdere ccepta tuo. Censor acutus eras in barbara secula, vitae 10 Norma tuae, pietas unica semper erat. Quid deceat vatem; quid spectet dia poesis, Vel clarias poteras erudijsse DEas. Non ego versiculis, non metior aure Poetam: Versificatorem quaelibet hora facit.

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Hence the bards of Romulus compete with you in song; but the vanquished lyre awards the palm's premium. Live long, Melissus, chief of bards, Phoebus's glory: and live well, lest any evil wasp harm you. 15 Now I shall not give thanks for the green laurel; and indeed for your lyric honeycombs, divine Poet. When the flight of time will have made me more fluent, and a lighter breeze will have wafted my words, and my Muse will be stirred more fully by your frenzy, 20 then shall I make libations to your rites, learned Phoebus. Meanwhile my judgment of the Franconian swan admits this much, but only if the Genius of so great a man consents.

[B6r] [1.22] To the same. I have seen all the songs you utter from your abundant breast; ye gods, what stupor seals my lips! Rightly I tell myself (for who can blame the speaker of such worthy words?) these arose from the earliest bards. 5 Applaud, you Muses, for another Apollo is born, and Melissus's muse triumphs over the °lyre of Actium. Let however many powers remain to the Muse be astonished by you, O hero, worthy of worship by the heavenly cohort. [lyre of Actium: Vergil's]

[1.23] On his death. A mere girl, I shall scarce be able to contain my woeful sorrow at the report of your death, great Melissus. I was preparing a response to you, the poem you requested, which was hastening to meet your eyes. 5 Ah, what greater joy is left for the sorrowful in this world than the sight and conversation of so great a man? Under your guidance I had hoped to play at a praiseworthy poem, and to submit my initial efforts to your judgment. You were a shrewd judge in a barbarous time, and the norm 10 of your life was always a unique piety. You could teach the Clarian goddesses what is fit for a bard, what immortal poetry demands. I do not judge a poet by his verses or his ear; any occasion you please produces a versifier.

46 Parthenica 15 Flacce tua blaterem venia: anne poetica solus Est numerus? numerum quin magis ordo regit? [B6vj Ordinis articulos vis enthea concipit oestro, Hinc mihi divinus, mente Poeta vir est. Tails erat noster, vatum ille Monarcha Melissus, 20 Dignus ab extrema posteritate cani. Sed quia sordescunt, fatuo aurea carmina mundo; Atque utrem potius gaudet habere Midas; A superis merito translatus ad astra Melodes, Angelicis adhibet dulcia plectra choris. 25 Salve chare DEO, flos pure Melisse Camenae: Et cape Westoniae dona suprema tuae. Nominis ilia tui memor ad pia busta quotannis, Pro Lauru violas, Attica serta, feret. Not in Poem.

[1.24] CHRISTOPHORO a BELVITZ, FRIDERICI comitis Palatini Rhen. Principis laudatiss. Consiliario Secretiori, & ad Rudolphum II. Rom. Imperatorem legato.

BELVITIAM solidis qui stirpem laudibus ornas; Et qui de Christi nomine nomen habes: Forte tuam, & merito tenet admiratio mentem, Carmina quod mittam virgo legenda tibi. 5 Neu mirere nimis: virtus: conjungere suevit Absentes etiam, quos liquet esse bonos. Fama etenim nostras nuper suggessit in aures Melpomenem vobis complacuisse meam. Teque dolere meos, pietatis amore, dolores 10 Quod cum matre bonis sim spoliata meis. [B7r] Heu dolor! haec subeunt quoties tarn tristia mentem; In lachrymas toties tota soluta feror. Hinc certus grates tibi dicere Apollo paravit; Qui petit, hac, ut ames mente favere mihi. 15 Paucula num cupis, ut moduletur Pieris ultra? Melpomene querulae nil nisi triste sonat. Non mihi Therpsichores Citharae, non fistula restat Euterpes: lessum nil lyra praater habet.

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15 By your leave, °Flaccus, I would babble; but is poetry no more than metre? or does some greater order rule metre? [B6v] A force inspired with frenzy conceives that order's elements; hence for me the poet is a man divine in spirit. Such was that Melissus of ours, monarch of bards, 20 worthy to be celebrated by his most distant posterity. But since golden songs are sullied by the foolish world, and Midas delights more in puffed-up conceits, our singer has rightly been transferred by the gods to heaven, where he applies his sweet plectrum to angelic choirs. 25 Hail Melissus, beloved of God, pure flower of the Muse, receive your Weston's final gifts. Mindful of your name, she will annually bring to your pious tomb violets, Attic garlands, in return for your laurel. [Flaccus: Horace]

[1.24] To Christopher von °Belvitz, most praiseworthy secretary and counsellor to Frederick, Palatine Count and Rhenish Prince, and legate to the Roman Emperor Rudolf II. You whose substantial praises are an ornament to the Belvitian line, and who take your name from the name of Christ, perhaps you are rightly overcome by wonder why I, a maiden, send songs for you to read. 5 But wonder no further: virtue has been wont to unite even those who are absent if it is clear they are worthy. Indeed, a recent report came to my ears that my tragic Muse had awakened your sympathy. And that you grieved at my grief, out of pious affection, 10 since my mother and I are despoiled of our goods. [B7r] Alas for the grief! Whenever these sorrows come to mind I am wholly dissolved into tears and carried away. Hence surely Apollo was ready to give you thanks, since he asks you to want to favour me in this mood. 15 Surely you don't want my Muse to perform a few more little things? Melpomene sings only a sad song of complaint. I no longer have Terpsichore's lute or Euterpe's reed; my lyre has nothing but a funereal lament.

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Neenia principium nostrae, finisque Camenae: Tales, non alios dat mea Musa modos. Melpomene causas parit; adspiratque labori; Hujus ego 6 Tragicaa ducor Alumna DEv^E! Nam soleo tantum lenire querendo dolorem, Et gemere adversaa tela sinistra DE^E! Non spem subsidij mage, sed solamina luctus Quaerens, do fatis consona verba meis. Tarn quia crebra fuit, sine fruge querella, querenti; Vt minimum de spe vix superesse putem. Livor edax etenim prohibet mea vota tot, & tot: Et steriles querulo reddit ab ore preces: Surripuit nobis una Patremque Virumque, Et bona furaci cuncta repente manu. Pauperiemque pati nunc ilia tenente coegit Hoste, cui levis est nostra ruina jocus. Heu sumus insontes: fit aperta injuria nobis, Rumor id immenso prodit in orbe nefas! Rumpere livor atrox, saavissima belua, qvam nee Sacra themis superat, nee timor ipse DEI. [B7v] At tu nostra dolens mansueto pectore fata, Christophore, 6 generis gloria rara tui Perpetuum eja novo cumulare favore favorem Perge: tuoque mihi consilio adfer opem. Sic ego Belvitiae pro gentis grata salute Assidua feriam sidera summa prece. 41 novo] nova = Poem, [i.ll], fol. a7v. 7 Fama etenim nostras nuper] Namque meas nuper rumor 8 vobis ... meam] nostram ... tibi 15 num] si 16 querulae] nobis 23 lenire querendo] quando lenire con. lenire querendo 32: Et rabie proprijs privat agente bonis 33 nunc ilia] bona nostra 35 aperta] magna 41 nova] novo

[1.25] Admodum Reverendo in Christo Dno GEORGIO BARTHOLDO a BREITENBERG, Metrop. Eccl. Pragen. praeposito, Fautori Suo colendo. Quod pietatis opus praastas, quod divite nostras Munere lacrymulas, pauperiemque levas, VIR venerande DEO, & musis carissime, grates Innumeris mecum Mater agit numeris.

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A dirge is the beginning and the end of my Muse; my Muse gives me no other tunes but these. Melpomene begets my arguments and breathes on my labour; and oh, I am borne as an offshoot of this tragic Goddess! For I am wont to mitigate so great a sorrow by lamenting, and to bemoan the painful darts of the hostile Goddess! Seeking not the hope of help, but rather solace for my grief, I utter words suited to my fate. And since my complaints are so numerous, without profit to the complainant, I can hardly believe any hope is left. For again and again rapacious Envy frustrates my vows, and returns the sterile prayers from my complaining lips. It has snatched from us both Father and Husband, and all our goods suddenly, with thievish hand. And with them in the hands of the enemy, for whom our ruin is a laughable matter, Envy forces us to endure poverty. Alas, we are innocent, and an obvious injury is being done us, which Rumour reports as disgrace in the world at large. Down, vicious Envy, most savage beast whom neither sacred right nor the fear of God itself succeeds in overcoming. [B7v] But you, Christopher, lamenting our fate with gentle heart, O rare glory of your race, pile new favours on old; give me help with your counsel. Thus I shall gratefully assail the highest heavens with constant prayer for the health of the Belvitz family. [Belvitz: not further identified]

[1.25] To the most reverend in Christ, Master Georg °Barthold von Breitenberg, Metropolitan Designate of the Prague Cathedral, and her worshipful patron. Inasmuch as you furnish a pious service and lighten our tears and poverty with generous offerings, O Sir, worshipful to God and most dear to the Muses, my mother and I offer thanks in measures without measure.

50 Parthenica 5 Credo DEUM per te solatia ferre misellis; Inter ut aerumnas experiamur opem. Ergo palam patulum dicam tua facta per orbem: Grataque pro meritis carmina semper erunt. Musicus insignis, patrium de Monte PHILIPPus 10 Nomen habens, simili nos pietate fovet. Hinc benefactoris primas sibi vendicat ille: PISNITIus vero, ceu Pater, alter adest. Tertius es nobis tu, vir venerande, Patronus: Dum fers pupillis auxiliator opem. 15 O utinam quartus succedat in ordine CAESAR: Primus erit, reddet si bona ademta mihi. [B8r] Id proprijs exempta bonis mea mater, id unum Optat: at 6, quod jus, curia curet idem! Caesaris ah tandem subeat miseratio mentem, 20 Vt caussam excutiat perspiciatque meam. Sic ego cum Musis, sic cum Genitrice beatam Dixero me: & pleno gaudia corde feram. Vive, valeque DEO & Musis gratissime Praasul; Nosque pijs precibus, nosque favore juva. = Poem, [i.20], fol. b4v. 17 Id] Nam 23 gratissime] dignissime

[1.26] AD Nobiliss: & Excellensiss: Dn. PHILIPPUM DE MONTE: Sac: Caes. Mtis. Capellae Magistrum, Musicum hoc nostro seculo principem. Te quoque, cui nomen de MONTE PHILIPPE, Camenae Jure tuo nostrae demeruisse volunt: Sum meritis devincta tuis, tibi debeo multa, Quod mecum Genitrix grata fatetur item. 5 Non sum solvendo, sed quas me dicere fas est, Virginio grates, carmine grata canam. Inque DEI laudem tua raraa munera mentis, Donee in hoc mundo sum, celebrabo Chely. Si reputem mecum modulamina dulcia vocum, 10 Concentus suaves, tu mihi Phcebus eris. Amphion mollis tu cantu Numinis iram: Orpheus tu lapides, immo Acheronta, moves.

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5 I believe that through you God brings solace to the wretched, that we might experience His aid in the midst of troubles. Hence I shall tell openly of your deeds through the wide world; songs will ever be welcome recompense for services. A distinguished musician, Philippe with the family name of 10 Monte, helps us with a like generosity. Hence he claims first place as benefactor; while Pisnitz, like a Father, is another claimant. You are a third Patron for us, reverend Sir, since you are bringing aid to your wards as a helper. 15 Oh, would that Caesar might follow as fourth in order; he will be first if he returns the lost property to me. [B8r] My mother prays for this alone, deprived of her own goods; but oh, that the Curia might care for this, as is just! Ah, that at last compassion might overtake Caesar's mind, 20 that he might take up my case and look into it. Then I would consider myself blessed, along with my Muses and my Mother, and wholeheartedly rejoice. Live, and prosper in God and the Muses, most gracious Patron, and help us with your pious prayers, and with your favour. [Barthold von Breitenberg: or Pontanus (15507-1614), Jesuit and poet, friend of Lobkovic, possessor of large and varied library]

[1.26] To the most noble and excellent Master Philippe de °Monte, Chapel Master of His Holy Imperial Majesty, and chief musician of this our time. You too, Philippe de Monte by name, our Muses wish to honour as is your right. I am bound by your favours, I owe you much, as my grateful Mother likewise joins me in confessing. 5 I am unable to repay you, but what gratitude it is right for me to express I shall sing gratefully in my maidenly song. And in praise of God may I celebrate with my lyre your gifts of rare thoughtfulness, as long as I am in this world. If I may ascribe to myself sweet vocal melodies, 10 gracious harmonies, you will be my Phoebus. As Amphion you mollify with song the deity's wrath, as Orpheus you move stones, even Acheron.

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Caesaris hoc mecum Rudolph! tota fatetur Aula; nee hoc ipsum splendida Roma negat. [B8v] Gallia te celebrat: te tellus Itala laudat; Ingenijque tui cantat Iberus opes. Ergo Dei donum est ars Musica; desine Mome Hanc odisse, pia hac vita carere nequit. Ilia suas animo vires studiosa ministrat, Mollis & a curis pectora fessa levat. Erigit, & firmat mcestos: solatia dicit; Et fallit longae taadia longa viae. Musica quin etiam tranquillae tempore pacis Occinit, ad sumrnos Numina sancta tholos. Musica Bellonae rabiem, saevumque furorem Frangit, & est hosti grata futura suo. Musica fit duro svavis medicina labori: Hanc superum munus quo minus ergo negem? Affectus regit ilia pios, atque aspera flectit Pectora, virtutem gignit, & alta vehit. Pace suos recreat cives: cervicibus arcet Hostilem imbelli vimque rninasque rnanu. Hanc, DEUS admittit sancti ad sacraria templi; Vt justo in PSALMIS possit honore coli. Quid verbis opus est? conservat Musica sanos; Dispellit morbos; firmat amicitias. Mentis ad obsequium sensus deducit, & ipsam Ad superos mentem voce sonante trahit. Non tamen harmoniam stolida heu intelligo talem; Illecibris quae fit pernitiosa suis. Sed qua te Phcebus laudate Philippe, beavit, Quae gravis, aut Divum munere sola venit. [Clr] Quae rapit ex humili affectus, & tollit Olympo; A vitijs animos, quae revocare potest. His igitur gaude donis, totumque per orbem Cantari ut possis, magne Philippe, Vale. = Poem, [i.21], fol. b5r. Tit. Excellensiss.] Excellentiss. 1 Te... Camenae] Tu... Camenis 2 nostrae demeruisse volunt] nostris his celebrandus eris 11 mollis] relevas 29 regit ... atque] ciet... ac 39 heu] hie 41 laudate Philippe, beavit] donat divine Philippe 42 aut] ac

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The whole of Emperor Rudolf's court confesses this to me, nor does mighty Rome deny the same. [B8v] France celebrates you, and the Italian soil praises you, and the Spaniard sings of the wealth of your wit. Hence music is God's gift; cease to loathe it, Momus, for the pious life cannot be without it. Music eagerly gives power to the spirit, and gently lightens care-weary spirits. It raises and strengthens the sorrowful, and gives solace, and distracts the long tedium of a long life. Indeed, even in a time of tranquil peace, music loudly extols holy powers to the highest domes. Music crushes the wrath and savage fury of Bellona, and will be pleasing to her enemy. Music becomes a sweet medicine to heavy labour; so how shall I deny it is a gift of the gods? It rules pious feelings, and turns aside violent hearts, begets virtue and sails the deep. In peace it restores its citizens: with unwarlike hand it keeps from their necks any hostile force or threat. God admits it into the holy places of His holy temple, that He may be worshipped with fit honour in Psalms. What is left to say? Music keeps us sound, dispels sicknesses, confirms friendships. It leads our senses to an obedient spirit, and draws that same spirit to the heavens in a resounding voice. Yet I do not foolishly consider that to be harmony which, alas, becomes pernicious in its allurements; but what Phoebus has blessed you with, praiseworthy Philippe, is serious, or comes only by the gift of the Gods. [Clr] It snatches our emotions from the ground and exalts them to Olympus, and can call our spirits away from vice. So rejoice in these gifts, and fare you well, great Philippe, that you may be sung throughout the whole world. [Monte: (1521-1603), Flemish musician in the service of the Hapsburgs from 1568, known internationally for his numerous polyphonic compositions, both sacred and secular]

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Text appears in G. van Doorslaer, La vie et les oeuvres de Philippe de Monte (Brussels, 1921), pp. 271-2. Source not cited, follows Parth. version.

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[1.27] NOBILISSIMO ET ERUDITISS : JUVENI JOANNI FRANCISCO WESTONIO, Anglo Fratri suo Germane. Ne mirere, modis properent quod verba ligatis: Quod mihi Calliope, do tibi, %ocipe, dedit. Quae mollit durum numeri dulcedine pectus, Et svadet svavi plangere fata melp. Fata quidem nunquam mihi sat deflenda misellae, Quae tantum Musis eripuere decus: Et quae nos miseros charo spoliare Parente Invidia varios inveniente modos: Ilia docet crudos cantu relevare dolores; Et meminisse diu dedocet ilia malum. Ergo boni querulae immaturos consule versus: Primitias genij quas tibi mitto mei. In quibus omnimodam FRATRI SOROR opto salutem Cuncta meis etiam prosperiora malis. Caelitus ut calidis aspiret luppiter ausis: Et tibi conatus provehat ille tuos. Virtutis donee laudato plenior aetas Olim incremento Teque Tuosque juvet. [Civ] Macte igitur virtute tua, feliciter insta, JANE, onus hoc omni parte levabit amor. Debile Musarum circumdes ^Egide pectus, Fortunae casus ut superare queas. Quid prosint illae, duris exercita f atis, Vita dat: exemplo doctior esto meo. Cura sub obscura nos hie perterritat aura: Et lassata quatit naufragus ossa labor. Nam dum sollicitis urgetur causa querellis, In nova Sisyphium tempora vergit onus: Vt redit hora mihi, redeunt simul altera damna: Nee vacuum experior luctibus ire diem. Sic ego, quod doleo, non mentis morbus habetor, Est morbus tanto, non doluisse malo! At nequeunt lamenta pios, attingere Manes; Lacrymave instabiles maesta levare vices.

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[1.27] To the most noble and learned youth, John Francis Weston, Englishman, her brother. Do not wonder at these hastening words, bound by metre: what greetings Calliope has given me, I give to you. She softens my heavy heart with gentleness of verse, and persuades me in sweet song to lament my fate. Indeed in my misery I can never adequately lament my fates, which have robbed my Muses of so much dignity, and have despoiled us wretches of a dear Parent, while Envy devises various tricks. The Muse teaches me to relieve my bitter griefs with song, and teaches me to forget my woe for a while. Therefore, take kindly these immature verses of lament, the first fruits of my wit which I send you. With them, a sister sends her brother all sorts of good wishes, and that all things be more prosperous than her own ills. As Jupiter on high may favour spirited undertakings, may he also promote your efforts for you, until a riper age may assist You and Yours some day with a praiseworthy increment of virtue. [Civ] Therefore, John, live happily, blessed in your virtue, for love will lighten your burden in every way. Protect your weak breast with the Aegis of the Muses, that you may be able to overcome the trials of Fortune. A life tried by cruel fates shows how the Muses can help; be informed by my example. Our cares terrify us here under the dark sky, and our weary bones are battered by the shipwreck of labour. For while our case is urged on with anxious complaints, a Sisyphean burden extends to new times. With every passing hour I find new troubles arriving as well, nor do I know any day to pass without its grief. So that I lament is not to be considered a disease of the mind, it is a disease not to have lamented such an ill! But my laments cannot reach the pious Shades; or my mournful tears lighten my insecurities.

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35 Spes sane poterat me sustentasse: vel istas Fortunag turbas diminuisse modo. Spes suadet Nautis, tumidas cum Thetys in iras Proruit, extremae quaerere sortis opem: Sed quid sperandum est miseris: ubi Pallidus (eheu) 40 Liver, avernali cuncta furore petit. QESARIS est clemens animus; sed GESARIS aurem Subducunt votis invida fata meis; Quo minus ille queat nostras audire querellas; Et solitus nobis obvius esse favor. 45 Sed DEUS has etiam nubes absterget iniquas; Atque serena mei Caasaris ora dabit. [C2r] Ille meae columen vitae est; ille anchora; tandem Sperata faciet me statione frui. Tu quoque fide DEO, PRATER dilecte, tuaeque 50 GERMANS nullis immemor esto locis. 49 PRATER] FRATRE Not in Poem.

[1.28] IN OBITUM EJUSDEM Epita[p]hium, Sororij amoris ac extremi officij ergo conscriptum 4 Novemb. Anno 1600. AD LECTOREM. Forte quis hac recubet, LECTOR, disquiris in urna? (Heu) tenero JUVENEM flore recondit humus. Nomina participat FRANCISCUS, nomina JANus; Cognomen vere nobile WESTONIus. 5 Miserat hunc olim longinquis Anglia, Boijs, Ex puero ut fieret cultor, Apollo, tuus. Ille quidem Musas, sed bis duo lustra, colebat; Assidua versans sedulitate Sophos. Verum ubi florigeris, & vix, haac attigit annis, 10 Clauserunt teneros tristia fata oculos! Plangite vos mecum Veneres; vos Triga sororum; Flete novem Musae; vester alumnus obit. Vnicus hie Matri natus; patris unica cura; Hoc uno fissa est unica fratre soror.

Book I 57

35 Surely hope could have sustained me, or diminished somewhat Fortune's turmoils. Hope persuades sailors, when Thetis erupts in swelling wrath, to pray for aid in their desperate situation. But what are we wretches to hope, when (alas) pale Envy 40 pursues everything with infernal fury. Caesar's spirit is kindly, but envious fates distract Caesar's ear from my prayers. Thus he is the less able to hear our complaints, or make available to us his accustomed favour. 45 But God will turn aside these hostile clouds and show me the serene face of my Caesar. [C2r] He is my life's prop, he is my anchor; finally he will arrange that I may enjoy my hoped-for station. You too, dear brother, keep faith in God, 50 and remember your sister in all places.

[1.28] An epitaph on his death, written out of sisterly love and as a final duty, 4 November 1600. To the reader. Perchance you ask, Reader, who lies in this urn? Alas, the earth holds a youth in his tender flowering. He shares the names of Francis and John, and rightly claims the noble surname of Weston. 5 England had formerly sent him to the distant Bohemians that he might become from youth your servant, Apollo. Indeed he followed the Muses, but for twice two lustra, studying philosophy with assiduous zeal. But when he had achieved these things, barely in his flowering 10 years, the cruel fates closed his tender eyes! Weep with me, you cupids, you Triad of sisters; weep, you nine Muses; for your ward has died. Here lies his mother's only son, his father's only care; his only sister is separated from this, her only brother.

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[C2v] 15 Orphana nempe soror; mater gemibunda relicta est; Abrupit Triadem, quae fuit arcta Monas. Haec quia fata volunt, geminos quae lingua dolores, Quae poterit lacrimas explicuisse meas? Munera sed Prater tibi sume novissima amoris; 20 Quae reddit bustis tristis ELISSA soror. Sicque vale aeternum, caelo Germane receptus; Dum socia caeli per juga Matre sequar. 12 Flete ] Flete = Poem, [i.25], fol. b7v. lit.: Epitaphium, Nobilissimo & erudito luueni, IOANNI FRANCISCO WE-stonio, Anglo, Sororij amoris & extremi officij ergo conscriptum 4. Novemb. anno 1600.1 hac] haec con. hac 6 tuus] tuis con. tuus 12 Fletae] Flete 13 Matri natus; patris] Patri natus fuit, 14 fissa] fisa 16 Abrupit] Abrumpit 17 geminos] geminas con. geminos

[1.29] Nobili & clarissimo Viro ERICO LYMBURCH. I. V. D. Consiliario Comitis ab Oldenburg. Clare vir, & Themidos cultissime cultor, ERICE, Vis nimis in laudes luxuriare meas? Non ego (quod fateor) tanto sum digna cothurno; Cum mea Calliope non nisi serpat humi. 5 Namque amor, atque dolor dilecti funera fratris lusserunt querulis me memorare modis. His ego non laudes, non vanos sector honores: Sat mihi si Christo sim proba, grata probis. Talem nempe probant te Candida carmina: Musam 10 Gaudeo mi tenuem displicuisse minus. Perge favere meo, Clarissime ERICE, labori; WESTONMEque memor sis precor. Inde Vale. = Poem, [i.23], fol. b6v.

[C3r] [I.301ADEUNDEM.. Non ego Praxillam, Sappho, doctamque Corinnam Carminibus dicar vincere posse meis. Non ego docta tibi praeferri, Fulvia, quaeram; Cum mea ab aridulo venula fonte fluat.

Book I 59

[C2v] 15 Indeed the sister is left orphaned, the mother left mournful; he has broken the Triad which before had been a close unit. Since the fates have willed these things, what tongue will be able to express these double sorrows, and my tears? But accept, Brother, these last gifts of love 20 which your sad sister °Elissa renders to your tomb. So farewell forever, Brother, received into heaven, until I follow with my mother through the heavenly summits. [Elissa: a name given to Dido by Vergil, and frequently used as a form of Elizabeth by Elizabethan poets]

[1.29] To the noble and famous gentleman Eric °Lymburch, legal counsellor of the Count of Oldenburg. Famous man, and most learned servant of Themis, Eric, do you wish to lavish excessive praises on me? I am not (I confess) worthy of so elevated a dramatic style, since my Calliope can only creep along the ground. 5 For love, and grief for a beloved brother, have forced me to commemorate his funeral in sorrowing tunes. With these I do not seek praise or vain honours; it is enough if I may be virtuous before Christ and please the virtuous. Indeed, your candid songs show you are thus: I am glad 10 if my slender Muse is not too displeasing. Come, show favour to my labour, most famous Eric; I beg you, be mindful of Weston. And so farewell. [Lymburch: not further identified]

[C3r] [1.30] To the same. May I not be said to be able to surpass °Praxilla, Sappho, and learned Corinna in my songs. May I not seek to be placed before you, learned °Fulvia, since my small vein flows from an arid little fount.

60 Parthenica 5 O utinam faciles aequaret Musa Morellas; Surgeret ex Musis laus mihi digna meis. Si tamen ingenio, si moribus, arte, poesi, Sacriloquos Vates me redolere putas: Judice te insimuler; sed te tutore vel uno 10 Invidiae discam spernere, ERICE, minas. = Poem, [i.24], fol. b7r. 4 ab] de 8: Me faciles vates vincere forte putas: 9 insimuler] superem

[1.31] In opuscula Medica CLARISSIMIET EXCELLENTISSIMIVIRI Dni. OSWALDI CROLLII, Ph. ac Med. Doctoris laudatissimi Crollius invidiae quia sese audentius offert, Edendo Medicis scripta probata sophis: Tarn sua virtuti peragit monimenta perenni; Sincerae praestat quam pietatis opus. 5 Sed quia grata DEO, afflictisque salubria membris Exigit, aeternum Phcebus Apollo mihi est. Croll, Basilica chymica (1631): 3 sua virtuti] virtute sua

[1.32] Aliud. O CROLLI decus, & medicae Coryphaee catervae, Qualemcunque etiam secula docta ferant; [C3v] Spagiricas si quis sapit, & discriminat artes, Pro scriptis grates, quas tibi debet, agit. 5 Invida turba tonet; turgescant Ilia fastu: Laurigeros feriunt fulmina nulla Sophos. 3 Spagiricas] Spargiricaas Croll, Basilica chymica (1631): 2 ferant] ferunt

Book I 61

5 O would that my Muse might equal the graceful °Morel sisters; that a praise worthy of me might rise from my Muses. Yet if you think me redolent of the holy-tongued bards in my wit, morals, art, poetry, I might be charged, with you as judge; but even with only you 10 for protection, Eric, may I learn to scorn Envy's threats. [Praxilla: poet of Sicyon who wrote hymns, dithyrambs, and drinking songs. She flourished around 451 BCE according to Eusebius-Jerome; Fulvia: Olympia Morata (1526-55), one of the century's most learned women. She published letters, Greek and Latin verses, and translations; Morel sisters: Camille, Lucrece, and Diane, prodigious daughters of the poets and members of the Pleiade Jean Morel and Antoinette de Loynes]

[1.31] On the Medical Works of the most famous and excellent gentleman, Master Oswald °Croll, highly praised Doctor of Physic and Medicine. Since Croll exposes himself so boldly to envy in publishing works praised by learned physicians, he has as much perfected his monuments to perennial virtue as he has provided a work of sincere piety. 5 But since he puts forth works pleasing to God and healthful to ailing limbs, for me he will always be Phoebus °Apollo. [Croll: (1580-1609), Paracelsan physician and author of Basilica chymica (1609); cf. letters below, II.104-6; Apollo: god of both medicine and divine song]

[1.32] Another. O glory of Croll, Coryphaeus of the medical band, whomever the learned centuries may bring, [C3v] whoever knows and can judge the °Spagyric arts gives you the thanks you deserve for your writings. 5 Let the envious throng roar, let °Ilia swell with pride; no thunderbolts strike laurel-wearing sages. [Spagyric: alchemical (word probably invented by Paracelsus); see Croll, preface to Basilica chymica: 'The Spagyrus will have the medical knowledge to separate pure from impure and restore the sick to health through a skilled alchemical preparation'; Ilia: plural of Ilium, Troy, with pun on ilia, guts or genitals, as in Servius on Aeneid 7.499; doubly apt in this medical context]

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[1.33] Clarissimo viro, D. MATTH^EO DENICHIO MEDICO peritissimo novae urbis Pragensis, amico suo singular!. Et tu Phcebeis EPIDAuRIus alter in herbis; Dextera cui lethi claudere docta viam. Quae mini Carolidae mittebas carmina vatis; Dulcisona Phoebi demodulata lyra: 5 Vt vidi; grata, qua debeo, mente recepi: Inque suum posui, quo jubet ordo, locum. Post dictas igitur nostro illi nomine grates, Obtineat veniam tarda Thaleia suam; Lentior ilia fuit grates referendo merenti, 10 Quas omni nequeat reddere nixa opera. Non fortuna meam me fecit, at invida Musis Otia frigidulis esse noverca negat. At mea fata tibi num. sint obscura rogarem, Qui noster, nostro quique dolore doles? 15 Scis equidem, nee vana loquor: mea carmina languent; Et desit mini, qui debeat esse nitor. Haec tamen (ut credo tibi) carmina redde Poetee: Prosperaque auspicijs fata precare meis. 12 noverca] uoverca 16 desit] defit = Poem, [i.28], fol. dr. Tit.: Clarissimo viro, Dn. MATTrMEO DENICHIO Navvensi Medico peritissimo & civi novae urbis Pragensis, amico suo singular!. 8 Thaleia] Thaleua corr. Thaleia

[C4r] [1.34] Clarissimo Viro, Dno GEORGIO CAROLID/E a Carlsberga, Civi Pragensi, artium liberalium Magistro, & Poetae Caesareo. Carmina natalem nati celebrantia CHRISTI Quae mihi sunt celeri deproperata manu, Faemineo cernis titubare profecta cerebro, At minus admiror consonuisse tibi. 5 Nam veluti numeris, si quae concinnior oda est, Quae nusquam raucis errat inepta sonis: Aure queat melius concepta placere vaciva, Etsi hanc Pastoris vox moduletur iners:

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[1.33] To the most famous man, Matthew °Denichius, most skilled Physician and citizen of New Prague, her singular friend. You too, another °Epidaurian amidst Phoebus's herbs, whose right hand is skilled in closing the way to death. When I saw you were sending me songs by the poet Carolides, tuned to the sweet-sounding lyre of Phoebus, 5 I received them in the grateful spirit I owed them, and set them in their place, as order demanded. Now after giving him thanks in our name, let my tardy Thalia obtain a favour: She was somewhat slow in giving a deserving party thanks which though she tried with all effort she could not render. 10 Fortune has not made me my own person, but like an envious stepmother denies leisure to my frigid Muses. But I would ask why my fates are not clear to you, who are one of us, and who grieve at our grief? 15 Surely you know, and I do not speak in vain; my songs languish, and I lack the polish that is called for. Nevertheless, give these songs (as I trust you) to the Poet, and pray for a prosperous outcome to my undertakings. [Denichius: not further identified; Epidaurian: physician, since Epidaurus was the site of a temple to Aesculapius]

[C4r] [1.34] To the most famous man, Master George °Carolides of Karlsberg, Citizen of Prague, Master of the liberal arts, and Imperial Poet. The poems celebrating the birthday of Christ born, which I prepared in haste with a swift hand, you can tell were the uncertain issue of a female brain; but I am less surprised that they pleased you; 5 for as in poetry, if an ode is relatively polished and never stumbles awkwardly into harsh sounds, its reception can be more pleasing to a casual hearing even if the idle voice of a shepherd has produced it.

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Non aliter cunctis cantando encomia Christi, Arbitror in numeris posse placere meis. Nam variata animum capiunt; adduntque nitorem: Sin mala materies, nil tua Musa valet. At quid habes, tenues magis exhilarare Camenae Pectora quo possint? dignius ecquid habes? Quam quae pro toto sanctissima victima mundo Ante DEUM cecidit? quae mala cuncta tulit? Non tamen his propriae, sed Christi buccina laudis Esse cupit, modicis Pieris usa modis. Vnde placere DEO valeam, jungique catervae Sedibus in caeli quae radiantis ovat. Haec mihi Musarum sit meta, laborque mearum; Vt dilecta DEO sim, sed amata bonis. [C4v] Vatibus haud cupiam dici praelata vetustis: De celebri nullum sede movere velim. Floreat a primo postremum Lesbia in aevum, Ac Heliconiades quae coluere DBAS. Posterior sit adhuc aetas haec nostra, priori Par numerum numero; sed bonitate prior. Tu vero teneram qui tanto carmine Musam Prosequeris, qui me vatibus annumeras! Deprecor a summo deposcas Numine tandem, Vt sim, qualis erat Lesbia: sorte puto. Tune tibi carminibus gratabor, Culte Georgi; Altera tune pro me Lesbia, vota feram. 2 deproperata] doproperata 9 cantando] cantandi = Poem, [i.36], fol. c5r. lit. Caesareo] Laureate 9 cunctis] multis 11-20 omitted 22 amata] arnica 30 Prosequeris, qui] Exornas; & 31 tandem] nobis 33 Tune] Sic 34 tune] sic = Carolides, Parentaha (1601), Epig. 11.29, pages 87-8. Tit.: Ad eundem [#28 a poem to Carolides by N. Maius] 2: Quae mihi sunt calamo non nisi ficta rudi. 3: Quamvis feemineo titubent profecta cerebro, 4 At minus admiror] Non equidem miror 6 errat] sordet 7: Auribus arrectis posset concepta placere, 9: Sic etiam cunctis cantati Encomia Christi 11: Nam subiecta stilum decorant adduntque nitorem, 12: Sit mala materies, quae tua musa foret? 13-16: Et quae materies magis exornare Camaenas Imbelles poterat? quae magis apta fuit? Quam, quae Messiae pro mundo grata redempto, Quae differre nefas, fert holocausta DEO. 19 valeam...catervae] possim...cohorti 21 sit...mearum] finis, sit quaestus hie omnis 22 sim, sed amata] simque probata 24-5: Non ullam clara pellere sede velim. / Laude

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Just so I believe I can please everyone with my song if I am singing hymns of praise to Christ. For different things take one's fancy and add lustre, but if the matter is bad your Muse is powerless. But what do you have by which feeble Muses can exalt one's spirits? Do you have anything worthier than the holiest of victims who died before God, on behalf of the entire world, and redeemed all ills? The Muse, however, wishes to trumpet not her own, but Christ's praise, using her humble means. Thereby may I be able to please God, and be joined to the band that rejoices from its seat in the shining sky. Let this be the goal of my Muses, and their labour, that I may be pleasing to God, but loved by the good. [C4v] I wish not at all to be preferred before the ancient bards; let me seek to move no one from his famous place. Let Lesbia flourish from the earliest time to the latest, and those women who revere the goddesses of Helicon. Let this age, that comes after, be equal to the earlier in the number of its numbers, but prior in goodness. Even so, you who pursue the delicate Muse in so much song, and who number me among the bards, I beg you to request from the highest Godhead that I may be as Lesbia was; I mean in her fortune. Then I shall thank you in songs, learned George; then I shall send you prayers on my behalf, as another Lesbia. [Carolides: (1569-1612), prolific and influential court poet, ennobled by Rudolf in 1596, kinsman of Cremer]

66 Parthenica sua vivat pia Lesbia tempus in omne: 27-8: Per me, si visum superis, quoque crescat eorum / Ccetus, cum Musis qui coluere Deum: 30 Prosequeris, qui] Condecoras, & 31-4: Hoc precor exoptes a summo Numine nobis Vt sim grata Deo carmine, cara bonis. Sic tibi gratabor Musis exculte Georgi, Sic eadem pro te Candida vota feram.

[1.35] IOANNILEONI pro carminum Natalitiorum editione. Si tibi sunt Musae, si sunt tibi carmina curse, JANE, vide, mea quid Calliopeia velit. Sunt mihi de Christi nascentis carmina cunis Condita, perpetuis subijcienda typis. 5 Haec curae committo tuae: tu prospice sellers Vt des Chalcographo. Sint quoque digna legi. Si quid inest duri, cedens emolliet aetas: Tu tamen, ut crescat Musa pusilla, fave. = Poem, [i.39], fol. c6r. Tit.: EPIGRAMMA, Quo rogatur IOANNES LEO, ut carmina Natalitia typis tradi curet. 2 Calliopeia] te mihi Musa 4 subijcienda] suijcienda Folger copy 6 Vt] Qva 7 cedens emolliet aetas] tua sit detergere mendas 8: Res mage: sic crescat Musa pusila mihi.

[1.361 AD EUNDEM. Quid tibi pro donis, LEO concelebrande, refundam? Vincula quove mihi sunt soluenda modo? [C5r] Nil superesse reor, digne quo munera pensem; Nexibus & dicar jure soluta tuis. 5 Sed restat, quod spero, dies; qua Numine dextro Pro meritis potero par retulisse tuis. Temporis interea quidni tibi vincta manerem? Sic tamen ut doctos, JANE, revincit amor. Not in Poem.

[1.37] Nobili & clarissimo Viro G. MARTIN A BALDHOVEN, Silesio &c. amico suo singular!. Ecquis ad officium Musas revocabit inertes, Compositaeque melos addet Apollo lyrae? Vt tibi promeritas dicam modulamine grates; Et tribuam Musis praamia digna tuis.

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[1.35] To Johannes Leo for his edition of birthday poems. If you take care for the Muses, and for songs, John, see what my Calliope might desire. I have songs of Christ's birth, prepared for the °cradle, to be subjected to the permanence of type. 5 I commit these to your care; scan them with care so you may give them to the printer. Let them be fit to be read. May the passing of time polish whatever is harsh in them; but you, help this infant Muse to grow. [edition: there is no evidence of this work by W's future husband; cradle: i.e., ready for the press, but with likely play on the subject matter]

[1.36] To the same. What shall I repay you for your gifts, honored Leo? Or in what manner are my bonds to be loosened? [C5r] I think I have nothing left to repay worthily your gifts; or by which I may rightly be thought freed of your bonds. 5 But I trust the day remains when by a favouring deity I shall be able to make even amends for your services. Meanwhile, why should I not remain bound to you? But only in such wise, John, as love binds the learned.

[1.37] To the noble and distinguished gentleman, George Martin von Baldhoven, Silesian, etc., her singular friend. Will some Apollo call my idle Muses back to their labour, and add song to my undisturbed lyre? Thus might I give you deserved thanks in my song and assign worthy rewards to your Muses.

68 Parthenica 5 Ausus es altisono me vatem dicere cantu: Et Parnassiacis associare choris! Me celebras equidem, propria sed laude coruscas Ipse magis, fidibus dignior ipse cani. Nam, qui sis, produnt tua te mihi carmina: legi, 10 Et flexere animum, ceu voluere, meum. Res & verba fluunt leni tibi tramite; possis Nasonem numeris ut superare tuis. At mihi, vix primis quae libo puella labellis Aonidum fontes, non ea vena salit. 15 Nee fortuna favet, nee restant otia Musis, Quae fuerant quondam liberiora, meis. [C5v] Ergo quod in versu vel pecco, vel ordine currunt Singula confuso, die age; Virgo dedit. Tempus erit, quo me speculabitur aethere Phoebus, 20 Et curas perimet: tune meliora dabo. Interea tibi fata precor felicia: teque WESTONI/E ut pergas usque favere, rogo. 15 otia] ocia = Poem, [i.37], fol. c5v. 1-2: Quis mihi Latous calamos componet inertes, / Compositamque dabit tangere posse lyram? 6 Parnassiacis] Parnassacis 13 quas libo puella] tetigi quae virgo 17 currunt] currant 21 precor] precer 22 pergas usque favere, rogo] dures usque favendo rogem

[1.38] AD EUNDEM. Baldhovi, quem nostra movent incommoda: Amici Nomine nequicquam dissimulande mihi: Accipe Amice, meos lugubria fata Decembres: Qui mihi felices eripuere dies. 5 Nam quod adhuc tremulis evanida vocibus hisco: Nil nisi, quod soleo, flere, dolere queo! Nee queo! nam superant muliebrem infanda dolorem Vulnera, vulneribus semper acuta novis? O utinam solis spirarem adfixa querellis: 10 Nee querulae impeteres, Livide, vocis opus! Ast utinam nobis, satiande cruore puellae, Obstrueres avido gutture, vocis iter. Sic mihi perpetuos quae sunt patienda per annos, Obrueret subitis cladibus una dies.

Book I 69

5 You have been bold to call me a bard in your lofty song, and associate me with the Parnassian choir! Indeed, you bring me fame, yet you yourself shine the more for your praise, and are the worthier to be sung on the lyre. For your poems show you to me for who you are: I read them, 10 and they bent my mind just as they intended. For you, form and content flow in an easy path; so that you can overcome Ovid in your verses. But for me, just brushing with my girlish lips the Aonian fount, that vein does not leap forth. 15 Nor does fortune favour me, nor are there leisure times for my Muses, which had previously been more generous. [C5v] Therefore if either I err in my verses, or individual songs run in a confused order, simply say that a maiden sent them. There will be a time when Phoebus will observe me from heaven 20 and remove these problems; then I will send better ones. Meanwhile I pray for happy fates for you; and I beg you to continue showing favour to Weston.

[1.38] To the same. Baldhoven, whom our troubles move, and whose name of friend to me can in no way be disguised, accept, friend, my Decembers - ah, the sad fates which have stolen happier days from me. 5 For if I still can speak with trembling voice as I expire, I can only, as usual, weep and lament! Nor can I that! for do unspeakable wounds overwhelm my womanly sorrow, ever sharpened by new wounds? Oh, would that I might live, attached to my laments alone: 10 you, Envy, would not attack the work of my querulous voice! But if you must be satiated with a maiden's blood, would you might choke the voice's passage in gasping throat. Thus with sudden slaughter a single day would undo what I have had to suffer for endless years.

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15 At tu nempe, meis socium ut te casibus addis; Sic preme propositum mente tenace tuum. 3 Decembres] Decembret Not in Poem.

[1.39] In 2 Ovidij. Trist. Sors tua, Naso tuae pretium artis, plurima mecum De proprio voluit participare malo: [C6r] Cujus in haec tandem creverunt agmina vires, Effundi solitas ut superent lacrymas. 5 Duco reluctantes extrema per omnia Musas: Nee mihi, qua pergo quave recede, via est. Perpetuoque igitur luctus iniere Calendae, Exijt auspicijs ultima meta meis! Torqueor, & miseri quaerens solamina casus, 10 Tristibus inficior, Naso, misella tuis. Vltima enim primi repetens documenta libelli, Eventus video fati utriusque pares. Dum mea me in similem rapuerunt tempora sortem: Quamvis dissimiles causa det ipsa modos, 15 Qui te Sarmaticas mensis projecit in oras, Prima idem fati visus origo mei. Missus in exilium freta per diversa luisti Supplicio culpam tu graviore tuam: Exsul ego heic dudum peregrinae supplico terras, 20 Quae mala dat quovis horridiora freto. Te piger hospitio profugum rigor excipit Vrsae, Qua jacet extreme terra subacta gelu: Arctophylax nostro non multum a vertice distat: Longaque Phcebum atris nubibus addit hyems: 25 Vna tibi Nerei movet inclementia bilem, Quam tamen amplexu vel Thetis una levat. In me perpetuos armat fera turba furores. Ah dolor! in me aditus impetus omnis habet! Scribenti, cartam feriunt tibi gurgitis undaa: 30 Et mea, sed lacrymis, scripta rigata madent. [C6v] Propria tu defies incommoda: me omnia solam, Quae vix ingenuae sunt toleranda, gravant.

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15 But meanwhile, as you join me as a partner in my fate, just so, press on with your proposal with steady mind.

[1.39] On Ovid, Tristia, Book II. Your lot, Naso, the price of your °Art, affords me much in common with my own misfortune, [C6r] whose powers have finally grown into these armies that surpass the tears that I am wont to shed. 5 I lead my reluctant Muses through all extremities and can find no path forward or back. Hence the time has come for grief without end, and I have left behind the outer boundary of my hopes. I am tormented, and seek solace for my wretched fate; 10 in my sorrow my mind is filled by your Tristia. For on reviewing the final passages of your first book, I see the events of each of our fates are alike. For my circumstances carried me to a similar fate, although the case furnished different particulars. 15 The month that banished you to °Sarmatian shores similarly saw the first origin of my fate. Sent into exile over different seas, you expiated your sin with a greater punishment; while I, an exile here, am long a suppliant in a foreign land 20 which gives me woes more awful than any sea. Numbing rigor receives you as refugee under the Great Bear, where the land lies subject to extreme cold; the Bearward is not far distant from my zenith, and a long winter clothes Phoebus in dark clouds. 25 One single storm of Nereus moves your outrage, which yet even one Thetis lightens with her embrace. For me a savage throng arms constant furies; ah the sorrow! Each attack finds its way to me! The waves of the sea soak your paper as you write; 30 my writings too are soaked, but with tears. [C6v] You lament your own discomforts; but I alone am weighed down by all that can scarce be borne by a lady.

72 Parthenica Tu patriam, incolumes patriae sed linquis amicos: Mi pater & patrij hie interiere lares. 35 Sauromatae infestant crebris tibi cuncta rapinis: Et mihi, quae non dat, gens furibunda rapit! Noxia fecisti tu lumina: & artis honorem Laesisti: poenas carmen, & error habet: Pro pietate mihi crudelis reddita merces: 40 Culpa etenim tanti nulla probata mali. Jamque tui tecum poterat querimonia luctus Portia Magnanimi frangere corda viri. Quem non & tenerae moveant lamenta puellae, Damnaque barbaricis vix superanda Getis? 45 Ergo tuo liceat mea fata dolere dolore! Ah melior quanto sors tua sorte mea est! 1 pretium] praecium 7 Perpetuoque] Perpetuim 34 hie] hoc Not in Poem.

[1.40] AD EUNDEM BALDHOVENIUM. Sunt indigna quidem celebri mea carmina praalo: Carmina turbatae pleraque mentis opus. Sed quia commendas, & vatibus ilia probantur, Judice te tacito prosiliere loco. 5 Baldhovi: curae tibi ut esse videmus, habebis; Ne sit quod nocuus felle profanet acor. Nam gemitus inter RUDOLPHI Caesaris oro Auxilium, & vitae fata sinistra gemo! Det veniam Lector, bilemque coerceat hostis, 10 Dummodo versiculis vera revolvo meis. [C7r] Audiat innocuae Caesar suspiria Nymphae: Et dicat: votis WESTONI, digna feras. = Poem, [i.35], fol. c4v. 4 tacito] obscuro 5 tibi ut] velut

[1.41] Virgin! Nobili MARGARETH^E BALDHOVENI^E, B. MARTIN a Baldhoven & ci Senioris. filiae svaviss. novae nuptae. MARGARI, quae monitu Fratris tibi carmina promam? In thalamumque tuum vota precesque feram?

Book I 73

You leave your fatherland, but the friends there are unharmed; here for me both my father and his household are gone. 35 You are troubled by the repeated incursions of Sarmatian hordes; but from me a furious race steals what it does not give! You made your eyes guilty, and sullied the honour of your Art; you are punished for an error and a song. To me a cruel return is paid for my piety; 40 indeed no offence has been proved for such a punishment. And yet the complaint of your grief was able to move the stern heart of a magnanimous lord. Who would not be moved by the laments of a tender maid, and by losses scarce to be survived by barbaric °Getae? 45 Therefore let me lament my fates through your sorrow! Ah how much happier is your fate than mine! [Art: the Art of Love, a presumed source (as well as the poet's art in general) of the offence that led to Ovid's banishment; Sarmatian: in reference to the ancient name of the region between the Volga and the Vistula, whose inhabitants were fierce warriors; Getae: a Thracian tribe, associated with the lower Danube]

[1.40] To the same Baldhoven. To be sure, my songs are unworthy of a famous press: most songs are the work of a disturbed mind. But since you commend them, and they are approved by poets, by your judgment they have appeared in a discreet place. 5 Baldhoven: since we see you will have them under your care, let no noxious bitterness sully them with bile. For amid my groans I pray for Emperor Rudolf's aid, and lament the evil mischances of my life. May the reader indulge me, and the enemy contain his bile, 10 whilst in my verses I rehearse the truth. [C7r] Let Caesar hear the sighs of an innocent nymph, and say, 'May you, Weston, bear a just reward for your prayers/

[1.41] To the noble maiden, recently married, Margaret Baldhoven, gentle daughter of Bernhard Martin von Baldhoven the Elder. Margaret, what songs shall I offer you at your brother's urging? Shall I bear vows and prayers to your marriage bed?

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Non alia, ac ipsi mini quondam Sponsa rogarem; A Phoebo & Musis, vota precesque dabo. Auspicijs ineas igitur sacra foedera laetis: Et sponsum vere, quo redameris, ames. Omnibus officijs ilium lenire memento; Si vitare velis jurgia crebra tori. Est mandare viri, nostrum esse parere: maritus Est caput, ac ipsi mutua membra sumus. Vt caput est Christus sancti (sancta VNIO!) coetus, Sic sponsum sponsae fas caput esse suae. Tu sis gemma viro preciosa: quod omine nomen Ipsum MARGARIDOS prosperiore notat. Sit pietas rectrix morum vitaeque: sine ilia Vix formosa suo est sponsa futura viro. Margaris artificis digitis quae includitur auro, Gestanti semper gratior esse solet. [C7v] Sic ubi virgineos mores, vitamque gubernant Et pudor & pietas, gratia major inest. Est species fallax, ac ornamenta caduci Corporis: hei! subito, ceu levis umbra, cadunt. Sola rnanet nobis virtutis fama superstes: Haec sponsos ornet dos pretiosa satis. Sed quid opus monitis: ignosce, PUELLA, puellaa, Quae restant thalamo? caetera dicet amor! Vive-vale: sponsoque tuo sis gemma: vicissim Ille tibi firmam praastet amore fidem. Sint procul a vobis rixae: concordia lectum Servet: & amborum sint rata vota, precor. = Poem, [i.33], fol. c3v. Tit.: MARGARETH/E BALD-hofeniae, Bernhardi Martini a Baldhofen, Cons. Sag. filiae, novae Nuptae 6 redameris] redamaris 11 sancti (sancta VNIO!) ccetus] quern sancta Ecclesia adorat 12: Sic Sponsus Sponsae fit caput & Dominus 17 artificis digitis quae] artifici quae dextra 19 gubernant] gubernent 21 Est] Et 24 ornet] ornat

[1.42] Nobili & eruditiss. Viro, ECBERTO MAJO &c: 111. & generos. Dn. Com. Lippensis a secretis. Quod memor es nostri, quantum mihi grata voluntas Est tua, sic grates debeo, MAIE tibi. Displicet hoc, fateor; nimio quod arnica favore Mens velit in laudes incaluisse meas.

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None other than what I would ask from Phoebus and the Muses for myself as a bride, shall I give as vows and prayers. So may you enter the holy bonds with happy auspices, and love your spouse truly, as he may love you. In all your duties remember to appease him, if you wish to avoid frequent strife in the marriage bed. It is the husband's role to command, and ours to obey, for he is the head and we are the mutual members for him. As Christ is the head of the sacred union (holy Oneness!), so is it right for the husband to be the head of his bride. May you be a precious gem to your husband, as your name itself of "Margaret signifies in a propitious omen. May piety rule your life and morals; without it a future bride can scarcely be lovely to her husband. As a pearl enclosed in gold by a craftsman's fingers is always wont to be more pleasing to the wearer, [C7v] so when both shamefastness and piety dictate maidenly morals and life, the inherent grace is greater. Appearances mislead, as do the ornaments of a decaying body: alas! they fall suddenly, like a passing shadow. Only the report of virtue remains to survive us: may this suffice as a precious dowry to adorn our spouses. But what is the need for warnings? Maiden, forgive this maiden; love will tell what else the marriage bed requires. Live and flourish; be a gem to your spouse, and in turn let him offer you a solid pledge of love. May quarrels be far from you, may concord rule your bed; and may the prayers of you both be granted, I pray. [Margaret: i.e., pearl]

[1.421 To the noble and learned gentleman, Ecbert °Maius etc., secretary to the illustrious and noble Count of °Lippe. Because you are mindful of us, I owe you gratitude, Maius, in proportion as your will is gracious to me. I confess it displeases me when a friendly spirit chooses to become overheated with favour in my praise.

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Parthenica

5 Quid juvat imbelles per grandia ducere vires? Rusticulosne etiam nomen herile trahat? Bubonem Cygnus soletur, alauda palumbem; Nunquid ob id rauco corriget ore loqui. Non quales celebras sublimi, MAJE, cothurno 10 Ingredior titulos; nee queo, laudis inops: Sed magis adversis respondent niimina dictis: Res est exhibita laude quod ipsa minor. [C8r] Aonidum primo tetigi pede prata Sororum, Ire nee ulterius fata maligna sinunt. 15 Saepe meum nimij caeptum minuere dolores: Et perpes medium lacryma rupit opus. Vix documenta vagis prodens titubantia signis, Effatur gemitus Calliopeia suos: Fata meis quoties adeo renuentia votis 20 Ingemit: immitem conqueriturque DEam. Jam mea si reputes aetatis fata tenellae, Nil tibi quod sapiat, nil quod ametur, erit. Sed quid opus calamo? fcedi vestigia luctus Conspicuam faciunt resque dolenda fidem. 25 Haeccine sunt teneris primordia digna Camasnis? Num dare se studijs sic tener ullus amet. At mihi nota tuae virtus aequissima mentis Et pietas nugas evehere ausa meas. Non igitur damno, licet indignissima, laudes: 30 Nam tuus his animi dat sua signa favor. Dixi raucidulae modulamina rustica avenae: Saepe petita tibi consule, MAIE, boni. 21 mea] me

Not in Poem.

[1.43] AD IOANNEM CASIMIRUM GERNANDUM cum XIII aetatis anno sec[u]nda Laurea Philosophica coronaretur. Ergo tuo credam de te CASIMIRE, parenti, Quem nimius forsan scribere jussit amor? Et moveor patris indicio, magnique Melissi, Gruterique opera, quae facit ipsa fidem.

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5 What good is it to lead weak forces into great matters? Shall a noble name also embrace lesser country folk? Let the swan console the owl, the lark the wood-pigeon, but they will not improve the other's hoarse voice thereby. I do not claim the titles you celebrate, Maius, with glorious 10 buskin, nor can I, being deficient in praise; but the powers respond more to hostile remarks, for the matter itself is less than the praise bestowed. [C8r] I have barely set foot on the Aonian Sisters' fields, my hostile fates permit me to proceed no further. 15 Frequently excessive woes have threatened my undertaking, and endless sobbing interrupted my work. Barely able to produce shaky documents with uncertain signs, Calliope utters her groans; whenever she groans at the fates which deny my prayers 20 she bewails the cruel Goddess. If you consider my fate at this tender age, you will find nothing to savour or enjoy. But what is my pen's business? Loathsome sorrow's path and my grievous state render my lyre conspicuous. 25 Are these worthy beginnings for tender Muses? Can any youth wish to give himself to such studies? But the equable virtue of your spirit, known to me, and your piety make bold to celebrate my trifles. So although I am most unworthy, I do not condemn your praises, so for your favour gives signs of your feelings toward them. I have uttered the rustic tunes of a hoarse reed, as often requested by you, Maius; so accept them favourably. [Ecbert Maius: not further identified; Lippe: Simon VI, Count of Lippe from 1579 to 1613, formally appointed 1598 to Rudolf's Reichshofrat, Imperial Court of Appeals in Prague, principally engaged in collecting taxes to support the war against the Turks]

[1.43] To Johann Casimir °Gernandus/ on his being crowned with a second laurel in Philosophy, in his thirteenth year. Shall I then trust your parent's view of you, Casimir, whom excessive love perhaps forces to write? I am moved by your father's evidence, and great Melissus's, and by the work of °Gruter, which itself establishes trust.

78 Parthenica

[C8v] 5 Publica confirmant mage me tot scripta; tuique Ingenij foetus, docte puelle, probant. Ingenium miror; mihi gaudeo; gratulor orbi; Ac in te celebro munera larga DEI; Cui grates debes, tantis quod dotibus ornet 10 Mollia prima aevi pectora parte tui. Sic tibi supplebit, quae desunt, longior aetas, Et quae te illustret gloria, major erit. Not in Poem.

[1.44] AD EUNDEM. Flos aevi Casimire tui, tibi grator honorem, Quo DEUS ex merito teque patremque beat. Faxit is ingenio quaa gloria crescit, ut ilia Publica delectet commoda, priva juvet. 5 Non addam stimulum; video te pergere recta Ad metam, verus quam tibi ponit honor. Omnia despicias, quae te remorentur euntem: Sic Phcebus Palmae praemia digna dabit. Tu patrium extendes per secula nornen: honore 10 Magnus eris, patriae major amore tuae. Ergo doce, ingenij quae sit praestantia: amicis Eja avidis animi munera prome tui. Te patris invitat virtus: frustrante paternus Spe, cave, ne soleat te superare favor. Not in Poem.

[1.45] AD HERMANNUM FABRONIUM: Hassum. P.L. Scripta parum cultae quid tollit ad astra puellae Advena cui patrium est Hassia clara solum? [Dlr] Non ea sunt tanti, quae quis miretur, honoris: Nee mea, sed fati tristia verba mei. 5 Duxi etenim invito languentia carmina ductu; Dum Musis operam sorte negante dedi: Et tristes inter traxi suspiria casus: Non madida Aonio nectare, sed lacrymis.

Book I 79

[C8v] 5 So many published writings persuade me even more, and the products of your wit convince me, learned boy. I marvel at your wit; I rejoice, I thank the world, and in you I celebrate the abundant gifts of God, to Whom you owe thanks, that He decorates with such gifts 10 gentle breasts, in the first years of your life. A more mature age will supply what is lacking, and the glory which renders you lustrous will be enhanced. [Gernandus: son of Johann, cf. in. 10-11 below; Gruter: Janus Gruter (1560-1627), Flemish classical philologist, editor, and historian]

[1.44] To the same. Casimir, flower of your age, I congratulate you on the honour with which God rightly blesses you and your father. May He grant that the glory which increases through your wit shall delight the common weal and aid the individual. 5 I shall add no stimulus; I see you proceeding directly to the goal that true honour sets for you. You should scorn everything that delays your passage; thus Phoebus will give awards worthy of the palm. May you advance your family name for the ages; you will be great 10 in your honour, greater in your love of country. Therefore, show us the excellence of your wit; ah, offer your eager friends the gifts of your spirit. Your father's virtue incites you; beware lest your father's support overwhelm you and frustrate our hopes.

[1.45] To Hermann °Fabronius, Hessian, Laureate Poet. Why does a stranger whose native soil is glorious Hesse praise to the skies the writings of an unlearned girl? [Dlr] They are not so honourable that one would admire them, nor are they my own so much as the sad words of my fate. 5 For I pursued my languishing songs from an unwanted impulse, while I gave my Muses the care that Fortune denied me. And I drew sighs amid my sad disasters, moistened not with Aonian nectar but with tears.

80 Parthenica

10

Hae mihi materies a primo tempore, ad imum Has fuerint suetae per mea fata Duces. Si quid erit forsan diversum spebus, ob illas Torpori veniam LECTOR, ut opto, dabit. Not in Poem.

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[1.46] AD THOMAM BLASIUM. Sancta THOM^E sancto roseis lux fulsit ocellis, Cujus sacra tibi nomina Lympha dedit. Te memini nuper fidibus celebrasse canoris Festa, mihi cunas quae posuere meas. Ni male grata velim (quod dedecet esse) videri, Debet idem Genio mine mea Musa tuo. Ergo bonis avibus natalia festa recurrant Saepe tibi, & secum secula laeta ferant. Not in Poem.

[1.47] JOHANNIHELLERO I. V. D. ELIS. IO. WESTONIA S. Si tibi nostra placent vernantis carmina Musae Hellere, Hesperiae cultor, amorque DE&: [Dlv] Gaudeo, nam doctis laus est placuisse poe'tis: Quos inter forsan, tu numerandus eris. 5 Famae praeco meae es: teneramque favore poesin Virginis (ut versu ludis & ore) juvas. Et tibi quern spondet, Phcebus concedat honorem: Et grates pariter Musicus ordo canat. Quae tamen hexametri sint leges carminis, Anglam 10 Addoceas: nam te disco docente lubens. Hactenus est pedibus senis, nee pluribus, usa Musa: novi si quid, die mihi, Phoebus habet? Da veniam, quaeso tantum, non carpo Poema: Sed cupio monitis, doctior esse tuis. 15 Hexametrum pedibus carmen sex constat: at abs te Sunt septem positi: qua ratione? doce! = Poem, [i.38], fol. c6r. 10 Addoceas] Addoreas con. Addoceas

Book I 81

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These were my subjects from the beginning; to the end these have been wonted guides through my misfortunes. If perhaps there shall be something unexpected, I hope my tears will make the reader forgive my torpor. [Fabronius: or Mosemann (1570-1634), German theologian and churchman, kinsman of W's eighteenth-century editor, Kalckhoff. His poem of praise is in Part 3 below, item 6]

5

[1.46] To Thomas °Blasius. The holy dawn shines forth with rosy eyes on Saint Thomas, whose sacred name the Baptismal water has given you. I recall you recently celebrating on the melodious lyre the feast that marked my birth. I do not wish to seem less grateful (as would be unseemly), so now my Muse owes the same to your Genius. Therefore may your birthday feasts recur often to you with good omens, and bring with them happy ages. [Blasius: not identified. His poem celebrating W is not known]

[1.47] Elizabeth Jane Weston, to Johannes °Heller, Doctor of Laws, greetings. If our songs of a youthful Muse please you, Heller, devotee of °Hesperia and loved by the goddess, [Dlv] I am glad, for it is an honour to have pleased learned poets, among whose number you may yet be placed. 5 You herald my fame and helpfully favour the early verse of a maiden - in your playful verses and talk. And may Phoebus grant you the honour which he promises: and likewise the chorus of Muses sing their thanks. Still, teach an Englishwoman the laws of hexameter: 10 for I am eager to learn from your teaching. Till now the Muse has employed six feet, no more; tell me what novelty has now occurred to Apollo? Do me a favour, that's all I ask, I am not attacking your poem: but I want to be more learned through your instruction. 15 Hexameter verse consists of six feet; but by you seven have been placed there: by what reason? Teach me! [Heller: deputy of the Austrian state, and a poet who in 1598 had written a work in praise of Rudolf; Hesperia: Italy]

82 Parthenica [1.48] ELISABETHS JOAN. WESTONLE, JOHANNES HELL[E]RUS. S. Scripsisti, memoro saltim: tua pectora tango: Dispeream, si non te pia Pallas amem. Docto etenim expandas cum cernua pectora plausu, Non moror in similes me variare jocos. 5 Versus, enumeroque pedes in carmine certos Quolibet; & socio pectora, verba, fidem. Deciderat ccelo ast Vulcanus garrulus: ille Illicita assumsit munia forte pedum. Somnio & intueor baculo Westonidem euntem: 10 Obstupeo solitas pluripedem ire vias. [D2r] Ista prosodiaci nova sint praeludia Phcebi: Sit mea septenos Musa imitata chores. Error uterque placet, placet & correctio Grajae? Dispeream, si non te pia Graja colam. 15 Dispeream, si non optem ut tua jurgia cessent: Et redeant justo pristina jura foro. Sed quando hoc fiet (fiat quod plurimus opto Westonidi & bene sit vota do) tempus erit. Te Jova, te Caesar, te coeli & numina terrae 20 Te sic Helleri &c. = Poem, [i.40], fol. c6v. 18 bene sit] bene

[1.49] Responsum ELIS. JOH. WESTONL4E. Ad JO. HELLERUM J. V. D. Quas scripsi, memoro: tetigi tua carmina lima; Dispeream, fuerit si mihi Musa jocus. Seria quae dico, tu dicis carmine plausum: Mens mea nil praeter, quam probat ore, probat. 5 Ut patet, Hexameter pede versus abundat: & hoc est Vate quod a docto quaero puella rudis. Interea mihi Vulcanum de sidere lapsum, Et minuisse pedem, Musa jocosa refert. Esto: tuae velet Vulcanus crimina culpae: 10 At quid WESTONIDI pes nocuisse potest? SomniaJsunt fateor, quae narras: Morphea culpas? Num baculo hie metricos scit numerare pedes?

Book I 83

[1.48] Johannes Heller, greetings to Elizabeth Jane Weston. At least I can say you've written; I'm making an impression; May I perish if I don't love you, my virtuous Pallas. And since you display your acrobatic urges in learned praise, I shan't hesitate to work my own playful variations. 5 I count the steady lines and feet in any given poem of mine, and I join together mood, words, and lyre. But garrulous Vulcan had fallen from heaven: by chance he recovered the use of his feet that was denied him. And in a dream I see Weston walking with a staff, 10 and am amazed to see her going her way with one more foot. [D2r] Let these be new preludes to Phoebus's prosody, and let my Muse imitate the seven-fold choir. Each error pleases, but does a Greek maiden's correction please? May I perish if I don't worship you, my virtuous Greek. 15 May I perish if I don't hope your scolding will cease, and the earlier rules of civil discourse will return. But when this happens (and I greatly hope it will happen, and I wish Weston well), that will be the time. To you Jehovah, and Caesar, and the powers 20 of heaven and earth, and likewise Heller's, et cetera ... [1.491 The reply of Elizabeth Jane Weston to Johannes Heller. I report what I wrote: I suggested revisions for your songs; may I perish if my Muse was jesting. What I say seriously you call applause for your song; but my mind only approves what it approves openly. 5 It is obvious that your hexameter has one foot too many, and as a naive girl I ask a learned bard about it. Instead your playful Muse tells me of Vulcan's fall from heaven and the damage to his foot. So be it: let Vulcan hide the blame for your mistake; 10 but how can Weston have hurt her foot? Granted that your dream was as you say: is Morpheus to blame? Surely he cannot count metrical feet with his rod?

84 Parthenica

[D2v] Hexameter nescit senos excedere gressus: Pluripedes vates ne mea Pallas amet. 15 Error inest versu? placeat me quaerere: quaero, Quod Phoebi cupiat te monuisse Comes. Parce precor, si pecco rudis; sus sive Minervam Erudit: optavi discere; parce rudi. Caetera, qua^varijs mihi sunt promissa loquelis 20 Alterius, rata sint, irrita dicta diu. Et tu subsidio causae meditare salutem: Me gratam officijs senseris esse tuis. Sed mora sera nocet: bis das, nisi munera tardas: J mora moral agiles tu tamen adde manus. 25 Denique promisso grates tibi carmine reddam: Patrono mihi paucula: plura brevi. = Poem, [i.41], fol. c7r. 23 das] dos con. das

[1.50] Ad Nob. & doctiss. Virginem ELYSABETHAM JOHANNAM WESTONIAM ANGLAM, Epigrammata Georgij Carolidae a Carlsperga &c. Poetae Caesarei. Ne vacet ulla tuis pagella, Johanna, libellis, Adijce nostra tuis carmina carminibus. Si Lector facti caussam volet: omnia, dices, Carolidae mea sunt & mea Carolidae. [D3r] 5 Saepe movent stulti pro carmine bella Poetae, At nostram evulget carmen amicitiam.

I. Typogra[p]hia Anno Christ! 1440. die 2 Januarij ab Johanne Guttenbergero Strasburgensi, Moguntiae excogitata. MIra typls LIbros ars qVae CeLerl eXCItat aCtV GVttenbergerl genlo est InVenta Johannls.

Book I 85

[D2v]

Hexameter cannot exceed six steps; may my Pallas not love multi-footed bards. 15 Is there an error in the verse? Please let me ask; I ask what Phoebus's companion might want to have told you. Please forgive me if I err through naivety or if a °swine instructs Minerva; I hoped to learn, forgive my naivety. Let other things promised me in various speeches by another 20 be considered remarks long-since invalid. And do consider Supporting and rescuing my cause; you will find me grateful for your services. But long delay is harmful: you give twice if you do not delay your gifts. Do not delay! Give me help quickly now. 25 Then I shall render thanks to you in the song I have promised: Little now to my patron; more soon. [swine instructs Minerva: Cicero, Acad 1.5.18; supporting: see W's poem to Heller in the Carmen ad Rudolphum pamphlet, Part 2, item 2 below, for H's promise to intercede with Berlichius]

[1.501 To the noble and learned maiden Elizabeth Jane Weston, Englishwoman, the Epigrams of George Carolides of Karlsberg, &c., Imperial Poet. Lest any page in your book be empty, Jane, append our songs to your songs. If the reader wishes the reason for this, °say, 'All of my works are Carolides' and Carolides' mine.' [D3r] 5 Foolish poets often make war over a song, but let song publish our friendship. [say ...: for evidence of W's actual response to this invitation, see the manuscript additions to Parthenica below]

I.

The printing press contrived at Mainz on January 2, °1440, by Johannes Gutenberg of Strasbourg. The remarkable °art which speedily brings forth books from type was invented through the genius of Johannes Gutenberg.

86 Parthemca

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Divinum caelo demissum munus ab alto, Quo melius nil prima tulit, licet aurea multis Nominibus, postrema nihil simile adferet aetas. Jlli debemus nostra otia, libera curis Otia solicitis; nam quae nos tempora Musis (Seu meditando aliquid, seu scripta aliena legendo) Non ingrata damus, perdebant ilia Priores Longa exscribendis ducentes taedia chartis. Illi debemus millena volumina legis ^Eternae variata notis, sed consona verbo. Illi debemus veterum donata Sophorum Scripta nova luce, & nostris magis usibus apta. Illi debemus, quod nunc parvo aere parantur, Magna quibus prisci impendere aeraria Regis Et quod nobilibusque ignobilibusque leguntur [D3v] Secreta antiquae Sophias discrimine nullo, Denique quod nitidis oculos distincta figuris Scripta minus laedant; quod sint secura ruinae Squallentisque situs, ut quae revocentur in auras Quovis tersa manu doctorum excultius anno; Quodque tot innumeris habeamus scrinia libris Plena, Typographiae hoc debemus muneris uni. Quis talem ergo vehat condignis laudibus Artem Quae laus tota sua est: lege libros, otia laudas Parta Typographia. Libros erne, taedia damnas Scribendi, atque brevis producis tempora vitae.

II. De & pro Typographis. Qui mirare Typographos bibaces Omne impendere poculis lucellum, Colluctantem operis adi officinam Et vide, ut bibulae typos papiro Imprimant alacres! ut ore toto, Vt tota facie manuque sudent, Ex humoribus intimis madentes! Non te, non poteris tenere dextram Sudantum miseratione fratrum,

Book I 87

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A divine gift, sent down from heaven on high: that first age, albeit golden in many respects, brought nothing finer, nor will the last days bring anything like it. To it we owe our leisure, leisure free of troubling cares; for those not unpleasing hours we give the Muses (whether composing something or reading another's writings) earlier generations spent in that long tedium of copying pages. To it we owe thousands of volumes of ageless law, varied as to notes but identical as to text. To it we owe the writings of wise men of old, newly brought to light, and better fitted to our uses. To it we owe the fact that now we may cheaply buy great works for which our predecessors spent a King's treasury, and that secrets of ancient wisdom are read [D3v] by noble and humble folk indiscriminately; and finally that a distinct script with clear fonts less offends our eyes; that these works are saved from decay and filth, for they may be brought to light at any time and dusted off by the hand of scholars; and that we may have chests full of innumerable books we owe this blessing to the printing press alone. Therefore, whoever practises such an art, to fit praise, that praise belongs to it alone. By reading books, you praise the leisure born of printing. By buying books, you banish the tedium of copying, and extend the duration of a short life. [1440: Carolides' source for this date is not known; documents of 1441 and 1442 show Gutenberg (ca. 1398-1468) was still in Strasbourg; art: the capitalized letters in the first two lines spell out the date of 1440 in Roman numerals]

II.

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On and for printers. You who marvel at bibulous printers spending all their money on drink, go to their strenuous work-place and see how fast they print the type on the thirsty papyrus so that all their mouths and faces and hands sweat, dripping their bodily fluids! No, you couldn't extend your hand in commiseration for your sweating brethren,

88 Parthenica 10 Quin grossum patula eximas crumena Exsuccisque novum pares liquorem. Et turn, mira tibi videbitur res, [D4r] Quod ipsos quoque se suasque chartas Suspensa arte nimis laboriosa 15 Udis tradere differant tabernis Ex tanto madidi labore FRATRES.

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III. Omne nimium Naturae inimicum. Ut natura suo est pulchre contenta paratu, Sic ars immensas undique quaerit opes: Utque artis labor omnis honorque decorque caducus, Naturae constans sic manet omne bonum. Ergo odit nimium, medium Natura tuetur: Felix, natura qui duce carpit iter! IV. Fatum frustra caveris. Numine cuncta suo DEUS implet. Quo fugis ilium? Quod semel edixit, qua ratione caves? Frustra utrumque facis. Stat inevitabile Fatum: Vive bene & promptus, dum vocat, esto sequi. V. Patientia. Nil adeo validas habet, ut PATIENTIA, vires: Vim vincit, vires nee movet ipsa suas. [D4v] Omnia fer patiens propriosque retundito motus; Omnium eris victor semper & ipse tui. VI. Officium cuj usque hominis. Obsequium Domini, cultum sacra Numina poscunt, Proximus officium, Patria terra fidem. Qui cupis & dici simul & bonus, esse, quod aequum, Redde cuique suum, nosce teneque tuum.

Book I 89

10 without freeing a sum from open purse and offering new drink to the thirsty. And then, the remarkable thing you will see [D4r] is that these brethren, moist from so much labour, suspend their overly laborious art, 15 and scatter to transfer themselves as well as their pages to the moist taverns.

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III. All excess is hostile to Nature. As nature is beautifully content with its own provision, so art requires great wealth on all sides, and as all labour and honour and glory in art is fleeting, so every good in nature remains constant. Therefore Nature hates excess and seeks the middle ground; happy is he who follows the path where nature leads! IV. In vain do you shun your destiny. By His power God fulfils all things. Whither can you flee Him? By what logic can you avoid what He has once decreed? Each of these you do in vain. Fate stands as inescapable: live well and be ready to obey when He calls. V. Patience. Nothing has such strong power as Patience: it overcomes power without deploying its own powers. [D4v] Bear all things in patience and control your own moves; you will always conquer all things and yourself. VI. Everyman's duty. The holy powers demand worship and obedience to God; your fellow-man, service; your fatherland, loyalty. If you wish to be and at the same time to be called good, Render everyone what is just, and know and hold to your own.

90 Parthenica

VII.

Aula & Aulicus. Aula vale, semper magnis amplissima verbis, Inque fide semper labilis, Aula vale. Qui te sectatur servitque fideliter, ilium Spe pulchra, ad tempus, quo tibi prosit, alis: 5 At postquam ingratos queritur perijsse labores, Enervem rides emeritumque fugas. Nunquam fraude cares, nunquam tibi jurgia desunt: Semper suspicio, semper adestque metus. Splendida paupertas comes est tibi: fictio vultus, 10 Cognita quae noceat pluribus esse, tegit. Mimus, Adulator, Leno, Mercator, Apella, Cum grege scortorum te sine fruge colant. [D5r] Ergo vale: expertus fugio tua limina: vivam Contentus patriis finibus. Aula vale. VIII. Urbs & Rus. Quanto distet ab Urbe Rus, videndum est. Pax Vrbes colit & beata rerum, RERUM COPIA multiplex bonarum: Honores parit, & gradus honorum 5 Novit ordine separare pulchro: Urbs demum tenet omne, quod necessum est Ad vitam bene splendideque agendam. RURI commoda & otiosa vita est, Quaa natura requirit, ilia praestat, 10 Sed parce nimis & sine adparatu. Cultum negligit arduosque honores, Fastum ridet & aulicos tumores: Curis interea molestiisque, Quas servi pariunt, onusta semper. 15 Cum multis ibi, Solus hie maneto. Quae praestantior ergo pars videtur? Crux utrinque sua est quidem, sed ilia, Cui adsunt Medici, minor putatur.

Book I 91 VII. The court and the courtly. Farewell, court, you are ever full of great words and ever fleeting in loyalty; court, Farewell. Whoever follows and serves you faithfully, him you foster with sweet hopes as long as he's useful to you; 5 but when he laments at losing his thankless labours, you laugh that he's weak and banish him as having served his turn. You never lack for fraud, you have no shortage of quarrels, suspicion is always present, and fear always. A splendid poverty is your companion, a painted face 10 masks what it could be harmful for many to know. Let the Mime, Flatterer, Pimp, Merchant, °Sucker, with their gang of whores, serve you fruitlessly. [D5r] So farewell: I've found you out and I'm leaving your territory; I'll live happily in my family home. Farewell, court. [Sucker: lit., Apella, the name of a credulous Jew in Horace, Sat. 1.5.100]

VIII. City and country. One should look at the differences between city and country. Cities are maintained by peace and prosperity, a manifold wealth of good things. A city begets honours and knows how to distinguish 5 levels of honours in fine proportion. In short, the city holds everything that is necessary for leading one's life well and in splendour. In the country life is comfortable and leisurely; what nature requires is provided, 10 but very frugally and without magnificence. The country scorns refinement and strenuous honours, laughs at pomp and courtly pride; meanwhile it is always full of cares and troubles that servants cause. 15 There you are with many, here alone. So which side seems preferable? Each does have its agony, but the former's seems the lesser since physicians are present there.

92 Parthenica

[D5v] IX. Medicina f amiliaris. Si nocuit vinum, somno: si lingua momordit, Infracto vigilans pectore vince malum. Nam vino vinum, verbis si verba repellas, Clavus it in clavum, & fixus uterque manet. X.

Nimia f amiliaritas parit contemptum. Quisquis amicitia gaudes & honore moveris, Delige quos fido cautus amore colas. Nulli Te nimium secretaque pande sodali, Semper ad Affectum junge virile decus. 5 Nam si declines, contemptus habeberis; & nil, Te penitus notum quod tueatur, erit. XL Def orme diversorium, mail hospitis indicium. Deforme corpus, mentis elegantiam, (Prodente natura suos naevos palam) Raro receptare adsuevit hospitem; Vt haesitans lingua impediti gutturis [D6r] 5 Vix veritatem est depraehensa dicere. Valentque tantum signa rebus insita! Et ne malis capiantur artibus Boni, Natura praecavendo tarn prudens fuit!

XII. Usus Vineae. Saepe rogas, Cherine, mihi quid vinea prosit? Saepe queas domui ne gravis esse meae.

XIII. Quod praestare hodie potes, ad crastinum ne diff eras. Lapsa perit, tantum praesenti vivimus hora: Cras se victurum, dicere nemo potest.

Book I 93 [D5v] IX. Household remedies. If wine has harmed, cure the evil by sleep; if tongue has bitten, cure it waking, with unweakened breast. For if you fight wine with wine, or words with words, one nail attacks another, and both are embedded. X.

Excessive familiarity breeds contempt. If you delight in friendship and are moved by honour, be careful to choose whom you serve with a faithful love. Do not overexpose yourself or your secrets to any companion, and always join a manly dignity to your affection. For if you turn aside you will be held in contempt; nothing will protect you if you are thoroughly known.

XI. An ugly inn the sign of a bad host. An ugly body is rarely wont to receive as a guest an elegance of spirit (since nature openly shows her blemishes); just as a tongue hesitating in a blocked throat [D6r] 5 has seldom been found to tell the truth. Tokens inherent in things are so powerful! And lest good men might be tricked by wicked arts, Nature has been so prudent in her warnings!

XII. The use of the vineyard. Do you keep asking me, °Cherinus, what good is my vineyard? It often keeps you from being a bore in my house. [Cherinus: source of this name not identified]

XIII. Do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today. We live only in the present time, what's past is past; no one can say if tomorrow one will be alive.

94 Parthenica Quicquid enim facimus miseri, quocunque movemur, Mors later! nostro subsequa semper adest. 5 Quod potes, ergo hodie praesta, neque differ in horas: Pro dubio certum linquere, stulticia est.

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XIV. DE BAPTISATIS JUD^EIS. ludaeus licet abluat sacrato Plenum perfidiae caput lavacro; Judaeus tamen ore, mente, vultu, [D6v] Cum turpi remanet petacitate, Nativa arguitur rapacitate, Stulta noscitur a procacitate. Immunda illuvie oblitus vagatur; Faetet, ceu Solymaeus hircus: hirrit In templo, ut canis aptus in catenam: ' Circumfert habitu exscreatque sordes, Et mens plane eadem manet cutisque, Sed mutabile nomen est Apellis. PRAGAM pro Solymis habent, DEUMque THALMUTI subigunt suo adplicantque CHRISTUM Christicolasque despuentes. Magnates sibi mentiendo jungunt, Quos rursum precio dolisque vendunt. Si lucrum adsit, habes tibi propinquos, Si lucrum absit, habes procul remotos. Si credas, male blandiendo fallunt; Si ludas, simulando te praehendunt, Scurrae, fcedifragi atque ludiones, Aurispongiae & impii latrones. Intrant ut catuli, bonosque rodunt; Vivunt ut famuli, Ducesque produnt: Decedunt dubij ADONAI vocantes, CHRISTUM non sine felle nominantes, Judaeique meri atque proditores Extremos moriuntur inter actus, Et praedam simul improbe coactam Secum Daemonibus vovent malignis.

Book I 95

For whatever we wretches do, and however we are moved, Death is always present, following at our side. 5 So what you can do, do it today, and do not put it off; it is foolish to exchange what is certain for what is not.

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XIV. On baptized Jews. A Jew can wash in holy water a head full of perfidy, yet he remains a Jew in mouth, mind, face, [D6v] with wicked °greed; he is shown by his native rapacity, known by his foolish insolence. Befouled by foul filth he wanders, stinks like a Jerusalem goat, snarls in the temple like a dog fit to be chained: he spits filth on his clothing and spreads it around, and clearly remains the same as to mind and rind; these Apellas differ only in their names. They take Prague for their Jerusalem, and subject and apply God to their Talmud, spitting on Christ and Christians. By lies they team up with magnates, whom they sell out with bribes and snares. If money is at hand you have them close by, if money is absent you have them far remote. If you believe them, they trick you with blandishments, if you play with them, they catch you through feigning, dandies, faith-breakers, and pantomimes, gold diggers and faithless bandits. They come on like puppies, and slander the good; they live like servants and betray lords; they die unconverted, calling on Adonai, naming Christ not without bile, they are full-fledged Jews and traitors in their final moments, and wickedly pledge their enforced prey and themselves to evil demons. [greed: we have surmised that the Latin petacitas is a formation from peto, seek, or possibly a shortening of pertinac[-itas]]

96 Parthenica

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[D7r] XV. De Vini & Aquae natura ad Polydorum. Carmina proveniunt animo deducta sereno, Pelignus teneri carminis Autor ait. Vina parant animos curasque a pectore pellunt, Ingeniumque acuunt laetitiamque fovent. Et velut exhaustam reficit pinguedine terrain, Projicitur quoties sicca per arva, fimus; Sic vatum defessa, liquor generosus Jacchi Affatim infusus, pectora faeta facit. Materiamque subinde nouam meditantibus offert, Naturamque sua fulcit & auget ope. At potator Aquae, cerebro, stomachoque laborat, Et curam, quod edat: non, quid ut edat, habet. Musa famens sitiensque adeo nil cogitat alti, Nee cupit a sera posteritate legi! Non magnos magni, non se tanti aestimat ipsam, Laudis ut aeternum tollat ab arte decus. J mine ergo, jube, vino sine fronte negato Me carmen facili dulce sonare lyra! Quos male cultus ager reddit pro semine fructus, Hos tibi delusus spe, Polydore, dabo. Hactenus Geor. Carol a Carlsperga Epigrammata. Not in Poem.

[D7v] [1.51] AD ELISABETHAM WESTHONIANAM nobilem Poetriam Carmina quod Lyrico cudas numerosa cothurno, Herooque tones grandia verba pede. Prodidit id nobis Czechicas diffusa per Vrbes Elizabeth, laudis prodiga fama tuae. 5 Sed quia saepe solet mendaces vendere nugas, Qui vellet famae credere, rarus erat; Sic ego mobilibus tarde qui credo susurris, Vnus, de dictis qui dubitaret, eram; Interea argutos tandem prodire libellos,

Book I 97

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[D7r] XV. To Tolydorus, on the nature of wine and water. Songs come as the product of a serene spirit, as the °Pelignian Author of sweet song reports. Wines prepare the spirits and drive cares from the breast, and sharpen wit and foster joy. And just as dung restores the exhausted earth to fertility whenever it is spread over the dry fields, so the weary breasts of bards are made fecund by abundant infusions of Bacchus's noble liquor. Forthwith it offers new matter for meditation, and by its power props up and aids nature. But the drinker of water labours with brain and stomach, and is concerned only to eat, not to produce anything. Then a hungry and thirsty Muse thinks of nothing exalted, nor does she desire to be read by distant posterity! She does not think highly of the high, or even of herself, that she may draw the eternal honour of praise from her art. So come, now that wine has been banned, command me to sound a sweet song with easy lyre! What fruits the ill-cultivated field may return for the seed I (deceived by hope) shall give to you, Polydorus. [Polydorus: not identified; Pelignian: the Peligni were a people of central Italy, including Sulmona, home of Ovid, here quoted from Tristia 1.1.39]

End of the epigrams of George Carolides von Karlsberg.

[D7v] [1.51] To the noble poet Elizabeth Weston. That you produce many songs in the Lyric mode, and tune mighty words to Heroic metre, the prodigious report of your praise has revealed to us, Elizabeth, spread through Czech cities. 5 But since fame is often wont to sell misleading trifles, few were willing to believe her; and I, who reluctantly believe flitting rumours, was one who doubted these reports; but now I see the insightful volumes appearing at last,

98 Parthenica 10

Et scribi claris cerno poema typis, Virginis inscriptos ubi vidi nomina versus, Pallueram ad nomen docta virago tuum. Cede Perhilla inquam, Nasonis vivida versu, Cumque tua Sappho Lesbia cede lyra. 15 Angla bene heroo, Lyrico bene carmina plectro Fingit, & alterno est ludere gnara pede. M. Paulus Stransky Zapaenus Boh. Not in Poem.

[1.52] Aliud. Summus ut affirmat Scaliger, dum rexerat Orbem Caesar & Ausonias DOMITIANus opes, Orta est SULPITIA de gente Poetria virgo Nomine de Stirpis dicta puella suae. [D8r] 5 Ille hanc SULPITIAM vates superasse Latinos, Ausonij satyras, hujus & esse, putat. Prima hasc Romanas docuit contendere Graijs Carmine divino, docta virago, nurus. Nee mirum, patria nam Virgo Poemata Lingua 10 Scripserat, est patrio res minor ore loqui. Sic Itali, Galli, Hispani, Boijque Poetae Dant multi patrium, Rhythmica metra, melos. At veterum vitant, vix cuiquam imitabile vatum Carmen, & ignavis res placet ilia minus. 15 Haec aliter sentit WESTONIA virgo, Poetas Illos dum superat carmine docta suo. Plaudite Pierides, Sappho est si Dena, sequatur Sulpitia, at comes huic docta Elizabet eat. M. Venc: Ripa Stanckovinus. Not in Poem.

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and the poetry written in clear type: when I saw the verses inscribed with a maiden's name I grew pale at your name, learned heroine. Give way, °Perilla, I say, who live in Ovid's verse, and Lesbian Sappho, together with your lyre. 15 An Englishwoman is composing songs well with both heroic and lyric plectrum, and is expert at playing with elegiac metre. Pavel °Stransky, Bohemian of Zapa. [Perilla: a friend or perhaps stepdaughter of Ovid who writes verse, cited in Tristia 3.7; Stransky: (1583-1657), Bohemian nationalist and defender of the Czech language, historian, political observer, and commentator on Rudolf's court]

[1.52] Another. As greatest °Scaliger affirms, when Domitian Caesar ruled the earth and the wealth of Italy, there arose a maiden poet °Sulpicia, a girl called by the name of her family. [D8r] 5 He believes that this Sulpicia surpassed the Latin bards, and that the satires of Ausonius were hers. This learned heroine, as a young married woman, first taught Roman women to compete with Greeks in divine song. Not surprisingly; for this maiden composed in her own tongue 10 and it is a lesser thing to speak as a native. Thus, many Italian, French, Spanish, and Bohemian poets produce native songs in metrical rhythms. But they avoid the song of old bards, scarce imitable by anyone, a labour they find unattractive in their laziness. 15 The maiden Weston feels quite differently, when she learnedly surpasses those poets in her song. Applaud, Pierides; if Sappho is a tenth Muse, Sulpicia may follow, but let learned Elizabeth come as her comrade. Vaclav °Ripa, Stanckovinus. [Scaliger: Joseph Justus (1540-1609) or perhaps his father, Julius Caesar Scaliger; Sulpicia: wife of Calenus, praised by Martial 10.35 and 38 and Sidonius Carm. 9.262, here apparently confused with daughter of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, author of six elegies in the Tibullus corpus (4.7-12); Ripa: (1579-1616), author of elegies and prominent figure in Prague, involved in church disputes in that city]

Parthenicon ELISABETHAE lOANN^E WESTONLE Liber II.

Opera & Studio G. MART, a BALDhofen, editus. [ornament]

Pragae, Typis Pauli Sessij.

[Alv] [H.I] MEDITATIO CUM GRATIArum actione in diem natalium SALVATORIS nostri. Festa dies hilari (mortales plaudite!) ceelo Illuxit, reserans gaudia vera pijs. Haec est ilia dies qua casta Virginis alvo Egrederis summi filius ipse DEI: 5 Quo nascente vigil gratantem turba salutat ^Ethera; dant cantus Aligerumque chori. Et merito grates toto tibi pectore dicunt: Quod similis nobis carne manere velis. Humani fragiles quia corporis induis artus: 10 Vt miserae fias conditionis homo. Est corrupta quidem natura haec nostra: sed illam, Crimine cum vacuus sis, sine labe tenes. Fredera nobiscum pepigisti, accensus amore, Nostri, non ulla dissoluenda die.

The Maidenly Writings of Elizabeth Jane Weston

Book II.

Edited by the care and devotion of Georgius Martinius von Baldhoven.

Prague, at the press of Paulus Sessius

[Alv]

[II.l] A meditation and giving of thanks for the birth day of our Saviour.

A happy day (rejoice, mortals!) has illuminated the bright heavens, bestowing true joys on the pious. This is that day when, from the Virgin's chaste womb, you issue forth, the true son of almighty God. 5 At that birth the waking throng salutes the rejoicing heavens, and choirs of Angels offer hymns. And rightly they give thanks to you with all their heart: for you chose to dwell in flesh, like us. So you take on the fragile limbs of a human body, 10 to be made a man of wretched state. This nature of ours is indeed corrupt; but you wear it without blemish since you are free of sin. Fired by love for us, you have established a covenant with us that will never be dissolved.

102 Parthenica 15 Vestiris specie mortal!, mille periclis Subjectus, tumidae fulminibusque necis. Qua nos incertos vitae, radiantis Olympi Participes faceres, Diva propago DEL Ad te suspiciunt igitur pia lumina, castaa 20 Virginis 6 Soboles, 6 pie CHRISTE, Siloh! Simus ut a Sathanae sejuncta caterva cathedra: Ne tibi nos stygius fraudibus error agat. [A2r] Nos vera potius pietate tuere fideles: Puraque siderijs agmina siste choris. 25 Tolle nefas animis, & quae caro crimina gignit: Pax arete miseros copulet alma tibi. Nam genus humanum, propter sua crimina lapsum Irato reddis conciliasque Patri. Ante DEUM supplex cadis hostia; supprimis iras: 30 Solus es, ante DEUM qui Mediator eras. Solus es auxilium qui conciliumque tulisti: Solus es aeterni quo patet Aula Patris. Sic equidem decuit; sic ordo juris & aaqui, Postulat: aequivalens sic decet esse A/i5tpov. 35 Nempe Redemptoris qui nomina sumit, oportet Esse hominem, atque DEO de genitore satum. Sic laesi poteras iram lenire Parentis, Et rabidae victor frangere tela necis? Reddere justitiam, verae nova gaudia vitae; 40 Excelsi rimans intima corda DEI? Sic castas audire preces; defendere justos Pastor & aeternus sic gregis esse tui. Daemonis arma potens, stygiasque infringere vires? Ex tenebris presses ut revocare queas! 45 Haec praestare hominum siquidem natura nequibat Tu praestas meritis, unice Christe, tuis. Quas igitur debent mortalia pectora grates? Vel quae lingua satis tot benefacta canet? Heu sumus ingrati, fcedati crimine carnis; 50 Quam mens aagra parum munera tanta capit! [A2v] Ergo quod assequitur minus hac caligine sensus, Addoceat sacro Spiritus igne tuus.

Book II 103

15 You are garbed in mortal flesh, subject to a thousand perils and to bolts of outrageous destruction. And so, divine offspring of the Deity, you would make us mortals, unsure of life, participants in bright Olympus. Hence pious eyes look up to you, O offspring 20 of the chaste Virgin, O prayerfully, Christ, Shiloh! May we as a group be apart from Satan's dominion, and may Stygian error not drive us to betray you. [A2r] Rather, preserve us, your faithful, in true piety; maintain us as chaste bands in the heavenly choirs. 25 Take sin from our hearts, and the crimes that flesh begets; let a nourishing peace bind us wretches tightly to you. For you hand over the human race, fallen away because of its sins, and.reconcile it to the angry Father. You fall as a suppliant sacrifice to God, to suppress His wrath; 30 you alone were our Mediator before God. Only you have brought help and communion, thanks to you alone does the hall of the eternal Father stand open. This was truly fitting; this was demanded by law and equity; it was necessary that the ransom be equivalent. 35 Indeed it was necessary that it should be a man who took on the title of Redeemer, and had God as his father. Was this how you could appease the offended Father's wrath, and, victorious, break the weapons of raging death; render justice, the new joys of true life, 40 probing almighty God's innermost heart; and thereby hear sincere prayers, defend the just, and so be the eternal shepherd of your flock, able to crush the devil's weapons and his Stygian powers? Thus you could call back the oppressed from darkness! 45 Where human nature could not accomplish this, you accomplish it through your merit, you only, Christ. What thanks, then, are owed by mortal breasts? What tongue can adequately sing such good deeds? Alas, we are ungrateful and tainted with fleshly crime; 50 how little our infected mind comprehends such gifts! [A2v] Therefore, what our sense fails to comprehend in its darkness, let your Spirit teach with its holy flame.

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Et velut in lucem brumali tempore prodis, Claudere quo terras frigora densa solent; In stabuloque infans inter praesepia vagis: Cum tamen aetherij sis Patris ipse A-6yo, Regni Bohemia? ac I Reipublicz Auffigiensis Physici, I LAURIFOLIORUM I SIVE I SCHEDIASMATUM I POETICORUM I LIBER I IV. I ... I Fribergae Hermundurorum I ... I 1622. [Prague, UK 52 G 76, pfiv. 3]

10. C.T. Schosser, Lauri Folia (Books 1-4,1619-22)

Laurel Leaves, by Christian-Theodore °Schosser, Book I. Wolfenbiittel: Elias Holwein, 1619

[Civ]

To the eternal honour of the most noble lady and heroine Elizabeth Jane Weston, Englishwoman and Crowned Poet Laureate, his most respected kinswoman. The Muses nourished me in Aonian caverns, and I drank the noble nectar of Castalian water. The Group of Nine had long been well known to me; I had thought my Muses numbered nine. 5 But an uninformed opinion deceived my mind: for the news is that Parnassus shelters ten. While I speak, lo, Phoebus calmly reports this: 'Feel no shame that your Muses number ten. That he might add an immortal glory to our muses, 10 Jupiter himself has sent Weston down from the heavens. Hence an age of poets emerges under my presiding, hence faces are moistened more sweetly with the Clarian waters/ [Schosser: philosopher and doctor practising in Usti nad Labem]

Book IV of Laurel Leaves, or Poetic Miscellany, by Christian-Theodore Schosser, Physician of the °Emilian Realm of Bohemia and the Republic of °Aussig. Freiberg, 1622: [Emilian: not identified; Aussig: city of Usti nad Labem, at confluence of Bela and Elbe]

368 Other Works by Weston [F2v] JOHANNES BREITHOR I Suo Dn. Compatri I CHRISTIANOTHEODORO I SCHOSSERO.

En tibi WESTHONLE promissa Poemata! quo Te Munere dono: boni consule, mique fave.

CHRISTIAN-THEODORUS I SCHOSSERUS I CL. V. D. JOHANNI BREITHORI I P.L. Compatri suo.

Quae mihi WESTHONLE das docta Poemata Musae, Accipio grata, JANE diserte, manu.

[F3v] CHRISTIAN-THEODORUS I SCHOSSERUS I Illustri Heroine, Generis splendo- I re, nee minus VIRTUTUM, quam Doctri- I narum gloria in universa Europa celebratissimae I DN ELISABETHS JOANNA I WESTHONL3E, Anglaa, Poetriae Laurico- I mae, Nobilissimi, Clarissimi & Consultissimi Vi- I ri, D. JOHANNIS LEONIS, Isennacensis, Ju- I risconsulti & Causar. in Aula Imperial! I Patroni, &c. Conjugi

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Te quoque, faemineaa Numen venerabile turbae, SCHOSSERI Vatis Carmine MUSA vocat. Scilicet ut VATES Te VATEM voce salutet, Clara Melissei Carminis ora monent; Quem celebrat latis Germania condita campis Atque Poetarum nominat ilia Ducem: Qui viridi cinxit LAURU tua tempora: MUSAM Phoebei Decimam te coluere Viri. Te docti recinit TAUBMANNI nobile Carmen, LIPSIUS arguto Te colit ore simul. Ac tua te celebrant notamque POEMATA reddunt, Qualia FRANCFURTI praela Timaea gerunt. Ergo cum valeas tantis virtutibus una Faemineae gentis gloria, rarus honos: Miror & ingenii meditor monimenta virentis Versibus, & dignis laudibus ista cano. Nunc cape SCHOSSERI juvenilia Carmina VATIS Et lege judicio dexteriore, precor. [F4r] Da mihi te facilem, VATUM Coryphaea Britanna, Atque Medusaei clamor amorque DEI.

C.T. Schosser, Lauri Folia

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[F2v] Johannes °Breithor to his compatriot Christian-Theodore Schosser. Here are Weston's promised poems for you! I offer them to you as a gift; take them kindly and think well of me. [Breithor: not identified]

Christian-Theodore Schosser to Johannes Breithor his compatriot. The learned poems of Weston's Muse which you give me I take with grateful hand, eloquent John.

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[F3v] Christian-Theodore Schosser to the illustrious heroine celebrated throughout Europe for the splendour of her race and the glory no less of her virtues than of her learning, Elizabeth Jane Weston, English, Laureated Poet, wife of the most noble, famous, and prudent man, Johannes Leo of Eisenach, lawyer and pleader of causes in the Imperial Court. . You, too, venerable spirit of the feminine throng, the Muse addresses in a song of the poet Schosser. Indeed, the distinguished lips of Melissus's °song urge that one poet give vocal greetings to another; he whom Germany, settled on broad fields, celebrates and names Leader of Poets: who has bound your temples with green Laurel: Phoebus's men have celebrated you as Tenth Muse. Learned °Taubmann/s noble song sings you again, while °Lipsius admires you with witty voice. And your Poemata celebrate you and make you known, which the °Timaean presses of Frankfurt bring out. Therefore, since you are strong with many virtues, sole glory of the feminine kind, a rare honour: I marvel and contemplate the monuments of living genius in your verses, and sing them in fit praises. Now take the juvenile songs of the poet Schosser and I beg you, read them with favourable judgment. [F4r] Show °favour to me, British leader of the poetic choir, the glory and love of the °Medusan God.

370 Other Works by Weston

Inde tuas laudes iterum cantabo tuique Officii tollam nomina, vive, VALE.

AD EANDEM WESTHONIAM. Quos Puer hesternus Versus tulit atque Salutem Dixit; ad hos mitto, [MUSA] BRITANNA, modos. Seu quod amicitiae munus mea MUSA poposcit, lam discessurus quo magis illud avet. 5 Et rogat, ut dignum peregrine limite VATEM Forte tuo salvum sicque favore putes. Quern Febris exsiccat, velut ardens igne Caminus Vritur, ac flammae signa voracis alit. Sed mihi da veniam! te quod neque nomine notus 10 Affari volui, liber & ista loqui. Fama Poetarum fecit Laurusque MELISSI Praesentisque licet non mora longa viae. At me felicem! si MUSyE docta BRITANN/E Carmina SCHOSSERUS ferret ab URBE domum. 15 Quod bene si fieri poterit: celebrata POETIS Hactenus, & metris es celebranda meis.

ELISABETHA JOANNA WESTHONIA I Angla,Uxor JOHANNIS LEONIS, I in aula Imperial! Negociorum I Agentis, &c. I CHRISTIAN-THEODORO I SCHOSSERO. Carmina perlegi doctum signantia VATEM, Quae tulit ac gernino bina labore puer. [F4v] Me quibus ignotam peregrina voce salutas Et celebras largis nomina nostra modis. 5 Morbi deinde tui metricis incommoda verbis Pandis, & huic poscis carmina grata tibi. Ergo salutanti mea rursus MUSA salutem Nunciat, & grates solvit arnica tuae.

C T Schosser, Laun Folia

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Hence I shall sing again your praises and celebrate the fame of your achievement Long Life and Health' [Mehssus's song cf Parth III 45-8, Taubmann see his poem in Part 3 below, Lipsius in fact, Lipsius did not praise W, see Introduction, Timaean it is not clear what is meant here, Poemata was published by Andreas Eichorn (Lat Sciunnis, squirrel') in Frankfurt an der Oder, favour perhaps by sending verses in response as suggested by following poem, Medusan god Apollo The foot of Pegasus born of Medusa, caused the fount of Hippocrene]

To the same Weston. British Muse, I send this poem in addition to those verses which the boy brought yesterday with my greetings, since that token of friendship my Muse requested then she desires all the more, now I am about to depart 5 And she asks that you might consider this poet worthy, on his foreign path, and hence secure in your favour, whom fever dries up, just as a chimney burning with flames scorches and nurtures signs of the hungry flame But grant me a favour since I have wanted to address you, 10 though I am not known by name, and to speak freely thus Your poetic fame causes this, and Melissus's °Laurel, even if the spell of earthly life is not long But how happy I, if Schosser could carry home from this city the learned songs of the British Muse1 15 If that could indeed be done, you who have been celebrated till now by poets must also be celebrated in my verses [Laurel cf Parth III 45]

Elizabeth Jane Weston, English, wife of Johannes Leo, Agent of affairs in the Imperial Court, etc., to Christian-Theodore Schosser I have read the songs introducing a learned bard, both of which the boy has brought, with °double labour [F4v] In them you greet me, though unknown, in a foreigner's voice, and celebrate our fame in generous terms 5 Then you mention the discomforts of your illness in measured terms, and for this ask for songs gracious to you Hence my Muse sends greetings in reply to the greeting, and in friendly fashion returns the favour

372 Other Works by Weston

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Ast tibi pro docto mage longa Poemata Versu Reddere si vellem, tempora curta vetant. Lineolas igitur, grand! pro munere, paucas Et tibi pro multis Carmina pauca cape. His via sit felix, faciles sudoribus aestus, Et petat Antipodas febris iniqua, VALE.

[EM. Pelcel, Abbildungen Bohmischer und Mahrischer Gelehrten und Kiinstler, nebst kurzen Nachrichten von ihren Leben und Werken (Prague, 1777), III, p. 77:] Christ. Theod. Schosser schrieb folgende Verse auf ihren Tod: Sindone ferali, nunc tempora; fana cupresso Anglica gens, atavis nobilitata, tege. Occidit antiquae stirpis generosius astrum Westonia, Aonii, gemma corusca, chori. 5 Tristibus ito comes, vatum praelustrior ordo; Cordicrepisque velis condoluisse minis. Eusebie, sis ipsa comes; pietatis alumnam, Vt decet, in Charitum conde, reconde, sinu. Pallor! an ex tumulo, mihi vox rediviva reclamat? 10 Vivo: premens lacrumas, censor amice, vale. A.C. 1612, d. 23. Nov. aetat. 30 & 3. Septiman.

C.T. Schosser, Lauri Folia

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But although I wanted to return longer poems for your learned verse, the shortness of time forbids. Therefore take for yourself these few lines in return for your great gift, and these few poems for your many. May your trip be happy, the heat easy for you in your sweating, and may that wicked fever seek the Antipodes. Farewell. [double labour: i.e., on two separate visits, as in preceding poem]

[Poem on Western's death; text from EM. Pelcel, Portraits of Bohemian and Moravian Scholars and Artists, with brief accounts of their lives and works, Prague, 1777, III, p. 77:] C.T. Schosser wrote the following verses on her death: O English race, ennobled by ancestors, deck now your heads with funeral muslin, your shrines with cypress. The most noble star of ancient race has set, Weston, the brilliant gem of the Aonian choir. 5 Accompany the mourners, most magnificent rank of bards; agree to lament with heart-shattering foreboding. °Eusebeia, be her companion; as is fitting, put, or rather restore this disciple of piety to the Graces' bosom. Do I err, or does a revived voice call back to me from the grave? 10 'I live: suppress your tears, friendly judge, farewell/ 23 November 1612, aged 30 and 3 weeks. [Eusebeia: Latin reads Eusebius (= St Jerome), but a more plausible reference here may be to Greek Eusebeia, 'piety']

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PART THREE

Other Tributes to Westonia

1. In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae (1612)

IN BEATISSIMUM I DECESSUM. \ Fsemime nobilissimse I Poetrix celebratissimx I DN. ELISABETHS I IOHANN& LEONIS, EX I NOBILISSIMA ANGLO- I rumFamilia I WESTONVE. I Qux obijt PRAG& 13/23 Novemb: I ANNO M.DC.XII. I PRAGUE, I Typis Jonatae Bohutsky [Prague, Strahov: AM VIII65, pfiv. 16; FK V 3, priv. 27]

[Alv] DE JOANNA ELISABETHA VVesto= nia Angla nobiliss: atque eruditissima. I. Sive Genus spectes, quo vix praeclarius ullum Inclusa Oceano terra Britanna tulit Sive animi dotes atque enthea pectora libres Pectora Pieriis tota referta favis: 5 Sive decus formae, et vernantia virginis ora Et quondam roseas intueare genas: /Equaevas, tribus his, vicit LYSABETHA puellas: Vicit & aequaevos, una puella, viros. II. De eadem, Comparata cum alijs Virginibus. Fila, columque alias tractant, fusosque puellaa: Et radijs carpunt stamina pexa suis. Haud ita tu: claro Vestonia sanguine creta: Sed magnis tractas aemula facta viris. 5 Pro filo, nentur tibi carminis aurea fila: Metra Tibullinis, scilicet aequa metris. Proque colo, calamo subtilem imitare Catullum: Atque ubi fusi alijs, hie tibi Musa fluit. Texere tu nescis nisi stamen Apolline dignum: 10 Ille tibi radius: pecten & ille tibi. O Virgo! quam te memorem? cui Sponte Poetae Assurgunt: Musae quam Decimam esse velint. Quam Charites Quartam adsciscunt: quam Juppiter aequat Culta tibi Cypri: culta Minerva tibi. lohannes Matthaeus a Wackenfels Virginianus Consiliarius Aulicus F. &c.

1. In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae (1612)

ON THE BLESSED DEATH of the most noble woman and most celebrated poet, Elizabeth Jane Leo, from the most noble English family of Weston, who died in Prague on 13/23 November 1612. Prague, J. Bohutsky.

[Alv] On Elizabeth Jane Weston, most noble and learned Englishwoman. I. Whether you consider her family, hardly surpassed by any more brilliant in the sea-bound land of Britain, or judge her intellectual gifts and inspired breast, a breast rich in Pierian honeycombs, 5 or gaze on her beauty and the lively, young face of a maiden and those formerly rosy cheeks, in all three respects Elizabeth surpassed other girls of her age, and surpassed the men too, though one single girl. II. On the same, compared with other maidens. Other girls handle yarn and distaff and spindles, and tease out the combed threads on their shuttles; not so you, Weston, sprung from noble blood; instead, you emulate great men in the deeds you undertake. 5 Instead of yarn, you spin the golden threads of song, measures equal indeed to those of Tibullus. And instead of the distaff, with pen you imitate subtle Catullus. Where spindles race for others, here the Muse flows for you. You can weave only thread worthy of Apollo: 10 he is your shuttle and he your reed. O Maiden! What shall I call you? You for whom poets rise to their feet; whom the Muses wish to make a tenth of their number. Whom the Graces recognize as fourth of their number, whom Jupiter equals to you, adored Venus, and you, adored Minerva. Johann Matthias von °Wackenfels, °Virginianus, Counsellor at the Court, etc. [Wackenfels: Swabian scholar (1550-1619) settled in Prague, father of Helena Maria (see Parth catalogue, item 63); Virginianus: meaning not known]

378 Other Tributes to Westonia

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[A2r] III. Hoc tumulo dormit, post ultima fata LEONIS Helisabe coniux, Westonis orta domo. Foemina, quae meruit longevae tempora vitae, Ilia tamen plenos occidit ante dies. Naturae specimen, vitasque exemplar honestae, Fceminei sexus gloria, Quarta Charis. Prima Medusaeo vix labra liquore rigarat, Dum plures docta vicerat arte viros. Aurea de Latio ducebat carmina filo, Pangere docta melos. tangere gnara fides. Quinque sonis justo poterat discrimine sensa Pectoris ima sui scribere, docta loqui. Sermo Britannus erat native proprius usu, Teutonico norat dicere verba sono. Suaviter Italica suevit conferre loquela, Et nativa velut, lingua Bohema fuit. Ingenio celebrem mage fecit sermo Latinus, Quo passim volitat docta per ora virum. Denique talis erat, quam Phcebus praedicat ipse, Castalijque canunt turba novena chori: Gratia cui mores; cui Pallas contulit artes, Linguarum studium Suada, labella Venus. [A2v] Sed nihil has Parcae dotes pro more morantur, Parcere Westoniae non potuere Dese. Plangite Pierides; suspiria ducite Musae, Hanc Charites mecum flete, dolete necem, Quin vos Castalidum decus, 6 sacra turba Poe'tae, His lachrimis carmen jungite, quaeso, meis. Sed tu, cuius ovat per totum gloria mundum, Sternum salve, perpetuumque vale. Scribere plura dolor vetat, hunc si mitigat hora, Ibimus in laudes, Helisabetha, tuas. NICOLAUS MAJUS Sac. Caes: Maj. Consil. in curia Appellationum

In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae

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379

[A2r] III. In this tomb there sleeps, after death, Elizabeth the wife of Leo, born of the house of Weston. A woman who deserved the span of a long life, she nonetheless died before her days were accomplished. A model of nature, an exemplar of the honourable life, the glory of the female sex, a fourth Grace. When °Medusan liquor had scarce moistened her lips, she had already surpassed many men in her learned art. Expert at composing lyrics, skilled in touching the lyre, she fashioned golden songs from Latian thread. In five tongues she could express her heart's deepest feelings with precise discrimination, and speak learnedly. The British speech was hers by birth, and she knew how to discourse in German; she was accustomed to speak sweetly in Italian, while she spoke Bohemian like her native tongue. The Latin language chiefly made her famed for her talent, and enabled her to move to and fro on the lips of the learned. Finally, she was of such a kind as Phoebus himself celebrates, and the chorus of nine Castalians sing: upon her a Grace conferred her manners, Pallas her art, Persuasion her knowledge of languages, and Venus her lips. [A2v] But the Fates, as usual, pay no attention to these gifts, and the Goddesses could not spare Weston. Mourn, Pierians, and heave sighs, Muses, grieve with me, Graces, and lament this death; and you, the pride of Castalia, O poets, a sacred band, I beg you to join your song to these tears of mine. But you, whose glory triumphs throughout the entire world, hail forever and farewell for all time. Grief forbids my writing further; but if time soothes it, we shall return to your praises, Elizabeth. Nicholas Maius, Counsellor of his Holy Imperial Majesty in the Appellate court. [Medusan liquor: the waters of Hippocrene, a fount opened by the hooves of Pegasus, offspring of Medusa]

380 Other Tributes to Westonia

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IV. ELISABETHA tuee cum venit nuncia mortis Fama, mihi lapides est ea visa loqui. Nee secus obstupui, quam quern Jovis ardua dextra Tangit, & est vitee nescius ipse suae. Namque meam subijt tua conversatio mentem Docta: Periclei tincta lepore salis. Nee potui Clarios animo deponere versus, Quos tua ceu flumen Musa perenne dabat. Occurrere tui faciles sine crimine mores, Colloquij subiit gratia grata tui. [A3r] Succurrit pietas sacra virtus Candida, castus Inque virum subijt conjugialis amor. Me movit tenerae tarn vita tenellula prolis, Quae matrem lacrymis luget obisse suam. Me movere pij lachrymae luctusque mariti; Cum misero querulos edidit ore sonos: ELISABETHA tuum cur linquis cara maritum Linquis & intacti pignora cara tori: Quis mihi nunc mcesto reddet solatia, prolem Quis teneram digna nunc relevabit ope? Pone LEO lachrimas, Pupillos audit ab alto Et viduos, summi qui regit astra poli. Te DEUS atque tuos pupillos auribus aequis Audiet, optatum subsidiumque feret. Ille tibi poterit tantam sarcire ruinam, Atque tuis matrem restituisse potest. Tu vero placide doctissima Musa quiesce, In gremium summi morte recepta patris. Quod tibi postremum monumentum Musa Melandri Nunc locat Sternum docta Thalia vale. OTHO MELANDER, S.Cees: Maj: Consiliarius F.

V. Cum mihi, jam tandem defuncto caelibe vita, In thalami partem casta SUSANNA datur.

In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae

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IV. When Fame came to announce your death, Elizabeth, she seemed to me to dictate your tombstone's inscription. And I was astonished, like one whom Jove's lofty hand strikes, and who no longer knows if he is alive. For your learned companionship came to mind, charmingly imbued with Periclean wit. Nor could I put out of my mind the Clarian verses that your Muse produced like an ever-flowing river. Your liberal and innocent manner came to mind, as did your pleasing conversational graces. [A3r] I recalled your sacred piety, your shining virtue, and your chaste conjugal love for your husband. I was moved by the precarious life of your tender offspring, weeping for their lost mother. I was moved by the tears and grief of your devoted husband, as his sad lips uttered mournful sounds: 'Elizabeth, my dear, why do you leave your husband, and leave the darling pledges of our inviolate marriage? Who now will offer me solace in my misery, who will comfort my tender offspring with suitable aid?' Leo, set aside your sorrows; for He who rules the polar stars hears from on high orphans and widowers. God will hear you and your orphans with sympathetic ear and will provide the wished-for aid. He will be able to redeem your mighty loss and restore their mother to your babes. And you, learned Muse, rest in peace, having been received by death into the bosom of the supreme Father. Now the Muse of Melander sets this up for you as a final, eternal monument: learned Thalia, farewell. By Otto °Melander, Counsellor of His Imperial Majesty. [Melander: Otto Melander (Holzapfel, 1571-1640), Silesian legist and Neo-Latin poet in Rudolf's circle]

V. Now that at last I have done with the single life, when a chaste °Susanna is given me in marriage,

382 Other Tributes to Westonia [A3v]

Quae nova perturbet socialis gaudia taedae A Maio propere littera missa venit, 5 Haec, quae nomen habet, VESTONIA carmine magnum Dicitur in tumulum funus inane dari Ah tantumne meos thalamos turbare dolorem? Ah tali tumulo gaudia nostra premi? Quid queror hunc thalamos tumulum turbare? poesis, 10 Phoebus, Amor, Charites hinc grave vulnus habent. JOHAN: CAMPANUS.

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VI. Sacrarum ordinibus fuit adscribenda Dearum WESTONIS ilia, aevi gloria prima sui! Nempe Nouenarum Imparitas, vel Triga Sororum .^Equando numeris multiplicanda suis; Ut fuit in fatis, socium experiundo Hymenaeum, Crescere; multiplici prole beare domum. At Charis haec contra protestans Musaque damnant Et Pariles numeros & sociale jugum. Nam numero Musa, & Charis (.ut Deus.) impare gaudet; Immo jugum a scapulis excutit omne suis! Juppiter haec resecans certamina, WESTONIS, inquit Prae tribus, 6 longe, & ter tribus UNA valet! Quippe vetent numeri? non quanta at qualis habenda: Hoc summi praestant enthea dona animi! [A4r] Scilicet ingenium, candor, prudentia, mores, Et quidquid Virtus continet & Pietas: Omnibus his superat celsissima dotibus omnes, Qua sese, sexum qua superatve suum. Dixit: & haec addens; melioribus utere fatis, Ne te conjugij subiuget, inquit, onus. En dicto citius (quasi somno) erepta jugoque Mortaliumque, pijs sub precibus numero! Siste.pedem; & mentem hoc, oculosque adverte, Viator! Corporis exuvias hie DBA docta locat!

In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae

383

[A3v] a letter comes sent in haste from Maius to disturb the new joys of a wedding ceremony. 5 This Weston, with her great reputation as poet, is reported to have been given to the tomb, an empty corpse. Alas! does so great a grief disturb my wedding celebration? Alas! are our joys suppressed by such a tomb? But why complain that this tomb spoils my wedding? Poetry, 10 Phoebus, Love, the Graces have suffered the wound hereby. Johannes Campanus. [Susanna: Jan Campanus (1572-1622), classicist, historian, poet, and professor at Charles University, Prague, married Susanna Rychius on 20 November 1612; she died on 16 August 1613]

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VI. Famed Weston, first glory of her age, was destined to be enrolled in the ranks of the sacred goddesses! No doubt the disparity of the Nine, or the Three Sisters, had to be brought to parity by increasing their numbers; just as it was her destiny to grow by experiencing marriage and blessing her house with numerous offspring. But Grace and Muse protested against this, and condemned both the even numbers and the marriage bond. For both Muse and Grace (like God Himself) prefer odd numbers, and shake off every yoke from their shoulders! Curtailing these debates, Jupiter decrees: 'Weston Alone is better by far than Three, or Thrice Three! Do numbers forbid? Quality, not quantity, is what matters: the inspired gifts of a supreme spirit prove this! [A4r] Namely, wit, sincerity, prudence, morality, and whatever Virtue and Piety entail. She excels everyone eminently in all these gifts, or rather, she excels herself and excels her sex/ So he spoke, and added: 'Enjoy this happier fate, let not the burden of marriage (he said) overwhelm you/ No sooner was this said (as in a dream) than in the midst of pious prayers she was snatched from the ranks of mortals. Traveller, stop and turn your mind and gaze hither: here a learned Goddess has left her bodily remains.

384 Other Tributes to Westonia

VII. WESTONMi innumeri, Musisque & Apolline digni Debentur numeri. Sed quia nemo dedit; Vatibus Aonidum plangentibus unda negatur! Vix tantis & tot sufficit haec lacrimis! 5 Languida tabificis vox hei vix faucibus haeret! Gutta adeo-usque deest, quae arida labra riget! Melpomene aridula suspendit ab ilice chordas: Plorat; et ad numeros plectra canora negat. Sic desunt vires in corpore, verba Poesi! 10 Funera, pro numeris prosequimur lacrumis. G. Mart: a Baldhofen Sil. debitae gratitudinis & amicitiae ergo Plangens pangebat.

In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae

385

VII.

Uncounted verses worthy of Apollo and the Muses are owed Weston, but why has nobody provided them? The Muses' stream is denied the weeping poets! It can scarcely suffice for so many abundant tears! 5 Alas, the frail voice barely cleaves to the wasting throat; no drop of moisture exists to moisten the dry lips. Melpomene hangs her lyre on the parched oak, and grieves, and denies the resonant quill to her numbers. Force is lacking to the body, words to the Poem! 10 We follow the hearse with tears instead of verses. G. Martinius von Baldhoven, Silesian, in his grief composed this, out of a debt of gratitude and friendship.

2. Johannes Bocatius

loannes Bocatius (1569-1621), Opera qux exstant omnia poetica, ed Franciscus Csonka, 2 vols. Budapest, 1990. Vol. 2, p. 740, from Militia vel Ordo S. loannis (Cassovia, 1612):

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#986. Nobilis ac Consultiss[imus] V[ir] D[ominus] Ioan[nes] Leo, aulicus Pragae agens Cui Sappho est coniux felicibus addita tedis Angla, Leo, nostri gloria et ipse chori, Quo palmare audire queas decus inter agentes Aula in Pragena, Caesaris ante, graves, Quod nostro arma tua cum coniuge pinxeris albo, Armigerum hoc albo stes quoque, lane, sago. #987. Parenthesis Elisabethae loannae Vesthoniae, nobili Anglae, fceminae doctiss[imae] Participat lea nomen uti generosa leonis, Par vos dividuo coniugum habetis idem. Rarum o connubium! Te, Vesthoni, duxet Apollo, Ni Leo tarn felix anticipasset opus. Vos etiam istius nova castra subite, pudoris Deperdit pietas inter et arma nihil.

2. Johannes Bocatius

(Johann Bock, 1569-1621; Imperial Poet Laureate of Hungary) Complete Surviving Poetic Works, ed. Franciscus Csonka, 2 vols. Budapest, 1990. Vol 2, p. 740, from The Militia or Band of St. John (Cassovia, 1612), poems to people named John: #986. The noble and most prudent Master Johannes Leo, court agent in Prague. Leo, whose wife joined to you in happy matrimony is the English Sappho, and yourself a glory of our choir, so that you may be called a principal ornament among the noble dignitaries at the court of Prague, and previously Caesar's, 5 since you and your wife display your arms on our white tablet, John, may you also stand in the white cloak of arms-bearers. #987. Parenthesis to Elizabeth Jane Weston, noble Englishwoman, most learned lady. As the noble lioness shares the lion's name, you have the same name, though separate, as a pair of spouses. O rare marriage! Apollo would have led you [to marriage], Weston, if Leo had not anticipated him in that happy task. 5 So, both of you, join his new camp; piety loses nothing of modesty between soldiers.

3. Andreas Calagius (1549-1609)

EPIGRAMMATUM I M. ANDREAE CALAGIII VRATISLAVIEN. I Poeta* Cxsarei& I Coronati I Centurise Sex. I * I Francofurti ad Oderam I Typis Sciurinis. I AnnoM.DCII. [BL11403.a.a.51.] [p. 189 = Nlr]

De Elizabetha loanna Westonia, Virgine Angla. Ad Poetas. Vsus quod tulit ante masculinum, Hoc nunc fert simul esse fcemininum, Nomen, quo trahimur boni, Poetae. Haeretis? Maribus vel anteponi, 5 Quae jam carmine nobili meretur, Hoc Westonia sat superque praestat, Pridem digna, comas Apollinari Cingi fronde. Quid arbitrer, futurum Non sit, si vir ei poeta detur, 10 An non agmine masculos poetas Magno sit paritura, fceminasque?

5

Eidem poetriae suaviss. Perlectos, Virgo, versus ego pendo legendis Versibus, ignarus nominis ante tui. Quo lecto auditoque novam consurgere Sappho, Obstupui, aut aliam, Fulvia si qua fuit. Dotibus ingenij si sic perrexeris uti, Clarior ambarum carmine, tester, eris.

3. Andreas Calagius (1549-1609)

Six Centuries of Epigrams of Andreas Calagius of Bratislava, crowned Imperial poet. Frankfurt am Oder: Eichhorn, 1602.

[p. 189 =Nlr] Concerning Elizabeth Jane Weston, English Maiden. To Poets.

Formerly, conventional usage held it masculine, now it is similarly considered feminine, the name of Poet by which we are proclaimed good. Are you astonished? Weston, who already deserves 5 by her noble poetry to be placed even ahead of men, provides more than sufficient proof of this, long since worthy to have her tresses bound with Apollo's laurels. What shall I think the future cannot bring, if a male °poet is given her, 10 if not that she will bear a great line of male poets, and female ones? [poet: perhaps alludes to expectation that W would marry her editor, Baldhoven; cf. Carolides, 3/4]

To the same most lovely poet.

Maiden, though previously ignorant of your name, I weigh the verses I have read against those still to be read. Having read and heard this, I was astonished that a new Sappho was arising, or a second new one if °Fulvia was one too. 5 If you continue to use your gifts of intellect as you do, I swear you'll be more famous for poetry than both of them. [Fulvia: Olympia Morata (1526-55)]

4. Georgius Carolides (1569-1612)

Parentalia ... Carolo Mielniczky a Karlsberga, patricio Pragensi, ... opera filii Georgii Carolidse a Karlsperga ... celebrata. Quibus tres diversorum carminum libelli subiiincti sunt. [Prague, Johann Schumann, {1601}; in some copies, Johann Schumann, heir of Johann] [Prague, KNM 49 E 18, pfiv. (3), 49 F 4 pfiv. (1).] [fol. 66r, Anagrammatismi]

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270. Elissabeta loanna Westonia Angla. Ave vates latina, bona, ingenio salsa. Vates, quae latijs latina verbis Nostro carmina Elissa scribit aevo, Quanquam sit patria Angla, non Latina, Est tamen bona ea et Latina vates Sic salsa ingenio, ut modesta, casto. Vatum digna celebrium corolla, Vatum digna choro potentiorum; Virgo digna piorum amore Vatum, Virgo digna boni toro Poetae. Exemplum, luvenilitas, honestum Hinc utraque tibi manu prehende; Si vestigia nee sacri Maronis, Nasonis neque prona mollicelli, Nee, quos tota Latinitas honorat, Nee, quos protulit Hellas aamulandos, Gressu niteris insequi citato, Non sexus memor, aut tui decoris, Non digna ingenio beatiori, Non cedens stimulo severiori: Musas Virginis elegantiores Et solers studium, & decus loquelae, & Doctum carmen, amabile & venustum Et flores latij leporis, atque Pulchros virginis asmulare mores.

4. Georgius Carolides (1569-1612)

^Parental tributes, to Charles Mielniczky of Carlsberg, the work of his son George Carolides of Carlsberg. Containing three books of miscellaneous songs. Prague: Johann Schumann, (1601).

[fol. 66r, from a collection of anagrams]

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270. Elissabeta loanna Westonia Angla. [Hail, Latin bard, good, seasoned with wit.] The bard Elissa, who writes Latin poems in Latian terms for our age, although her homeland is English, not Latin, is still a good bard and a Latin one, as seasoned with chaste wit as she is modest. Worthy of a garland of celebrated bards, worthy of a chorus of mighty bards; a maiden worthy of the love of pious bards, a maiden worthy of the marriage-bed of a °good poet. Youth, take an honourable example from her with both hands; if you strive to follow with strenuous pace neither the footsteps of holy Maro, nor the easy ones of effeminate Naso, nor those whom all Latinity honours, nor those whom Hellas invites us to emulate, mindless of your sex or your decorum, unworthy of a more blessed wit, unbending to a more harsh spur: emulate this Maiden's more elegant Muses and her adroit study, grace in speaking, and learned song, amiable and charming, and flowers of Latin charm, and lovely virginal morals.

392 Other Tributes to Westonia

[fol. 66v]

25 Quae florens, latijs latina verbis Nostro carmina Elissa scribit aevo. [For W's poems to C, see Parth. 1.34, II.94-6; for other poems by C, see Parth. 1.50, 111.60.]

Georgius Carolides 393

[fol. 66v]

25 Which songs flourishing Elissa writes for our age, Latin with Latian terms. [Parental tributes: Latin Parentalia refers to the Roman festival honouring dead relatives; good poet: perhaps implies an assumption that W was destined to marry her editor, Baldhoven]

5. Johannes Corber

M. JOHANNIS CORBERI I P.L Rectoris Scholx Neapolita- I nse ad Ayssum I TRACE- I MATA MELICA I Sive I OTIOSARVM OCCVPA- I TIONVM POETI- I carum I LIBELLIOCTO. I * I NORIMBERG^E, I TypisSIMONIS HALBMAYERI, I MDCII.

p. 259 XVII. Epitaphium, Clarissimo ^Evi Decori, JOHANNA ELISABETHS WESTONIS, Poetriae quinqulingui. Tres Charitas, Musasque novem dixere Priores, Quod ne corruptam posset habere fidem: Tu decima Aonidum moreris, tu quarta Camcena, Sic Trinae Charites, Musa novena manet. Cited by Erich Trunz, Wissenschaft und Kunst im Kreise Kaiser Rudolfs II. 1576-1612 (Neumiinster, 1992), 132.

5. Johannes Corber

Melodious Sweetmeats, or, Eight Brief Books of Leisured Poetic Activities, by M. Johannes Corber, Laureate Poet and School Principal in Neustadt an der Aisch. Niirnberg: Simon Halbmayer Printer, 1622.

p. 259: XVII. Epitaph, for Elizabeth Jane Western, Most Glorious Ornament of her Age, Poet in Five Languages. The elders have said the Graces are three, the Muses nine, and so, lest faith in them be debased, you have died, the tenth of the Muses, the fourth °Grace, and so the Graces remain threefold, the Muses ninefold. [Grace: Camena is normally a synonym for Musa, but here the sense demands this exceptional rendering]

6. Balthasar Exner (1576-1624)

BALTH. EXNERI I de Hirschberga 1C. I & Poetse Cxsarij, I Jllustriss. Principi Frid. I Gulielmo, Dud Sileside Teschinensi I & majoris Glogovix, &c. I a studijs. I EPIGRAMMATUM I LIBER. I * I OLSNL-E SIL. I TYPIS I Joan. Bossemesser. I 1608. [Wroclaw, University Library, 8N2135,13 and 14] [A4v] DE ELISABETHA JOANNA WESTONIA, ANgla, Poetria Laureata, IOAN. LEONIS 1C. Conjuge. Una Venus quondam, luno una, atque una Minerva: Juna, Venus, Pallas altera, Westonia est. = Exner, Carmina Miscella (1622; see below), p. 346.

EPIGRAMMATUM I LIB. II. 1 Pro captu Lectoris I habent suafata libelli. [A4v] AD ELISABETH. JOAN. WESTONIAM VIRGINEM ANGLAM. Vix tibi sunt vitae tria lustra peracta, JOANNA ELISABETHA WESTONA, Atque audes dudurn multis certare Poe'tis, Quocunque quis velit stylo. 5 Expertus loquor haec; stupeoque, juvatque fateri Politiore carmine [A5r] Me victum: hinc vinctum me trado, tibique corollam Lubens impono lauream, Quam mihi RUDOLPHUS dedit ante triennia CAESAR, 10 Solennitate cum proba. Te decet ilia, tuum caput ambiat ilia, tuique Fiat corona Seculi. Jncolumem te praestet HERUS ccelique Solique, Et faustitate prosperet.

6. Balthasar Exner (1576-1624)

Book of Epigrams of Balth. Exner of Hirschberg, Lawyer and Imperial Poet to the Illustrious Prince Frederick William, Duke of Silesia, Teschen, and Greater Glogau, Oels, Silesia: Johann Bossemesser, 1608.

[A4v] On Elizabeth Jane Weston, English, Poet Laureate, wife of Johannes Leo, advocate. Once there was one Venus, one Juno, one Minerva: Weston is another Juno, Venus, Pallas.

Epigrams, Book II: 'The fate of books depends on the reader's capacity. [Terentianus Maurus, De htens de Syllabis de Metris, 1286, in Grammatici latmi, ed. Keil (Leipzig 1855-60).]

[A4v] To Elizabeth Jane Weston, English Maiden. You have hardly passed three lustra of your life, Elizabeth Jane Weston, and you have long dared compete with many poets in whatever style one may wish. 5 I speak from experience; I am astonished, and must confess your more polished song [A5r] defeated me: so I surrender in defeat and willingly give you the laurel garland, which Emperor Rudolf gave me three years ago, 10 with due solemnity. It suits you, let it circle your head, and be the crown of your Age. Let the Master of heaven and earth keep you safe, and bless you with happiness.

398 Other Tributes to Westonia

15 Hoc primum votum mihi postremumque sit unum, Primae ultimaaque Virgin!. Et quia non similem Sol Cernit in Orbe puellam, Cui, ni tibi, istud optitem? 1 peracta] pacta = Exner 1622, p. 368.

Balthas. Exneri de Hirschberga Carmina miscella. Bethaniae typis loan. Dorfferi. 1622. [Prague, KNM 59 F 30] [p. 67] DE I ELISABETHA-JOANNA I Westonia, Virgine Angla, Poetria doctis. Hactenus Angla fuit nobis Westonia Musa: At nunc Angelica est carmine facta suo. [p. 495] NATALIS I Mariae Polyxenae, Joan. Leonis Ic. & Elis. I Joannae Westoniae, Poetriae, I Filiolae. ERgo etiam Musse pariunt? quis crederet illud? Et tamen hocce ratum Westona Musa facit. Mirabar nuper Musas quoque nubere posse, At quia jam nupsit Westona Musa viro, 5 Non res mira mihi magis est: nee miror & istud: Nam peperit Gnatam Westona Musa novam. Scilicet has terras quia Musica turba reliquit, Et visa est Musis fama perire sacris. Westoniam gigni Musae voluere puellam, 10 Musarum gereret quae quoque Musa vicem. [p. 496] Et quia mortalis visa est Westonia Musis, Debuit haec eadem nubere Musa viro, Debuit & Musam parere, ut, si mortis adiret Musa vias mater, filia Musa foret, 15 Quae rem Musarum studio fulciret & arte Materna, & Musis sic bene staret honor. Et Musa ex Musa semper nascatur, & ilia Cernantur Musas gignier usque novae

Balthasar Exner 399 15 Let this be my first and last wish, for the first and last °Maiden. And since the sun cannot see a similar girl on earth, to whom other than you should I wish this? [first and last Maiden: i.e., probably, 'the Alpha and Omega of Maidens'

Miscellaneous Songs ofBalthas. Exner ofHirschberg. Beuthen: Johann Dorffer printer, 1622.

[p. 67] On Elizabeth Jane Weston, English maiden, most learned poet. Till now Weston has been our English Muse: but now she has become Angelic through her song. [p. 495] On the birth of Maria °Polyxena, daughter of Johannes Leo, advocate, and Elizabeth Jane Weston, poet. So do the Muses give birth as well? Who would have thought it? And yet Muse Weston has certainly done this. I was recently amazed that Muses could marry, but since now Muse Weston has married a husband, 5 no matter longer surprises me; nor am I amazed at this: for Muse Weston has given birth to a new-born girl. Surely since the Musical group left this earth, and it seemed fame disappeared with the holy Muses, the Muses wanted Weston to give birth to a girl 10 who could also serve as a Muse in place of the Muses, [p. 496] And since Weston was seen by the Muses as mortal, this same Muse had to marry a man, and had to give birth to a Muse, so that if she should take the pathway of death, the daughter would be Muse, 15 and would maintain the Muses' business through the mother's study and skill, and thus the Muses would keep their honour. Let a Muse always be born from a Muse, and from her, may the Muses be seen arising ever new;

400 Other Tributes to Westonia

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O Gnatam! 6 Musam! quis non te nomine multo Felicem dicat, carminibusque canat? At quid ego? cui vix licuit tria verba profari; Et video Musas Musam animare novam. Obstetrix Erato: lotrixque Polymnia praesto est, Linteolis volvit grata Thalia novis. Terpsichore cantat variosque novosque modillos, Et motrix cunas Calliope ipsa movet. Potina Euterpe est: est Clio rursus Edusa, Melpomene clario te quoque fonte lavat, Uranie ad doctas te ducere discupit artes, Jamque tibi Phoebus laurea serta parat. Has Musas imitare Maria Polyxena Musa, Et Phoebi & matris ito-redito vias. Immo etiam Patris, tibi qui virtute sequace Atque Adrast&de duplice jure praeit. Pallor an heic dudum coelestia numina, Musam Te cum terrenis voce favente vocent? O quantum est docta matre, & docto Patre nasci. O quantum est matris & patris ire vias! [p. 497] At tu, Jane, pater; tu mater, Jana, parentes, Pergite sic Musas gignere saepe novas. Et quoque si vultis, Phcebum, qui Presses & auspex, Musarum summo ducat honore chorum. Quis mage nunc luget Musas abijsse novenas, Nascatur Musa cum modo Musa nova? Vos, qui nunc Musas colitis, Phcebumque Parentem, Jam loca litterulis cuncta notate rubris: Non omnes habitant Musae Parnassia tempe, Sunt etiam Musae, Caesaris aula, tibi. Anglia Westoniam proprio tibi jure dicavit, Vt pareret Musas, patre Leone, novas; Nunc parit: & genitor Leo fit; Westona genitrix Et Musam cernit Caesaris aula novam Si Gnatum, & Gnatas pariat post Western's octo Quis dicet Musas deseruisse solum?

Balthasar Exner 401

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O newborn! O Muse! Who would not call you blessed in many terms, and sing of you in songs? But what for me who can scarcely utter three words; and here I see the Muses giving spirit to a new Muse. Erato was midwife, Polyhymnia was there to bathe her, graceful Thalia swaddled her in new linens, Terpsichore sings various new little tunes, and Calliope the mover herself rocks the cradle. Euterpe serves as °Potina and Clio in turn as °Edusa, Melpomene too washes you in the Clarian fount, Urania longs to lead you toward learned arts, and already Phoebus prepares laurel garlands for you. Muse Maria Polyxena, imitate these Muses and follow the paths of Phoebus and your mother, back and forth; and indeed those of your father, who precedes you with his virtue following him, and the dual laws of °Adrasteia. Do I err, or might the heavenly powers now call you Muse with supportive voice, along with the earthly ones? O how great it is to be born to a learned mother and father. O how great to follow in the steps of mother and father! [p. 497] But you, father John, you, mother Jane, the parents, see to it that new Muses keep being born in this way. And also, if you like, a Phoebus, who as leader and protector may lead the choir of Muses in supreme honour. Who now will continue to lament that the nine Muses have left, when now a Muse is born from a new Muse? You who now worship the Muses, and Phoebus their Parent, now list all their places in red letters: not all the Muses inhabit Parnassian Tempe, you too have Muses, O court of Caesar. England has dedicated Weston to you in her own right, that she might bear new Muses, with Leo their father; now she bears one and Leo is the father, Weston the mother; and Caesar's court recognizes the new Muse. If Weston later bears a son and eight daughters, who will say the Muses have deserted the earth? [Polyxena: perhaps named after the wife of Lobkovic and widow of Vilem Rozmberk; Potina, Edusa: goddesses who preside over a baby's drinking and eating (Varro in Nonius Marcellus, De compendiosa doctrina, ed. Lindsay, Teubner, 1903, p. 108M; Augustine, Civitas Dei, ed. Domhart, Teubner, 1892,4.17); Adrasteia: daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, goddess of rewards and punishments; alludes to Leo's role as lawyer]

402 Other Tributes to Westonia

Balthasar Exner, Anchora utriusque vitae: hoc est Symbolicum I SPERO MELIORA \ A trecentis, qua genus, qua doctrinam Illustribus & Clariss. in Europa Viris carmine celebratum:... Hanoviae, Typis Wechelianis ... MDC XIX [Vat: Race. I.V.1145] [p. 227] S.D. Accept binas literas tuas, politissime Dn. Exnere, priores in Martio, posteriores in lunio, humanissime scriptas; in quibus nostri honestam mentionem, & animi benevolentiam eximiam erga familiam nostram, abunde & prolixe declaras, & aperta quasi facie ostendis: Loci prasterea honesti in Gymnasio Bethaniensi, & Coniugii auspicati felicitatem nobis annuncias. Utrumque nobis longe gratissimum auditu fuit. Atque utinam benevolentiam erga nos tuam, [p. 228] prout agnoscimus & gratam acceptamque habemus, aliquo modo redhostire possemus: aut coniugium tuum ita perpetuum, tibique ac tuis salutare eveniat, prout optamus atque a Deo petimus. De nobis si quaeris ulterius, haec habe: Pater in Martio abfuit peregre. Nunc Academicis lectionibus & actionibus plus quam scriptionibus occupatus, raro domi est. Si quid temporis superest, suo Hebraao studio & factis legendis tribuit. loannes Prater in Arce ad Tabulas Regni Registrator, suo officio, debito modo, fungitur. Ego cum sorore Anna, acum, colum, focum, telam, scopas tractamus potius, quam literas, Bohemis plerisque non admodum laudatas, immo in Virgine, quod mirere, inutiles non modo: sed & probosas. Patrem pcenitet & piget, quod nos literas docuerit. Probitas laudatur & alget. Quid Westoniae tot laudibus ornatae Apollo ipse cum Musarum choro profuit? Quid Palladi ipsi? Nonne Venus prae ilia & lunone palmam reportavit? Veniant tempora alia feliciora, quibus Virtus, doctrina, pietas, pluris fiant. Vale amice optime & honorande. Dabam Pragae ex collegio novo, in platea Cyprina Vrbis veteris, Calendis lulii Anno 1615. Elisabetha Albertina a Kameneck, Virgo Bohema.

Balthasar Exner 403

Balthasar Exner, The Anchor of Every Life, namely the motto 7 hope for better things' celebrated in song by three hundred of Europe's most famous and illustrious men with regard to both birth and learning. Hanau: °Wechel Printers, 1619. [p. 227; a letter (containing a reference to Weston) sent in lieu of a requested poem on Exner's wedding to Eva Earth] Greetings. I have received both of your letters, most eloquent Master Exner, the first in March and the other in June, most learnedly written; in which you declare fully and at length your honourable estimation of us and your extraordinarily benevolent spirit toward our family, and as it were show it openly: furthermore, you tell us of the joys of your honourable position in the Bethanian College, and of your blessed marriage. Each of these was most pleasing to us to hear of. And so that we may recognize your benevolence toward us, [p. 228] and be grateful for it, let .us requite it in some fashion: or let us hope and pray to God that your marriage may prove eternally beneficial for you and yours. If you ask for more news about us, here it is: Father was absent abroad in March. Now he is occupied with his academic lectures and duties more than with his writings, and is seldom at home. Any time he has left over he spends on his study of Hebrew and his °reading of history. Our brother John is duly occupied with his duties as registrar in the Castle at the Royal Record office. My sister Anne and I spend more time on needle, distaff, hearth, loom, and broom than on the letters that - you may be amazed to hear are not much praised by most Bohemians, nay are considered not only useless for a virgin's concern but actually shameful. It grieves and shames our father that he has taught us letters. Probity is both praised and neglected. What good was Apollo himself, and the choir of the Muses, to Weston, honoured with all those praises? What good were they to Pallas? Didn't Venus carry off the palm before her and Juno? May other happier times come, in which Virtue, learning, and piety may count for more. Farewell, my best and honourable friend. From the new college in Prague, in °Cyprine square of the old city, on the first of July, 1615. Elizabeth Albert of Kameneck, Bohemian maiden. [Wechel: Claude de Marre and Johann Aubrey, printers in Hanau, were married to daughters of Andreas Wechel, printer in Frankfurt am Main; reading of history: Latfacta legenda, lit., 'deeds that must be read about'; Cyprine square: not identified]

7. Hermann Fabronius [=Mosemann] (1570-1634)

CRONOLOGIA HISTORICA: Oder Zeitrechnung I ordentlich Verzeichnis vnnd Nebensatz Vornehmer Geschichten der Welt: So sich in Europa I Asia I Africa: America I Nordt vnd Mittaglandt hin vnd wider zugetragen haben I Aus H. Schrifft I Chronologiis vnd Relationen Alter vnd Newer Historien zusammen bracht I durch fleifi HERMANNIFABRONII Mosemanni. I * I Gedruckt zu Schmalkalden durch Wolffgangum Kerzelium I Jm Jahr. 1614. [Wolfenbiittel, T 30 Helmst. 40 (2).] [p. 72] HERMANNUS FABRONIUS. AD NOBILISSIMAM VIRGINEM ELISABETHAM JOANNAM VVESTONIAM ANGLAM, POEtriam Solertissimam; anno Christ! 1602. Vidi ego Westoniae suavissima Carmina Nymphse, Carmina Puniceis undique sparsa rosis; Quas Venusinus amet, quas Sulmonensis honoret Naso, nee Andinus non colat ipse Maro. 5 Sic Pallas mixtam comitatur scita phronesin! Sic stillant Siculo dulcia metra favo! Cinge triumphales Westonia Candida lauros, Arridet genio Calliopeia tuo.

7. Hermann Fabronius [=Mosemann] (1570-1634)

Historic Chronology: Or a time-frame systematically arranged with attendant overview of the world's principal events, in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America; from the Holy Scriptures, with a comparison of the old and new testaments, assembled by the diligence of Hermann Fabronius Mosemann. Schmalkalden: Wolfgang Ketzel, 1614.

[p. 72] Hermann Fabronius. To the noble maiden Elizabeth Jane Weston, most skilled English poet, 1602 A.D. I have seen the most sweet songs of the nymph Weston, songs everywhere scattered with purple roses; which °Venusia's Horace may love, Sulmona's Naso honour, and °Andes' Maro himself cherish. 5 Thus shrewd Pallas accompanies her complex wit! And sweet measures flow with Sicilian honey! Brilliant Weston, bind on the triumphant laurels, Calliope smiles on your genius. [Venusia: modern Venosa, birthplace of Horace; Andes: village near Mantua, birthplace of Vergil]

8. Paul Fleming

Paul Flemings Lateinische Gedichte, herausgegeben von J.M. Lappenberg, Bibliothek des Litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, 73. Stuttgart, 1863, p. 443. Elisabethae Joannae Westoniae, poetriae nobilissimae. Nympha per ingentem decantatissima Pindum, nata viris palmam preeripuisse suam, et stupor et nostri nimis admiratio secli in sexuque tuo non habitura parem: si pudor hoc sineret nee hoc ipse timeret Apollo, 5 solverer in laudes, musica virgo, tuas. Absolvisse sed hoc non incepisse sit ausum, ne perearn fatuo cum Phaetonte palam. Erich Trunz, Wissenschaft und Kunst im Kreise Kaiser Rudolfs II. 1576-1612 (Neumimster, 1992), p. 162, dates this poem between 1630 and 1640, noting that it was first published after Fleming's death in Nova Epigrammata Fault Flemingi, ed. A. Olearium, 1649.

8. Paul Fleming (1609-40, German poet)

Paul Fleming's Latin Poems, ed. J.M. Lappenberg. Stuttgart, 1863, p. 443

To Elizabeth Jane Western, Most Noble Poet Nymph most celebrated throughout spacious Pindus, born to have carried off the palm from men, both the amazement and the vast admiration of our age, destined not to find your like among your sex: 5 if shame permitted this, and Apollo himself did not fear it, I would dissolve in your praises, inspired maiden. But let it not be dared to achieve or to begin this, lest I be undone publicly, like foolish Phaethon.

9. Christoph Girsner (1552-1629)

Girsner's copy of Parthenica, now in the National Museum Library in Prague (press number 49 E 38), contains the following, apparently in his hand. emTOMJaov I Nobilis. et Clariss. Matronae loannae Eli- I sabethae Leonis Westoniae, Anglae, I Poetriae incomparabilis. Nympha Caledonijs praenobilis edita terris Westonia celebri stemmata gente trahens, Arte, manu, lingua, sexum superans muliebrem Hie iacet. Ingenium Famaque in Orbe volat. 5 Quis morbus? Tabis. Mors? qualem ad Stagna Caystri, Suavisonus moriens Cygnus habere solet. C. Girsnerus. Obijt Pragae 13/23 ixb I 1612

9. Christoph Girsner (1552-1629)

Epitaph of the noble and glorious matron, Elizabeth Jane Weston Leo, incomparable English poet. The most noble nymph to emerge from Caledonian lands, deriving her roots from the famous Weston family, excelling the female sex in art, hand, and tongue, lies here. Her genius and fame speed through the world. 5 What disease? Consumption. Her death? Such as the dying swan is wont to have, singing sweetly, on °Caystros's waters. C. Girsner Died at Prague, 13/23 November 1612 [Caystros: river in Lydia noted for swans]

10. Daniel Heinsius

Two manuscript letters from Heinsius to Janus Dousa (British Library, Burney MSS 371) refer to Weston. They are cited and discussed by Bohumil Ryba, Trazska basnifka v milostne elegii Heinsiove/ in Sbornik praci venovanych Janu Bedhchu Novdkovi k sedesatym narozenindm, 18721932 (Prague, 1932), 381-9.

[fol. 37] Nobilissime D[omi]ne. Monuit me hesterno die Silesius ille qui utriusque nostrum carmen ad Elizabetham Westhoniam daturus est, unius tuum deesse: idque in causa esse quo minus mittere etiam aliorum possit, inter quse est et Scaligeri TOU GaDfiaoioi). Illud igitur si nepti meae tradideris, quae has ad te deferet, plurimum tibi illius nomine me debere existimabo: summisque tuis in me et Remp[ublicam] literariam accedet et illud, OUK d7io(3Ar|i;ov ut cum Homero loquar. Non dubito quin summa a te manus imposita sit illi, quandoquidem id in fine laborare ante decessum tuum vidi. In Horatio diligenter pergimus: ita quotidie et in literis alacritas nostra crescit et invidia aliorum. Vale Nobilissime D[omi]ne et nos ama. Summa cum festinatione Lugduni Bat. 19 Novembr. 6 quae has] qui has

[fol. 39] Literas, quas vides, commiserat nobis illustris Scaliger, ut eas actutum ad amplitudinem tuam deferri curaremus. Manum, ut credo, agnoscis; ne hac quoque parte ignota tibi esse potest Westonia, cum plurimas eius literas iam ante delibaris. Gaudebis sat scio et salutari amabis ab hac Musa, quae sexus sui transgressa leges aliud nobis nomen extorquet, quam quo vocamus poetas ... Lugd. Bat. XIIII Martii.

10. Daniel Heinsius

[fol. 37] Most noble Sir, Yesterday I was informed by that Silesian who is to give the poems by each of us to Elizabeth Weston that only yours was lacking, and that was keeping him from sending along the others as well, among which was that by the marvellous Scaliger. Therefore, if you could give it to my niece, who is bringing this letter to you, I shall consider myself most grateful on his behalf. This too will add to your very great benefits both to me and to the republic of letters, being (if I may adopt Homer's phrase) 'not worthless.' I do not doubt that a final touch can be added by you, even though I saw that it was in the final stages of preparation before you left. We are getting on diligently with Horace: so daily both my keenness for such literature, and my envy of other scholars, are growing. Farewell, most noble sir, and love me. In greatest haste, Leiden, 19 November [1602]. [fol. 39] The letter which you see was sent to us by the illustrious Scaliger, that we might take care that it be sent on at once to your greatness. I believe you recognize his hand; nor, for that matter, as well can Weston be unknown to you, since you have already previously enjoyed many of her writings. I know you will surely be glad and will enjoy being greeted by this Muse, who has exceeded the limits of her sex and demands from us another name than that by which we call poets ... Leiden, 14 March [1603]. [These letters belong to the correspondence seen in Parthenica 111.2 and 28-30; for Dousa's poems, see EL37-43.]

11. Joannes Petrus Lotichius (1598-1669)

IO. PETRI LOTICHII, I D. Medici, & C. P. Cses. I BIBLIOTHECfi I POETICS PARS PRI- I MA ET SECUNDA, I In quibus non tantum I THRACI/EETGPJECI/E, I SED ETIAM ITALIA ET HI- I SPANIfi Poetse celebriores singulis Tetra- I stichis singuli recensentur, una addita (vel- I ut in compendio) eorundem vita, I natalibus & diebus emort- I ualibus. I FRANCOFURTI, I Sumptibus Lucee JENNISH, I Anno. M.DC.XXV. [BL1161.b.4.(l.)l

[Part I, p. 97 = Glr] ELISABETHAIOAN. WE- I stonia, Angla, Foe- I tria. O quam te memorem Vates cultissima? non est Mortalis genii, Westoni, vena tui. Quippe moves omnes divo quia carmine sensus, Non tantum Vates, sed nova ferme Dea es.

[G3rj Aliud eiusdem I IN MELLITISSIMA POEMATA I NobilissirricE, Elegantissimaeque Vatis, I ELISABETH/E IOAN. WESTONI^E, I &c. Ad Ornatissimum Virum, loan. Muscu= I lum, Solinariensem, cognatum. Dicere vix satago, si queeras, Muscule, tantum, Quantum Westonise carmina Vatis amem. Ilia puellarem supereminet inclyta sortem, Et superat vates carminis arte mares. 5 Ilia chelyn Phcebo, doctis sed plectra Camaenis Surripuit, Musis addita Musa novem. Quid loquar? obstupeo, cum tantae tanta Puellee Totque animo mecum dona revolvo meo. Nam quid amabilius mellitae nectare venae, 10 Quee fluit a largo, Westoni, fonte tibi?

11. Johannes Petrus Lotichius (1598-1669, German poet and scholar)

The Poetic Library, Parts I and II, ofjohann Peter Lotichius, in which the most famous poets of Italy and Spain, as well as of Greece and Thrace, are individually reviewed in separate quatrains, along with a summary life of them with their dates of birth and death. Frankfurt: Luca °Jennisius, 1625. [Jennisius: not identified]

[Part I, p. 97 = Glr] Elizabeth Jane Western, English poet. 0 how shall I commemorate you, most learned poet? Weston, the vein of your genius is not mortal. Indeed, since you move all the senses with your divine song, you are not just a bard but virtually a new Goddess.

[G3r] Another [epigram] by the same, on the most honeyed poems of the most noble and elegant bard, Elizabeth Jane Weston, &c; to the most celebrated man, Johannes °Musculus of Solingen, his blood-relation. 1 can hardly say enough, Musculus, if you ask how much I love the poems of the bard Weston. That renowned person surpasses the destiny of girls, and surpasses male poets in the art of song. 5 She stole her lyre from Phoebus, her plectra from the learned Muses; she is a Muse added to the nine Muses. What shall I say? I am amazed when I think back how many and how great the gifts are of such a Girl. For what is more agreeable than the nectar from honeyed vein 10 that flows richly, Weston, from your fount?

414 Other Tributes to Westonia

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Tersius est ecquid calamo, dulcique lepore, Qui nitet in scriptis, Virgo Britanna, tuis? Magna Tibullaeis accedit gratia Musis, Naso fere nullum novit in arte parem. Tu tamen invictos hos aequas carmine Vates, Femina iam, Naso, parque Tibulle, tibi est. Quid? quod & eloquii praestantem laude Periclem, Hyblaeos vincunt & tua verba favos. Haec haec aeternas meruit tua gloria Cedros, Haec super astriferas it tua fama plagas. Qua velut omnigenas inter Regina puellas, Verius aut docta carminis arte Dea es. Pallor? an esse Deam recte te dixero; recte; Divina sensus scilicet arte moves. [G3v] Quid vetat? ipse tuas intra praecordia vires, Ipse, inquam, numen sentio dulce tuum. Dum tua secretas pandit mihi vena medullas, Laetitiam tota mente probante suam. Dum mellita meos rapiunt tua carmina sensus, Carmina nectareis anteferenda cibis. Ergo pene tuis quod iam revivisco libellis, Et novus in Musas iam mihi surgit amor. Ergo ego desuetas alacri quod pollice chordas, Musaeasque novo tango calore fides: Tu facis, 6 Vates generosa! Quid hie tibi laudis, Quae potero meritis digna referre tuis? 'Quiddam nuper erat, si mascula carmina Vates Tangeret arguta masculus ipse lyra. 'Res nova! pluris id est; iam mascula carmina Vatis 'Virgo dat, & vates vincit in arte mares.['] Both poems are quoted, the second in part, in Westonia, Opuscula, ed. H.C. Kalckhoff, Frankfurt, 1723 and 1724. [BL G.17483 and 238.m.7.]

Joannes Petrus Lotichius 415

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Is anything more polished than your reed, or the sweet pleasantry that shines in your writings, British Maiden? Your great grace approaches the Tibullan Muses, and Naso knows almost nothing equal in his art. Yet you equal these unsurpassed poets in song, a woman is now equal to you, Naso, and you, Tibullus. Why? Because your words conquer both Pericles, supreme in his reputation as orator, and the Hyblean honeycombs. This glory of yours has earned lasting immortality, this fame of yours reaches above the starry regions. Hence, you are like a queen among all kinds of girls, or rather a goddess of the accomplished art of song. Do I err, or am I right in calling you a goddess? Yes, I am; for surely you move the senses by a divine art. [G3v] What forbids it? I myself feel your forces in my heart; I tell you, I feel your sweet divinity; while your sweet vein spreads through my innermost parts, with my whole mind affirming its joy, while your honeyed songs seize my senses, songs to be preferred to a diet of nectar. Therefore, since now I almost come back to life in your books, and a new love for the Muses now surges in me; therefore, since I touch the abandoned chords with eager thumb, and the Muses' lyres with new enthusiasm, You cause this, O noble bard! What praise for you here, what answer can I make worthy of your merits? It used to amount to something when a male poet could himself compose masculine songs to his cunning lyre. Behold a new thing! And a greater! Now a poet's masculine songs a maiden brings forth, and in her art conquers male poets.' [Musculus: not identified]

12. Bernhard Praetorius, of Niirnberg (1567-1616)

The copy of Parthenica belonging to Christoph Girsner of Niirnberg, now in the National Museum Library in Prague (press number 49 E 38), contains the following, apparently in Girsner's hand (since his epitaph to Westonia [3/9] is in the same hand in this volume). This, like 3/9 and Girsner's copy of W's ms addition (main'poem), appears on end papers bound with Parth.

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Joannae Elisabethae Westoniae, Anglae, Faeminse I Nobiliss. lectiss. Poetriae doctiss. cultiss. S.P.D. I Bernhardus Praetorius. Qu[u]m peterem nuper populosae mcenia Pragae, Cunctaque ibi turbis perstreperentque tubis: Non mihi tanta fuit (.quamvis quoque.) cura videndi Csesaris, aut Regis volta serena novi: Quam tua, Musarum decima, 6 Westonia nympha; Alter a nata Jo vis vertice, quarta char is: Eque tuis dulces labris haurire liquores, Seu veteri Latias sive recente lites. (Nil dicam de alijs, Britonum Zechumque loquelis; Quarum, confiteor, non mihi notities: Tu tamen has etiam, divina Poetria, calles; Et sunt vernaclae, ceu quoque nostra, tibi.) Aut par Callimachi numeris Epigramma Latini, Ingenij e rivis elicuisse tuis. Naturae sexusque tui, seclique solique Miraclum! quo non clarius aathra videt: Nil mihi prae te sunt Cassandra Fidelis, et ilia Quae de Centonum tegmine nomen habet, Nil mihi Roswitis, Gru[n]tleri aut Fulvia consors: Sique alia est clarijs ulla operata sacris. Hae praeter, quaa cuique fuit vernacula, linguam, Romanis poterant ora movere sonis. [verso] Ilia etiam Graium texit vestigia felix; Inque hac inque ilia pangere docta melos.

12. Bernhard Praetorius, of Niirnberg (1567-1616)

To Elizabeth Jane Western, most noble English woman, most learned and well read, skilled poet, greetings. Bernhard Praetorius. When recently I was approaching the walls of populous Prague, and everything echoed with noise of crowds and trumpets: I had no such great desire to see the serene faces of the emperor or the new king (though I had that too), 5 as I did yours, O nymph Weston, tenth of the Muses, another daughter of Jove's forehead, a fourth Grace; and to drink sweet liquors from your lips, of Latin disputes in either olden times or now (I say nothing of other idioms, English or Czech, 10 of which I confess I have no knowledge; yet you are skilled in these too, divine Poet, and they are your native tongues, as ours is too), or to elicit from the streams of your wit an epigram, comparable to the poems of a Latin Callimachus. 15 Miracle of nature and of your sex, and of the age and region, than which none more brilliant has seen the sky! For me, no whit superior to you are Cassandra Fedele, and °she who is known for her patchwork-like Centos, nor °Hroswitha, nor °Fulvia, the consort of Gruntler, 20 nor anyone else devoted to the rites of the Muses. In addition to the language which each had as native, these could move their mouths to Roman sounds, [verso] She also has happily followed in the Greeks' footsteps, skilled in composing a song in this or that tongue.

418 Other Tributes to Westonia

25 At quee tot iunctas calleret sola loquelas, Quas Brito, quas Zechus, Teuto, Italusque sonant: Et Celta, atque Argus, iuxtaque effingere tersum Posset Epos: praeter te, Dea, nulla fuit. Quanto igitur reliquis Sol est illustrior astris; 30 Quanto alijs Corylus altior exiguis; Tanto tu reliquas, divina Poetria, vates Exsuperas: tanto clarior atque nites. Quid mirum ergo fuit, potius te cernere si quis Gestiat, ac Regis volta serena, novi. Pragae 10 Kal. Apr.: St. Juliano I A° 1611. 18 tegmme] tegamme 30 Corylus] Coryhs 34 novi] vidi

Bernhard Praetorius 419

25, And she alone has knowledge of all those combined languages which the Briton, Czech, German, Italian speak; and the Celt, and Argive, and could likewise fashion a polished epic; there has been no one but you, Goddess. Therefore just as the sun is brighter than other stars, 30 and the hazel tree is taller than other little ones, so much you, divine poet, exceed other bards; and so much more brightly you shine. No wonder, then, that one would prefer to see you rather than the new king's serene face. Prague, 22 March 1611, Feast of St Julian. [she: Proba Falconia or Valeria (see index); Hroswitha: Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (ca. 935-ca. 1000); Fulvia: Olympia Morata]

13. Johann Joachim von Rusdorf (1589-1640)

ANASTASII I D£ VALLE QVI= I ETIS I NOBILIS GER= I MAM, TYROCINIA I POETICA. I A° MDCXXIIX [BL: 11408.de.l.]

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[p. 104=G4v] IN OBITUM lOHANN^E WESTONI^E Anglse, nobilis Poetriae, mortuae Pragae M DC XIII. Novena turba fontis Hippocrenidis, Pedissequaeque Cypridis, Moneta mater, & lovis Diespittis Cerebrignata filia, Rigate vulta vestra rore fletuum, Comas & ungue solvite, Cupressina impedite frunde tempera, Nigrumque syrma sumite: Manuque luctuosa corda plangite, Senate flebiles modos: Alumna vestra, meta Musici chori, Honos Britannic! soli; Cui secunda vena fluxit ubere Liquore mellis Attici, [p. 105=G5r] In ore cujus enitebat aureo Siiada plena fulmine, Suum cui Cythera diva cingulum, Charisque gratiam dedit, Tibulliana quaeque plectra calluit, Horatijque barbiton, Et eruditione feminam exuit Virilitatis eemula; Adit profunda lustra mortis invidae, Atroce mersa funere.

13. Johann Joachim von Rusdorf (1589-1640)

The Poetic Apprenticeship of °Anastasius of the Restful Valley, a Noble German. 1628. [Anastasius: no explanation for this pseudonym (Rusdorf = 'Peaceful Valley')]

5

10

15

20

[p. 104] On the death of Jane Weston, Englishwoman, and noble poet, dead in Prague, 1613. Ninefold band of the Hippocrene fount, and followers of the Cyprian, Mother °Moneta, and the brain-born "daughter of Jove Diespiter, stain your faces with the marks of weeping, and loosen your tresses with your fingers, bind your brows with cypress branch, and put on your black robe: strike sorrowful chords with your hands, play sad tunes; for your companion (the goal of the Muses' choir, the glory of British territory, from whom a rich vein flowed with abundant liquor of Attic honey, [p. 105] on whose golden lips there shone Persuasion herself, with lightning; to whom the Cytherean goddess gave her girdle, and Charis her graces, and who was versed in Tibullan song and the lute of Horace, and whose erudition shuns the feminine and is emulous of manliness) approaches the profound haunts of envious Death, plunged in dreadful exequy.

422 Other Tributes to Westonia

25 In optumo vigore Parca licium Maligna rupit Atropos. Nihil movere quivit eruditio Stygis Charonta Porthmeum? Nihil lepore delibuta gratia? 30 Nihilque stemma nobile? Nihilque lingua promiconda nectaris, Fluensque vena saccharo? Nihil tributa rara dona fceminae, Et insolens scientia? 35 At abstinere Parca nescit optumis, Sed ante tempus imminet, Sibique pulchriora Morta pignorat, Diemque avara praevenit. At in vigore permanere perpeti 40 Licet videre perpera. Colore quo per arva quisque flosculus Venustiore purpurat, [p. 106] Et enitens amoeniore schemate Oclos tuentis attinet; 45 lapygis furore subjacet magis, Et interit citissime.

Joachim Rusdorf 423

25 In full vigour, the malign Fate, Atropos, broke her thread. Could her learning not move at all Charon, ferryman of the Styx? Not at all her graces, beautified by her skills? 30 Not at all her noble origins? Nor at all her tongue, gushing forth nectar, and her vein flowing with sweetness? Nor at all her tributes, rare gifts in a woman, and her extraordinary learning? 35 But the Fate cannot resist excellent persons, and seeks them before their time, and °Morta lays claim on the more beautiful, and avidly anticipates their day. But only those found wanting are allowed 40 to remain in continuing vitality. Each flower that is marked in the fields with a fairer hue, [p. 106] and shines forth with a more pleasing form, attracts the beholder's eye, 45 is the more subject to the western wind's fury and dies most swiftly. [Moneta: a cult title of Juno in Rome, but later (by false association with moneo) identified as mother of Muses; daughter: Minerva; Morta: the name of a Fate (perhaps from moira) but here associated with Death]

14. Lambert Thomas Schenckel (b. 1547)

JOVINIANVS IM- I PERATOR I Sive I HISTORIA I fortune adverse I Summa digna admiratione, exemplo I cuilibet serviem, ne prosperis rebus hono- I ribusqueelatus,graviteraDeodonecresipi- I scat,puniatur:hexametris versibus ex- I pressa, addita morali expli- I catione, I per I Lambertum Thomam Schenckelium I Dusilvium. I Subjunctis aliquot I Elegiis & Epigrammatibus I m laudem summorum Virorum ac Mulie- I mm: & doctissimarum quinque nostri se- I culi feminarum I Pragee, Typis Pauli Sessij. M. DC. XVII. [Budapest, Egyetemi Konyvtar: Hf 4V 125]

[p. 63] D. ELISABETH/E JOANN/E WESTONI/E. Et tua scripta diu praelo subjecta fuerunt, Carmine turn prosa; sunt ea visa mihi. [p.64] Paucula, fortassis non omnia; divite vena Quid possit virgo, quid mulierque decent. 5 Ingenium, studiumque tuum testantur abunde, Femineum certe nemo putaret opus. Nomen at appositum dubitandi sustulit ansam; Hinc patet in laudes janua lata tuas. Certe quam primum lepidissima carmina vidi, 10 Optavi fluerent prospera cuncta tibi. IN OBITVM NOBILIS ADMODVM & doctae Poetriae Laureatae Caesareae, Dominae Elisabethae Joannae Westoniae; natione Anglae: Pragae Bohemorum mortuae & c. O Duram Lachesim, quae stamina saepe malorum Longa trahis, resecas vix bene cepta probis. Quis te prognatam scopulis, & lacte ferino Nutritam, silices pectus habere neget?

14. Lambert Thomas Schenckel (b. 1547), Jovinianus Impemtor (1617) The Emperor Jovinian, or a history of adverse fortune worthy of the highest admiration, serving as an example to everyone lest he be carried away by prosperity and honours and punished severely by God till he recover his senses; expressed in hexameter verses with moral explanation added, by Lambert Thomas Schenckel, Dusilvius. With certain elegies and epigrams appended, in praise of excellent men and women, and five most learned women of our century. Prague: Paulus Sessius, 1617.

[p. 63] To Lady Elizabeth Jane Weston I have seen your writings, which were published long since, in verse and also in prose; [p. 64] not all of them perhaps, but a few. They show what a maiden, or a matron, with rich talent can achieve. 5 They testify abundantly to your genius and learning; surely no one would think them the work of a woman. But the name attached to them removes all occasion for doubt, and so the way lies clear for your praise. Surely as soon as I saw your most polished songs, 10 I hoped that all might flow smoothly for you.

On the death of the most noble and learned poet, Imperial Laureate, Madame Elizabeth Jane Weston, English by birth, dying in Prague, Bohemia, &c. 'Cruel Lachesis, you often spin out long threads for the wicked but cut off those of the virtuous when scarce begun. Who can deny that you were born on cliffs and nursed on a beast's milk, and have a stony breast?

426 Other Tributes to Westonia

5 Aut adamante tibi claudi preecordia duro, Nullius ut possint tangere corda preces? Quodnam commisit Westonia crimen, ut ipsam In summo aetatis flore perire veils? Nee te nobilitas, potuit nee flectere virtus, 10 Non morum probitas ingeniumque sagax. [p-65] Non doctrina, viros multos qua femina vicit; Gratia nee linguae, nee pietatis amor. An quia tarn Celebris fortasse Poetria facta, Invidiae stimulis exagitata doles? 15 Virgilius princeps vatum, si Naso videret Carmina, quae rnulier fecit, uterque probet. Ni te tarn rnultee potuerunt flectere dotes, Debebas saltern parcere amore viri. Quern tarn dilecta privasti conjuge, prolem 20 Matre, gemunt; justi causa doloris adest. Has postquam Lachesis perceperat aure querelas, Incepit contra paucula verba loqui: Quis me crudelem, duram vocat? imperat ipse Quod Deus, hoc facio; non ego facta nocens. 25 Uxorem tali sub conditione recepit, Qui dedit, ut repetat quo velit ipse die. Noverat in mundo variis cruciatibus illam Expositam, nimia tristitiaque premi; Transtulit in caslum, requies, ubi summa voluptas, 30 Est ubi fas vita prosperiore frui. Illic tranquillam ducit vitamque perennem, Libera ab innumeris, quae tot in orbe, malis. Hie, defuncta suos invenit laeta parentes, Et fratres, doluit quos obiisse, videt. [p. 66] 35 Hie consanguineos, affines atque sorores, Repperit ac notos, cum quibus esse juvat. Optat & hie prolem, sibi vellet adesse maritum, Ut simul hie plena gaudia mente ferant. Gaudia terricolis quae non sat nota, nee ilia 40 Mens capit; ullius lingua referre nequit. Interea viduum, quoniam vir doctus habetur, Hunc forti casum pectore ferre decet.

Lambert Thomas Schenckel 427

5 Or that your heart is closed off by hardened steel, so that no one's prayers can touch your soul? Pray, what crime did Weston commit, that you want her to perish in the full flower of her life? Her nobility could not sway you, nor her virtue, 10 nor her moral probity and wise genius; [p. 65] not her learning, by which as a woman she excelled many men, nor her tongue's grace, nor her love of piety. Is it perhaps because she had become so famous a poet that you grieve, spurred on by prickings of envy? 15 If Vergil, the prince of poets, or Naso were to see the songs which this woman wrote, both would praise them. And if so many talents could not sway you, at least you should spare her husband's love. They lament that you have deprived him of so beloved a wife, 20 the children of a mother; there is true cause for grief/ After Lachesis had heard these complaints, she began to speak a few words in rebuttal: 'Who calls me cruel or harsh? What God Himself commands I do; I have not been made wicked. 25 He took his wife under this condition, that He who gave her could take her back whenever He wished. He knew that she had been exposed to various sufferings in this world, and pressed by overwhelming sorrow; and He transferred her to heaven, to rest and supreme joy; 30 that is where she may rightly enjoy a happier life. There she leads a tranquil, eternal life, freed from all the innumerable ills of this world. Here, the deceased is happy to find her parents, and see the °brethren whose deaths she had lamented, [p. 66] 35 Here too she finds her famous kinsmen and sisters through marriage, with whom she joys to dwell. And here she hopes to see her offspring and wishes to be joined by her husband, that they may share her joys wholeheartedly. Joys that are little known on earth, nor comprehended there; 40 nor can anyone's tongue express them. Meanwhile, it is fitting for the widower to bear this fate with a stout heart, since he is held to be a learned man.

428 Other Tributes to Westonia

Vt vero semper recte domus ipsa regatur, Conjuge tarn felix, ac prius, esse potest. 45 Successura toro si diligat ipsa maritum, Diliget & prolem: matris eritque loco. Cur igitur quasi dura forern culpabor inique? Crirninis utque ream, qui legit ista, putet.

Lambert Thomas Schenckel 429

That his home may truly continue to be maintained properly, he may be as happy in a new spouse as before. 45 If her Successor to the marriage bed loves her husband, she will also love the children and take the mother's place. Why then should I be unfairly blamed as if I were cruel? Let whoever reads this judge if I am guilty of any crime.' [brethren: in fact, W had only one brother, John Francis; successor: Leo married Joanna Seltenschlagius von Fridenfeld in Prague in 1614]

15. Sir John Stradling (1563-1637)

IOANNIS STRADLINGI I Epigrammatum I LIBRI QUATUOR. I LONDINI, I ImpensisGEORGII BISHOP & IOANNIS NORTON Anno Dom. 1607. [Harvard: Houghton STC 23354] [Liber secundus, p. 83, F3r] Ad D. Elisabetham loannam Westoniam, virginem Anglam; De suis poematum libris. Inscius ignoti concinna poemata vatis Dum lego, rnox primo limine ut obstupui! [p. 84, F3v] Foeminei generis postquam cognosce poetam, Carmina virgineo et pectore fusa noto. 5 Quam bene Caesarium precibus pia flectere pectus Niteris, ut votis annuat ille tuis. Et quot mellito conquiris carmine arnicos, Adversa tibi res sorte premente tuas. Tristibus utque olirn placandas Caesaris iras 10 Carminibus, duxit Naso poeta suis: Sic docta es vatern vates imitata probaturn; Et simile, in simili sorte, perita facis. Illius at tua plus meruisse Camoena videtur; Gratior ut docto est, docta puella, viro.

15. Sir John Stradling (1563-1637), Epigrammata (1607)

Four Books of Epigrams by John Stradling, London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1607.

[Book II, p. 83, F3r] To Elizabeth Jane Western, English maiden: On her books of poetry While ignorantly reading the well-wrought poems of an unknown bard, how astonished I soon was at the outset! [p. 84, F3v] After I learn that the poet is of the feminine sex, I note that her songs also flow from a maiden's breast. 5 How well you loyally seek to move Caesar's heart with prayers, that he may grant your wishes. And how many friends do you search out with your honeyed song, while a destiny hostile to you oppresses your affairs. And just as the poet Naso once sought to placate 10 Caesar's wrath with his °sad songs, so have you, a learned female bard, imitated a tried and tested male bard, and with experience of a similar lot, do similarly. But your Muse seems to have merited more than his, as a learned maiden is more pleasing °than a learned man. [sad songs: Ovid's Tnstia; than: or 'to' (the ambiguous syntax may be intentional)]

16. Frid. Taubmann (1565-1613)

Frid. Taubmani I SCHEDIASMATA I POETICA I innovata. I * I Pro CAPTu Lectoris habent I suafata Libelli. I Impensis Zachariae Schureri. I ANNO M. DC. XIX. [BL11409.ee.l4.(l-3.)] [p. 726, book II of epigrams] AD ELISABETHAM JOHANNAM LEONIS, e Vvestoniis Anglam, Poetriam. Cum me Praga potens & Caesaris aula teneret, Bis quassita mihi, Musa Britanna, domi; Nee tamen inventa es; non invenienda sub istud Tempus, & haud istis invenienda locis. 5 Sexta renascentis processerat hora diei: Tuque Leonis adhuc dicta jacere toro. Nee tamen in noxa es. Quis credat, Lesbida Sapphum Tempore Phaonis diseruisse torum? Me potius damno, qui non prudentius ivi. 10 Quamvis hie etiam culpa levanda mihi, Quern comitum rapiebat iter. Rape, biga, profectos. Tu Veneris bigas perge tenere domi: Tuque Leoque tuus, quern nil feritatis habentem Pascit in umbrosa valle Bohemus Eryx. 15 AT tu, si bene te novi, Lucina, repones Lucis in apricum, mons quod opacat Eryx. 8 Tempore] Tempori[b]us = Poetica 1604 [Wolfenbiittel copy]: Epigrammatum Liber I, p. 253 5 Sexta renascentis] Septima nascentis

16. Frid. Taubmann (1565-1613, German humanist, professor of classics at Wittenberg, Neo-Latin poet)

The Poetic Miscellany of Frid. Taubmann,. revised. The fate of books depends on the capacity of the reader. [1619].

[p. 726] To Elizabeth Jane Leo, English woman and poet of the Weston family. While I was staying at mighty Prague and Caesar's court, you were twice sought by me, British Muse, at home; yet you were not found; not to be found at that time, and not to be found in those places. 5 The sixth hour of the following day had passed, and you were still said to be lying in Leo's bed. Still, this was not your fault. Who would expect Sappho of Lesbos to have left Phaon's bed in timely fashion? Rather, I condemn myself for not having gone more prudently; 10 although even here my fault is to be waived, since my comrades' departure called me away. Hurry, the chariot, we're leaving. You be sure to keep Venus's chariots at home, you and your 'Lion/ devoid of all savagery, whom a Bohemian °Eryx pastures in a shady valley. 15 But you, °Lucina, if I know you well, will bring to light what Mount Eryx is shading. [Eryx: mountain site of a temple to Venus in Sicily; Lucina: goddess of childbirth]

17. Matthias Zuber (1570-1623), Neuberg am Donau

MATTH&IZUBERI I ISTRO-NEU- I BURGENSISPA- I LATINI, POET/E I Eaureati Melissei I Poematum, I Eiterato Orbis Theatro I exhibitorum, I PARS PRIMA. I FRANCOFURTI [vol. 2: ad Mcenum], I Typis Joan. Friderici Weissij. I Impensis Joannis I Ammonii, I MDCXXVII. [Vatican, Race. gen. neolatini VI.117 (1-2); BL 11409.ccc.6]

[vol. 1, p. 136] FRAGMENTUM AD ELISAB. JO- I ANNAM Westoniam, Britannam, Poe- I triam Laureatam, Foeminam Illu- I strem & Incompara- I bilem. Phaamonoe vates & docti filia Phcebi, Carmina quam produnt cecinisse heroica primam, ELISABETHA tibi VESTONIA cederet arte, Si non a tergo dictans adstaret Apollo: 5 Phcebada nee pra2 te meliorem dixero versu. Neu discinde tuae conscripta poemata Musae Crede mihi, Heroum coniitante favore legentur. Nee Morata tuas expungat Fulvia laudes: Quin potius, si vivat adhuc ilia altera Pallas, 10 Fcemineum ingenium castosque in mente lepores Admirata, tui tanto rapiatur amore, Quanto est correptus Divi LEO Caesaris Aula, [p. 137] Majorum ad laudem quern lus, quern suspicit ^quum. Quamprimum celebrabo iterum Quinquatria, Festum 15 Concelebrabo tuum simul, & Westonica dicam Nomine condigno, solennibus apta choreis: Nee mihi sit potior Sappho, neque Caerula Athene, Nee quae tarn clara est virtute Hortensia fandi. 1 Phaemonoe] Phaemonone

17. Matthias Zuber (1570-1623, crowned Poet Laureate

at University of Heidelberg, author of Latin and Greek verses)

The First Part of the Poems, displayed to the world's literate stage, of Matthias Zuber, of the Palatinate Neuberg am Donau, Poet Laureated by Melissus. Frankfurt [am Main]: Johann Friedrich Weiss, 1627.

[vol. 1, p. 136] Fragment to Elizabeth Jane Western, Briton, Poet Laureate, illustrious and incomparable woman. Themonoe, poet and daughter of learned Phoebus, who is reported as the first to have sung heroic songs, would have yielded to you, Elizabeth Weston, in art, if Apollo were not standing behind her dictating: 5 I would not have ranked his priestess better at verse than you. And do not tear up the already-written poems of your Muse: believe me, they will be read favourably by illustrious men. And Fulvia Morata would not blot out your praises: rather, if that other Pallas still lived, 10 she would be carried away by such love for you, admiring your feminine wit and the chaste elegance of your mind, much as Leo was swept away at divine Caesar's court, [p. 137] whom, for the glory of his ancestors, Law and Equity esteem. Forthwith I shall celebrate again the feast of Minerva, and 15 I shall celebrate yours as well, and call it that of Weston as an apt name, fit for solemn dancing: and let neither Sappho be preferred by me, nor cerulean Athene, nor °Hortensia, who is so famous for her rhetorical skill. [Phemonoe: a mythical Greek poet who antedated Homer and invented the hexameter, said to be Apollo's daughter and his first priestess at Delphi; Hortensia: daughter of a famous orator, she pleaded in 42 BCE against special property taxes imposed on wealthy women. Despite her forced removal from the tribune, her plea was successful]

436 Other Tributes to Westonia

5

[p. 176] ELISABETHS-JOANNS Westoniae, I Britannae, Illustrium hodie Foeminarum I Principi, Poetriae Laureatae I Melisseae. Qui videt augustam, Generosa POETRIA, Pragam, Si te non videat, nilve parumve videt. Tu sexus illustre tui Miraculum es: immo, A nobis fieri quod Dea nulla vetat, Te facimus, JOANNA, Deam Pindoque locamus. Nee tibi sint certo Sacra negata die. [p. 177] Te Decimam dicant numero non aestimo Musas, Doctos visa libros scribere, prima mihi es.

DE WESTONIA, ET JOAN. I LEONE, JC Eius Marito, in Aula I Imp. Sollicita- I tore. Eximia eximio WESTONIA juncta LEONI est. Cur non eximium sit, quod utrinque venit? Nimirum Natura parens respexerat illuc, Et, qui Naturae caussa suprema, DEUS.

[p. 221] ELIZABETHS-JOANNA WE- I stoniae, Poetriae Laureatae, Foeminae I Illustri. Quid Natura tibi, Westonia docta, negavit? Excepto, quod sis fcemina nata, Nihil.

[vol. 2, p. 37] DE ELISABETHA-JOANNA WE= I stonia, Angla, Illustri Femina & Poetria Lau- I reata; deque Joanne Leone, Juriscon- I sulto, ejus marito. [identical to vol. 1, p. 177, Eximia ... above]

Matthias Zuber 437

5

[p. 176] To Elizabeth Jane Western, Briton, chief today of illustrious women, poet laureated by Melissus. Who sees stately Prague, noble poet, if he doesn't see you, sees little or nothing. You are an illustrious miracle of your sex; nay, no goddess objects to our making you a goddess. We do make you a goddess, Jane, and place you on Pindus. And let not rites be denied you on a holy day. [p. 177] They may call you tenth, but I do not rank the Muses; for me you are first, in view of the learned books you write.

Concerning Weston and Johannes Leo her husband, Solicitor in the Imperial Court. Excellent Westonia is joined to excellent Leo. Why should not whatever comes from both be excellent? Certainly Mother Nature had taken care of that, and God, Who is Nature's final cause. [p. 221] To Elizabeth Jane Weston, Poet Laureate, illustrious woman. What did Nature deny you, learned Westonia? Nothing. Aside from your being born a woman.

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Index of Names

Since almost all the following names appear in both text and translation, page references in these cases are to the latter. Information (if available and felt to be needed) will usually be found at the location of a name's first occurrence; exceptions are italicized below

Abdias, 5 Acheron, 51 Actium, 45,105 Adonai, 95 Adonis, 287 Adrasteia, 401 Aesop, 146-53 Africanus (Scipio), 295 Agallis, 293 Agesilaus, 245 Alastor, 121 Albert, Catharina (or Elizabeth), 303, 403 Alcaius, 285 Alcides, 153 Alexander, 5, 359 Alighieri, Dante, 253 Alpaides, 299 Amalthea, 289 Amazons, 163 Ambrose, 299

Ammonius, 434 Amphiaraus, 127n Amphion, 51 Anastasia, 299 Anastasius, 421 Andes, 405 Andrew, St, 115 Angelica, 253 Anyte, 311 Aonia, Aonides (Muses), 35, 39, 69, 77, 79,163, 241,259, 333, 367, 373 Apella, 91, 95 Apelles, 161 Apollo, passim Apollonius, 289 Arcadius, 287 Archelidorus, 283 Arctophylax, star ('Bear ward'), 71 Arete, 291 Ariosto, 253 Aripis, Ariapithes, 289

440 Index of Names Aristippus, 291 Aristophanes, 291 Arpinum, 357 Aspasia, 285, 291, 311, 355 Athalia, 163 Athenaeus, 293 Atlas, 119 Atropos, 269, 339, 423 Aubrey, 403n Augustine, St, 401n Augustus Caesar, 5,245 Ausonia, 247 Ausonius, 99 Aussig, 367 Axiothea, 289 Bacchus, 16, 31, 35, 97,131, 363-5 Baldhoven, Bernard Martin, 73 Baldhoven, Georgius Martinius von, 3, 67, 69, 73,101,169,175,183-7, 213-35, 239, 243, 247,257-61, 271-9, 311, 315-17, 331, 385, 389n, 393n Baldhoven, Margaret, 73,277 Barth, Eva, 403 Barthold von Breitenberg, Georg (Pontanus), 49 Barvitius, Johann Anton, 17,21-5, 327 Basel, 363 Battista Malatesta, 301 Battista Varano, 299 Beatrice, 253 Bellona, 53 Belvitz, Christoph von, 47 Berlichius, Matthias, 323 Bethania, Beuthen (Bytom), eastern Silesia, 399 Bishop, George, 431 Blasius, Thomas, 81

Bocatius, Johannes (Bock, Janos), 386-7 Boccaccio, 165n, 295n, 317n Boessemesser, 397 Boethius, 253 Bohutsky, 377 Boreas, 37 Breithor, Johannes, 369 Brixa, Bruxia, Briix (Pontus, Most), 203 Brotinus, Brontinus, 287 Budapest, 424 Caelius, 291,293 Caesar, for Holy Roman Emperor, passim Calagius, Andreas, 388-9 Calenus, 99, 253 Callimachus, 417 Calliope, 55, 59, 67, 77, 111, 241, 269, 347, 365,401,405 Caminaeus, Balthasar, 311 Campanus, Jan, and Susanna, 351, 383

Caracalla, 245 Carmentis, 289 Carolides, George of Karlsberg, 63-5, 84-97,155-7,235, 279, 307, 343, 349, 389n, 390-3 Cassandra, 293 Cassandra. See Fedele Cassovia (Kassa, Kosice), Slovakia, 387 Castalia, 35, 251, 257, 273, 367, 379 Castor, 117 Catherine, 297 Cato, 203 Catullus, 377 Caystros, 409 Cecrops, Cecropian, 311

Index of Names 441 Centos. See Proba Cercylas, 285 Ceres, 35,147 Charts, Graces, passim Charixena, 291 Charon, 423 Cherinus, 93 Chrysogonus, 299 Cicero, 43, 85n, 179,181, 219, 221, 287n, 291n, 295n, 299, 355-7 Cilicia. See Oppian Cirrha, 241 Clarius, Clarian, 33, 35, 45, 241, 259, 367, 381, 401 Claudia, 253 Claudia (Statius), 295, 353 Claudian, 357n Cleis, 285 Cleobulina, 285 Clio, 401 Clumnitz, 13 Cnidos, 285 Corber, J., 394-5 Corinna, 59, 283 Cornelia, 295, 353 Cornificia, 295 Costanza. See Sforza, Constanza Costus, 297 Crates, 293n Cremer, 65n, 235 Croesus, 129 Croll, Oswald, 61,165,167,219n Csonka, Franciscus, 387 Cupid, 143 Cynthia, 11 Cyprian (Venus), 141, 277,421 Daedalus, 325 Dama, 291 Damophila, 289, 355

Daphne, 251 Deborah, 163, 283 Dee, John, 13n, 313n Delia, 253 Delos, 261 Denichius, Matthew, 63 Deucalion, 159 Diana, 289 Dido, 59, 317, 319n Diespiter (title of Jove), 421 Diogenes Laertius, 285-9, 293 Dion, 285 Diotima, 291 Dis, 29,123n Dives, 115 Domitian, 99 Dorffer, 399 Doris, 251 Dousa, Janus, 223-7,233n, 237-47,411 Dyer, Edward, 181, 231 Edusa, 401 Effraim, 283 Egnatius, 297 Eichorn, 311,389 Elissa, 59, 319, 353, 391 Elizabeth, Queen, 357 Elizabeth of Schonau, 299 Elpis, 253 Epicurus, 287n, 291n Epidaurus, 63 Erasmus, 287 Erato, 401 Erinna, 285 Erinnys, 145 Eriphyla, 127 Eris, 145,147 Eros, 147 Erphordium, Erfurt, 199 Eryx, 433

442 Index of Names Eudoxia, 297 Eugapius (Eunapius), 265n, 287 Eurus, 261 Eusebeia, Greek 'piety/ 373 Eusebius. See Jerome, St Eustathius, 265n, 293n Eustochia, Eustochium, 297 Euterpe, 47,401 Evander, 289n Exner, Balthasar, 157, 303n, 396-403 Fabiola, 293, 317 Fabronius, Hermann (Mosemann), 79, 81, 404 Falconia. See Proba Fedele, Cassandra, 301, 417 Feighius, L., 193,197 Festus, 239n Flaccila, 353 Flaccus. See Horace Fleming, P., 407 Flora, 37 Francus, Franconian (Melissus), 43, 45, 265 Frankfurt/Main, 413, 433 Frankfurt/Oder, 311, 369, 389 Frederick, 47, 397 Freiberg, Friberga Hermundurorum (city in Saxony), 367 Fulgosus, 293 Fulvia. See Olympia Morata, Fulvia Fulvia (Horace), 353 Fuscus, Arellius, 243,277n Gelomela, 315-17 Genatius, 363 Gernandus, Johann (and Casimir, his son), 77-9,187,191 Getae (Thracians), 73, 275 Ghent, 271

Girsner, Christoph, 304, 409, 416 Gistebnitz, 13 Gnidos. See Cnidos Gournay, Marie de, 317, 327 Gracchus, Gracchi, 295, 353 Gregory, 299 Grumberg, 235n Gruningius, Wolfgang, 199, 325-9 Gruntler, 253, 417 Gruter, Janus, 77, 79 Gutenberg, Johannes, 85-7 Halbmayer, 395 Hammond, John (Hammonius), 313 Hanau, Hanovia, 403 Havlik, Bartholomew, 333-5 Heidelberg, 183-7,191, 223, 225n Heinsius, Daniel, 223,225, 274, 311n, 411 Helen, 347 Helicon, 65,163,185, 221, 271 Heller, Johannes, 81-5, 323 Hercinia, 247 Hercules, 153 Herennianus, Herrnannus, 289 Herodotus, 289 Hertenberg, 15 Hesperia, 81 Hesperius, Hesperides, 273,277 Hesperus, evening star, 353 Hieronymus. See Jerome, St Hipparchia, 293 Hirsperga, Hirschberg, 237, 397-9 Hollings, Edmund, 205 Holwein, 367 Homer, 161n, 279n, 285, 411 Homer (tragic poet), 293n Horace, 47, 91n, 265n, 353, 405,411, 421 Horn, Otto von, 349

Index of Names 443 Hornmold, Sebastian, 362-5 Hortensia, 295, 317, 435 Hrdina, K., 336 Hroswitha, 417 Hyas, 131 Hyblean, 415 Hyginus, 289n Hymen, 347 Hypatia, 285 Hyppolyta, 243 lanthis, 253 'Ilia/ 61 India, 163 Ingolstadt, 203-11 Isidore, 285 Isidore of Seville, 165n Isis, 317 'Istrina/ 289 James I of England, 169,177, 227-9 Jennisius, Luca, 413 Jerome, Master, 209 Jerome, St (Eusebius-Jerome), 293, 297-9, 317, 373n Jerusalem, 95 Jezebel, 7 Joachimstal, 33, 37 Joan, Pope, 297 Joshua, 111 Judaea, 163 Judith, 163 Julia, 353 Juno, 253, 355, 397,403 Juvenal, 55,237 Kalckhoff, 81n, 414n Kameneck. See Albert, Catharina Kelley, Edward, 7,13n, 241, 325n, 337-43

Kelley, Jane, 336-43 Kelley, Ludomilla or Lydia, sister-inlaw to Edward, 15,211 Kelley, Thomas, 15 Kelley, William, 211 Kertel, Kerzel, Wolfgang, 405 Lachesis, 333, 425-7 Lactantius, 291, 299 Laelia, 295 Lalage, 265 Lasthenia, 289 Laura (Petrarch), 253 Lazarus, 115 Leda, 117 Leiden, 223-7, 231-3, 238n, 239, 411 Leipzig, 227 Leo IV, 299 Leo, Johannes, of Eisenach, 67,133, 227, 269, 303, 307, 333-5, 341n, 351-7, 369-71, 376-87, 397-9, 427, 433-7 Leo, Maria Polyxena, first child of W, 399 Leontium, 287 Lesbia, 65, 99, 311 Lesieur, Stephen, 177,181, 231 Leucas, 285 Liciniae, 295 Lindau, 235n Lingelsheim, 189 Lippe, 75-7 Lipsius, Justus, 219, 317n, 322, 325-7, 369 Lobkovic, Zdenek Vojtech Popel z, 13, 51n, 401n London, 431 Lotharingia, Lorraine, 189 Lotichius, Joannes Petrus, 412-15 Lucan, 253, 295, 317, 353

444 Index of Names Lucceia, 293 Lucina, 355,433 Lyaeus. See Bacchus Lycaeum, 239 Lymburch, Eric, 59 Macedon, Philip of, 359 Maecenas, 11,13 Maeonius (Homer), 279 Maero. See Myro Maffei. See Volaterranus Mainz, 85 Maius, Ecbert, 75-7, 201 Maius, Nicolaus, 33, 37-41,167,185, 191-3, 201, 217-25, 243, 255, 267-9 Malatesta, Battista, 301 Mansfeld, Peter Ernest, 225,344-9 Manto, 289 Marcella, 293, 317 Maro. See Vergil Marre, 403n Mars, 173 Martial, 99n, 161n, 295 Martin[i]us. See Baldhoven, Georgius Martinius von Matthias II, 181, 358-61 Medusa, Medusan fount (Hippocrene)/369, 379 Megaera, 29 Melanchthon, Anna, 301 Melander, Otto, 381 Meleager, 149 Melissus (Schede), Paulus, 43-7, 77, 167,183-5,189-91, 215-17, 221, 225n, 239, 249-61, 265n, 321, 365, 369-71, 437 Melpomene, 47-9,261, 275, 279,289, 385, 401 Mercury, 251, 315 Methuselah, 269

Michaele. See Mycale Midas, 47,115,129 Mielniczky, Charles, 391 Minerva, 31, 40, 85,245, 255, 283, 317, 321, 377, 397, 421 Moguntia. See Mainz Moldau, Vultava, 159,173, 237, 259 Momus, 53 Moneta, 421 Montaigne, 317n Montana, Georgia (Georgette de Montenay), 301 Monte, Philippe de, 51 Montefeltro, Guido, 301 Morata. See Olympia Morata, Fulvia Morel sisters, 61, 301 Morpheus, 11, 83 Morta, 423 Mosemann. See Fabronius, Herman (Mosemann) Moses, 111 Muciae, 295 Musca, 291 Musculus, Johannes of Solingen, 413 Mycale, 291 Myro, 293 Myrtis, 283 Naso. See Ovid (Naso) Neptune, 173,293 Nereus, Nereids, 71,255n Nestor, 17,27,163, 221 Nicholas V, 301 Nicostrata, 289 Nigrinus, Georgius, 12 Nogarola, Ginevra, 299 Nogarola, Isotta, 245, 299n, 301 Nonius Marcellus, 401n Norton, John, 431 Novarolla. See Nogarola

Index of Names 445 Novensides, Novensiles, 29,33, 35 Nurnberg, 225, 395 Oberursel, Ursellius, 323 Oceanus, 173,255n Oels, Olsna, 397 Oeta, Mt, 353 Oldenburg. See Lymburch, Eric Olympia Morata, Fulvia, 59,245n, 253, 301, 311, 389, 417,435 Olympus, 53,103, 241 Oppian, 245 Orpheus, 51 Ovid (Naso), 43, 69, 71,97n, 99,159n, 283, 285n, 291n, 355, 391, 405, 415, 427, 431 Padua. See Patavium Antenorum, Padua Paean, 241, 247 Palamedes, 149 Pallas, Athena, 35-7, 83-5,163, 251, 259, 379, 397, 403-5, 435 Pamphilus, 289 Pandavas, 163 Papinius Statius, 283-5, 295-7, 353 Paracelsus, 61n Parnassus, 69, 367, 401 Patavium Antenorum, Padua, 195, 199 Paula, 297 Pausanias, 283n, 293 Pecka z Radostic, Michael, 350-7 Pegasus, 35, 43, 313, 333 Pelcel, 373 Peligni, 97 Pericles, 285n, 291, 355, 381,415 Perilla, 99 Permessus, 243 Petrarch, 253

Phaethon, 407 Phaon, 285,433 Phemonoe, 287, 435 Phoebe, 125 Phoebus Apollo, passim Pierides, 99,251, 269, 377, 379 Pimpla, 163 Pindar, 265,283 Pindus, 321,407,437 Pisnitz, Heinrich von, 9,15,23, 51, 185,199, 243, 255, 331 Pisnitz, Johann Heinrich von, 33 Pisnitz, Wilhelm Friedrich von, 25-9 Pius II, 299,301 Plato, 285n, 289,291 Pliny, 165n, 293 Plutarch, 223, 285, 289, 291,293 Pluto, 121 Politian, 299, 301 Polla Argentaria, 253, 295, 317, 353 Pollio Trebellius, 289 Pollux, 117 Polyaenus, 293n Polydorus, 97 Polyhymnia, 401 Pompey, 353 Pontanus. See Barthold von Breitenberg, Georg (Pontanus) Popel. See Lobkovic, Zdenek Vojtech Popel z Posthi-melissaean, 363 Posthius, Johannes, 365 Potina, 401 Praetorius, Bernhard, 225, 304, 416-19 Praxilla, 59, 287, 311 Priam, 293 Proba, 297, 304, 417-19 Procratia, 283 Propertius, 283, 285

446 Index of Names Publius Romanus, 299 Pylian, 27 Pythagoras, 287, 289, 291 Pythius, Pythian, 253 Quintillian, 295 Quirinus, 149 Reinhusa, Reinhausen, 183 Ripa, Vaclav, 99 'Rogerus/ 203 Romulus, 45 Rozmberk (Ursinus), Petr Vok z, 11, 243 Rudolf II, 3,21,41, 53, 65, 73,173, 245, 263, 319n, 321n, 322-9, 345n, 353, 381n, 397 Rusdorf, Joachim, 420-3 Ryba, Bohumil, 174n, 330n, 410 Sabellicus, 299 Sabinus, George, 301 Saganum. See Zagari Sais, 241n Sallust, 223n, 317n Samaritan, 115 Sappho, 59, 99, 249, 273, 285, 289, 317, 325, 387-9, 433-5 Sarmatian, 71, 73 Sartorius von Glogwitz, Christoph, 329 Scaliger, Joseph Justus; son of Julius Caesar Scaliger, 99,175,223-7, 331, 341 Schenckel, Lambert Thomas, 424-9 Schlegel, Joachim, 237 Schmalkalden, 405 Schoenbach, 15 Schosser, Christian Theodore, 321 n, 327n, 366-73

Schuman, 333, 342, 391 Schiirer, Zacharia, 432 Sciurinus. See Eichorn Scyles, 289 Scytha, Scythian, 263 Seltenschlagius von Fridenfeld, Joanna, 429 Semele, 35,131 Semiamyra, 317 Sempronia Romana, 317 Seneca, 243n, 291 Serena, 353 Sessius, Paulus, 3,101,169, 351, 425 Severus, Septimius, 245 Sforza, Costanza, 299 Sforza, Ippolita, 245n Shiloh, the Messiah, 103 Sidonius, 99n Silesia, Silesian, 215, 219, 235n, 397 Sirius, 37 Sisyphus, 55 Socrates, 285n, 291, 321 Solingen, 413 Solymaeus (Jerusalem), 95 Sosipatra, 265, 287 Spagyric, 61,167 Spira, 183 Statius. See Papinius Statius Stella, 253 Sternberg, 23 Stesichorus, 285 Stilicho, 353 Stradling, John, 431 Stransky, Pavel, 99 Strasbourg, 85, 87 Strymonian cranes, 149 Stygian, Styx, 39,103,117, 267, 423 Suffenus, 215, Suidas, 287 Sulmona (Ovid), 97n, 405

Index of Names 447 Sulpicia, 99, 253 Sultz, Count von, 181 Surculus, 253 Sutor, Sutorius, 323 Sybils, 317, 319, 349 Sylis. See Scyles Syracides, named Jesus (Siraci, 'people of Sarmatia'), 111 Syracuse, 285 Talmud, 95 Taubmann, Frid., 369, 433 Telesilla, 293, 311 Telos, 285

Tempe, 401 Terentianus Maurus, 397n Terpsichore, 47, 401 Teutoni, 251 Textor, Ravisius, 282 Thales, 285n Thalia, 41, 237, 271, 381, 401 Thargelia, 291 Theano, 287, 323, 325 Thelesellis. See Telesilla Themis, 9,13,17, 37, 59, 323, 357 Themista, 291 Themistoclea, 289 Theodosius, 297, 353 Theon, 285 Theophilus, 295 Theophrastus, 287, 289 Thetis, 57, 71 Thisbe, 325 Thoma, Father Thomas, 211 Thrax, 241, 275 Thymbraeus, 271 Tibullus, 99n, 253, 377, 415, 421 Timolaus, 289 Tindaris (Helen), 346 Tiresias, 289

Tityus, 341 Trebon, 313n Trivulcia, 317 Trunz, Erich, 394n, 406n Turks, 7,107,265n, 361n Turner, Captain William, 177,181 Urania, 401 Ursellius. See Oberursel, Ursellius Utenhove, 301 Valentinus am Ende, ptr Leipzig, 359 Valeria. See Proba Varro, 401n Venus, 139,163,239, 245, 251, 269, 273-7, 335, 347, 379, 403, 421, 433 Venusian, Venosa, 405 Vergil, 7,43,45, 59,229, 297, 317, 319n, 363, 391, 405, 427 Volaterranus, 282-91, 295, 299 Vulcan, 83 Vulcanus, 167 Vultava. See Moldau, Vultava Wacker von Wackenfels, Johann Matthias, and daughter Helena Maria, 303, 377 Walter, Heinrich, 233 Wartenbourg, 344-9 Wechel, 403 Weiss, 435 Werner, M Petrus, 321, 327n Weston, John Francis, 55, 57,200-13, 221, 341n Widebram, Elizabeth, 301 Wock, Vok. See Rozmberk (Ursinus), Petr Vok z Wolfenbiittel, 367, 405 Zacharia, Zechariah, 111

448 Index of Names Zagan, 217, 233, 235,237 Zapa, 99 Zenobia, 287 Zephyr, 25, 261

Zerbst, 235n Zoilus, 159,183 Zuber, Matthias, 434-7