Complete Works of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

by Henry Howard

Their sparkled goods; their needy heirs, that should enjoy the same,

  From wealth despoiled bare, from whence they came they went;

  Clad in the clothes of poverty, as Nature first them sent.

  Naked as from the womb we came, if we depart,

  With toil to seek that we must leave, what boot to vex the heart? 50

  What life lead testy men then, that consume their days

  In inward frets, untemper’d hates, at strife with some always.

  Then gan I praise all those, in such a world of strife,

  As take the profit of their goods, that may be had in life.

  For sure the liberal hand that hath no heart to spare 55

  This fading wealth, but pours it forth, it is a virtue rare:

  That makes wealth slave to need, and gold become his thrall,

  Clings not his guts with niggish fare, to heap his chest withal;

  But feeds the lusts of kind with costly meats and wine;

  And slacks the hunger and the thirst of needy folk that pine. 60

  No glutton’s feast I mean in waste of spence to strive;

  But temperate meals the dulled spirits with joy thus to revive.

  No care may pierce where mirth hath temper’d such a breast:

  The bitter gall, season’d with sweet, such wisdom may digest.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  A Paraphrase of Some of the Psalms of David

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Proem

  WHERE reckless youth in an unquiet breast,

  Set on by wrath, revenge, and cruelty,

  After long war patience had oppress’d;

  And justice, wrought by princely equity;

  My DENNY then, mine error deep imprest, 5

  Began to work despair of liberty;

  Had not David, the perfect warrior taught,

  That of my fault thus pardon should be sought.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Psalm LXXXVIII

  O LORD! upon whose will dependeth my welfare,

  To call upon thy holy name, since day nor night I spare,

  Grant that the just request of this repentant mind

  So pierce thine ears, that in thy sight some favour it may find.

  My soul is fraughted full with grief of follies past; 5

  My restless body doth consume, and death approacheth fast:

  Like them whose fatal thread, thy hand hath cut in twain;

  Of whom there is no further bruit, which in their graves remain.

  Oh Lord! thou hast me cast headlong, to please my foe,

  Into a pit all bottomless, whereas I plain my woe. 10

  The burden of thy wrath it doth me sore oppress;

  And sundry storms thou hast me sent of terror and distress.

  The faithful friends are fled and banished from my sight:

  And such as I have held full dear, have set my friendship light.

  My durance doth persuade of freedom such despair, 15

  That by the tears that bain my breast, mine eyesight doth appair.

  Yet do I never cease thine aid for to desire,

  With humble heart and stretched hands, for to appease thine ire.

  Wherefore dost thou forbear in the defence of thine,

  To shew such tokens of thy power in sight of Adam’s line; 20

  Whereby each feeble heart with faith might so be fed,

  That in the mouth of thy elect thy mercies might be spread.

  The flesh that feedeth worms cannot thy love declare!

  Nor such set forth thy praise as dwell in the land of despair.

  In blind indured hearts light of thy lively name 25

  Cannot appear, nor cannot judge the brightness of the same.

  Nor blazed may thy name be by the mouths of those

  Whom death hath shut in silence, so as they may not disclose.

  The lively voice of them that in thy word delight,

  Must be the trump that must resound the glory of thy might. 30

  Wherefore I shall not cease, in chief of my distress

  To call on Thee, till that the sleep my wearied limbs oppress.

  And in the morning eke when that the sleep is fled,

  With floods of salt repentant tears to wash my restless bed.

  Within this careful mind, burden’d with care and grief, 35

  Why dost thou not appear, Oh Lord! that shouldst be his relief.

  My wretched state behold, whom death shall straight assail;

  Of one, from youth afflicted still, that never did but wail.

  The dread, lo! of thine ire hath trod me under feet:

  The scourges of thine angry hand hath made death seem full sweet. 40

  Like as the roaring waves the sunken ship surround,

  Great heaps of care did swallow me, and I no succour found:

  For they whom no mischance could from my love divide,

  Are forced, for my greater grief, from me their face to hide.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Psalm LXXIII

  THE SUDDEN storms that heave me to and fro,

  Had well near pierced Faith, my guiding sail;

  For I that on the noble voyage go

  To succour truth, and falsehood to assail,

  Constrained am to bear my sails full low; 5

  And never could attain some pleasant gale.

  For unto such the prosperous winds do blow

  As run from port to port to seek avail.

  This bred despair; whereof such doubts did grow

  That I gan faint, and all my courage fail. 10

  But now, my BLAGE, mine error well I see;

  Such goodly light king David giveth me.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Though, Lord, to Israel

  THOUGH, Lord, to Israel thy graces plenteous be;

  I mean to such, with pure intent as fix their trust in Thee,

  Yet whiles the Faith did faint that should have been my guide,

  Like them that walk in slipper paths, my feet began to slide;

  Whiles I did grudge at those that glory in their gold, 5

  Whose loathsome pride enjoyeth wealth, in quiet as they would.

  To see by course of years what nature doth appair,

  The palaces of princely form succeed from heir to heir.

  From all such travails free, as ‘long to Adam’s seed,

  Neither withdrawn from wicked works by danger, nor by dread. 10

  Whereof their scornful pride, and gloried with their eyes;

  As garments clothe the naked man, thus are they clad in vice.

  Thus, as they wish, succeeds the mischief that they mean;

  Whose glutted cheeks sloth feeds so fat, as scant their eyes be seen.

  Unto whose cruel power most men for dread are fain 15

  To bend or bow; with lofty looks, whiles they vaunt in their reign;

  And in their bloody hands, whose cruelty that frame

  The wailful works that scourge the poor, without regard of blame.

  To tempt the living God they think it no offence;

  And pierce the simple with their tongues that can make no defence. 20

  Such proofs before the just, to cause the hearts to waver,

  Be set like cups mingled with gall, of bitter taste and savour.

  Then say thy foes in scorn, that taste no other food,

  But suck the flesh of thy Elect, and bathe them in their blood;

  ‘Should we believe the Lord doth know, and suffer this? 25

  Fooled be he with fables vain that so abused is.’

  In terror of the just, that reigns iniquity,

  Armed with power, laden with gol
d, and dread for cruelty.

  Then vain the war might seem, that I by faith maintain

  Against the flesh, whose false effects my pure heart would disdain. 30

  For I am scourged still, that no offence have done,

  By wrathès children; and from my birth my chastising begun.

  When I beheld their pride, and slackness of thy hand,

  I gan bewail the woful state wherein thy chosen stand.

  And when I sought whereof thy sufferance, Lord, should grow, 35

  I found no wit could pierce so far, thy holy dooms to know:

  And that no mysteries, nor doubt could be distrust,

  Till I come to the holy place, the mansion of the just;

  Where I shall see what end thy justice shall prepare,

  For such as build on worldly wealth, and dye their colours fair. 40

  Oh! how their ground is false! and all their building vain!

  And they shall fall; their power shall fail that did their pride maintain.

  As charged hearts with care, that dream some pleasant turn,

  After their sleep find their abuse, and to their plaint return;

  So shall their glory fade; thy sword of vengeance shall 45

  Unto their drunken eyes in blood disclose their errors all.

  And when their golden fleece is from their back y-shorn;

  The spots that underneath were hid, thy chosen sheep shall scorn:

  And till that happy day, my heart shall swell in care,

  My eyes yield tears, my years consume between hope and despair. 50

  Lo! how my spirits are dull, and all thy judgments dark,

  No mortal head may scale so high, but wonder at thy work.

  Alas! how oft my foes have framed my decay;

  But when I stood in dread to drench, thy hands still did me stay.

  And in each voyage that I took to conquer sin, 55

  Thou wert my guide, and gave me grace, to comfort me therein.

  And when my wither’d skin unto my bones did cleave,

  And flesh did waste, thy grace did then my simple spirits relieve.

  In other succour then, O Lord! why should I trust;

  But only thine, whom I have found in thy behight so just. 60

  And such for dread, or gain as shall thy name refuse,

  Shall perish with their golden gods that did their hearts seduce.

  While I, that in thy word have set my trust and joy,

  The high reward that ‘longs thereto shall quietly enjoy.

  And my unworthy lips, inspired with thy grace, 65

  Shall thus forespeak thy secret works, in sight of Adam’s race.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Psalm LV

  GIVE ear to my suit, Lord! fromward hide not thy face:

  Behold! hearken, in grief, lamenting how I pray:

  My foes that bray so loud, and eke threpe on so fast,

  Buckled to do me scath, so is their malice bent.

  Care pierceth my entrails, and travaileth my spirit; 5

  The grisly fear of death environeth my breast:

  A trembling cold of dread overwhelmeth my heart.

  ‘O!’ think I, ‘had I wings like to the simple dove,

  This peril might I fly; and seek some place of rest

  In wilder woods, where I might dwell far from these cares.’ 10

  What speedy way of wing my plaints should they lay on,

  To ‘scape the stormy blast that threaten’d is to me?

  Rein those unbridled tongues! break that conjured league!

  For I decipher’d have amid our town the strife.

  Guile and wrong keep the walls; they ward both day and night: 15

  And mischief join’d with care doth keep the marketstead:

  Whilst wickedness with crafts in heaps swarm through the street.

  Ne my declared foe wrought me all this reproach.

  By harm so looked for, it weigheth half the less.

  For though mine enemies hap had been for to prevail, 20

  I could have hid my face from venom of his eye.

  It was a friendly foe, by shadow of good will;

  Mine old fere, and dear friend, my guide that trapped me;

  Where I was wont to fetch the cure of all my care,

  And in his bosom hide my secret zeal to God. 25

  With such sudden surprise, quick may him hell devour;

  Whilst I invoke the Lord, whose power shall me defend,

  My prayer shall not cease, from that the sun descends,

  Till he his alture win, and hide them in the sea.

  With words of hot effect, that moveth from heart contrite, 30

  Such humble suit, O Lord, doth pierce thy patient ear.

  It was the Lord that brake the bloody compacts of those

  That pricked on with ire, to slaughter me and mine.

  The everlasting God, whose kingdom hath no end,

  Whom by no tale to dread he could divert from sin, 35

  The conscience unquiet he strikes with heavy hand,

  And proves their force in faith, whom he sware to defend.

  Butter falls not so soft as doth his patience long,

  And overpasseth fine oil running not half so smooth.

  But when his sufferance finds that bridled wrath provokes, 40

  His threatened wrath he whets more sharp than tool can file.

  Friar! whose harm and tongue presents the wicked sort,

  Of those false wolves, with coats which do their ravin hide;

  That swear to me by heaven, the footstool of the Lord,

  Though force had hurt my fame, they did not touch my life. 45

  Such patching care I loath, as feeds the wealth with lies;

  But in the other Psalm of David find I ease.

  Jacta curam tuam super Dominum, et ipse te enutriet.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  Psalm VIII

  THY name, O Lord, how great, is found before our sight!

  It fills the earth, and spreads the air: the great works of thy might!

  For even unto the heavens thy power hath given a place,

  And closed it above their heads; a mighty, large, compass.

  Thy praise what cloud can hide, but it will shine again: 5

  Since young and tender sucking babes have power to shew it plain.

  Which in despight of those that would thy glory hide,

  Thou hast put into such infants’ mouths for to confound their pride.

  Wherefore I shall behold thy figur’d heaven so high,

  Which shews such prints of divers forms within the cloudy sky: 10

  As hills, and shapes of men; eke beasts of sundry kind,

  Monstrous to our outward sight, and fancies of our mind.

  And eke the wanish moon, which sheens by night also;

  And each one of the wandering stars, which after her do go.

  And how these keep their course; and which are those that stands; 15

  Because they be thy wondrous works, and labours of thy hands.

  But yet among all these I ask, ‘What thing is man?’

  Whose turn to serve in his poor need this work Thou first began.

  Or what is Adam’s son that bears his father’s mark?

  For whose delight and comfort eke Thou hast wrought all this work. 20

  I see thou mind’st him much, that dost reward him so:

  Being but earth, to rule the earth, whereon himself doth go.

  From angel’s substance eke Thou mad’st him differ small;

  Save one doth change his life awhile; the other not at all.

  The sun and moon also Thou mad’st to give him light; 25

  And each one of the wandering stars to twinkle sparkles bright.

  The air to give him breath; the water for his health;

  The earth to bring forth grain and fr
uit, for to increase his wealth.

  And many metals too, for pleasure of the eye;

  Which in the hollow sounded ground in privy veins do lie. 30

  The sheep to give his wool, to wrap his body in;

  And for such other needful things, the ox to spare his skin.

  The horse even at his will to bear him to and fro:

  And as him list each other beast to serve his turn also.

  The fishes of the sea likewise to feed him oft; 35

  And eke the birds, whose feathers serve to make his sides lie soft.

  Or whose head thou hast set a crown of glory too,

  To whom also thou didst appoint, that honour should be do.

  And thus thou mad’st him lord of all this work of thine;

  Of man that goes, of beast that creeps, whose looks doth down decline; 40

  Of fish that swim below, of fowls that fly on high,

  Of sea that finds the air his rain, and of the land so dry.

  And underneath his feet, Thou hast set all this same;

  To make him know, and plain confess, that marvellous is thy name.

  And, Lord, which art our Lord, how marvellous it is found 45

  The heavens do shew, the earth doth tell, and eke the world so round.

  Glory, therefore, be given to Thee first, which art three;

  And yet but one Almighty God, in substance and degree:

  As first it was when Thou the dark confused heap,

  Clotted in one, didst part in four; which elements we clepe: 50

  And as the same is now, even here within our time;

  So ever shall hereafter be, when we be filth and slime.

  List of poems in chronological order

  List of poems in alphabetical order

  The Second Book of Virgil’s Æneid

  THEY whisted all, with fixed face attent,

  When prince Æneas from the royal seat

  Thus gan to speak. O Queen! it is thy will

  I should renew a woe cannot be told:

  How that the Greeks did spoil, and overthrow 5

  The Phrygian wealth, and wailful realm of Troy:

  Those ruthful things that I myself beheld;

  And whereof no small part fell to my share.