Ben: Jonson Page


Of Beauty.

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                Masques. 327


T H E  S E C O N D

M  A  S  Q  U  E.

Which was of  B E A U T Y.

Was presented in the same Court, at Whitehall, on the
Sunday Night after the Twelfth-Night, 1608.



T

W O Years being now past, that her Majesty
 had intermitted these Delights, and the third
 almost come; it was her Highness's Pleasure again
 to glorifie the Court, and command, that I
should think on some fit Presentment, which should answer
the former, still keeping them the same Persons, the
Daughters of Niger, but their Beauties varied accor-
ding to Promise, and their Time of absence excus'd, with
Four more added to their Number.
   To which limits, when I had apted my Invention, and
being to bring News of them from the Sea, I induc'd Bo-
reas,
one of the Winds, as my fittest Messenger; presen-
ting him thus:

(a) So Paus.
in Eliacis,

reports him
to have, as
he was car-
ved in arcâ
Cipselli.




(b) See Ico-
nolog.de Cæ-
sare Ripa.

   In a Robe of Russet and White mixt, full,
and bagg'd; his Hair and Beard rough and
horrid; his Wings grey, and full of Snow and
Icicles: his Mantle borne from him with Wyres,
and in several Puffs; his Feet (a) ending in Ser-
pents Tails; and in his Hand a Leaf-less Branch,
laden with Icicles.
   But before, in midst of the Hall, to keep the
state of the Feast, and Season, I had placed
(b) January, in a Throne of Silver; his Robe
of ash-colour, long, fringed with Silver; a
white Mantle; his Wings white, and his Bus-
kins; in his Hand a Lawrel bough; upon his Head an
Anademe of Lawrel, fronted with the Sign Aquarius, and
the Character. Who, as Boreas bluster'd forth, discover'd
himself.
B O R E A S.
WHich among these, is Albion, Neptunes Son?

J A N U A R I U S.

W
Hat ignorance dares make that Question?
 Would any ask, who Mars were, in the Wars?
Or, which is Hesperus, among the Stars?
Of the bright Planets, which is Sol? Or can
A doubt arise, 'mong Creatures, which is Man?
Behold, whose Eyes do dart Promethean Fire
Throughout this all; whose Precepts do inspire
The rest with duty; yet commanding, chear:
And are obeyed more with love, than fear.

B O R E A S.
WHat Power art thou, that thus informest me?

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J A N U A R I U S.

D
O'st thou not know me? I too well know thee
 By thy (c) rude Voice, that doth so hoarcely blow;
Thy Hair, thy Beard, thy Wings, o'rehill'd with Snow,
Thy Serpent Feet, to be that rough North-wind,
Boreas,
that to my Reign art still unkind.
I am the Prince of Months, call'd January;
Because by me (d) Janus the Year doth vary,
Shutting up Wars, proclaiming Peace, and Feasts,
Freedom, and Triumphs; making Kings his Guests.  

(c) Ovid.
Metam.
lib.
6. near
the end see
--horridus
irâ, quæ
solita est
illi, nimiumque domestica, vento,
&c. (d) See the Offices and Power
of Janus, Ovid. Fast. 1.


B O R E A S.

T
O thee then, thus, and by thee, to that King,
 That doth thee present Honours, do I bring
Present remembrance of Twelve Æthiope Dames:
Who, guided hither by the Moons bright Flames,
To see his brighter light, were to the Sea
Enjoyn'd again, and (thence assign'd a day
For their return) were in the Waves to leave
Their blackness, and true beauty to receive.

J A N U A R I U S.

W
Hich they receiv'd, but broke their day: and yet
 Have not return'd a look of Grace for it,
Shewing a course and most unfit neglect.
Twice have I come, in Pomp here, to expect
Their presence; Twice deluded, have been fain
With (e) other Rites my Feasts to entertain:
And, now the third time, turn'd about the Year,
Since they were look'd for; and, yet, are not here.  
(e) Two
marria-
ges; the
one of
                     the Earl of Essex, 1606. the other of the Lord Hay, 1607.


B O R E A S.

I
T was nor Will, nor Sloth, that caus'd their stay;
(f) Read
his De-
scription,
with Vir.
Geor.
4.
Est in Car-
pathio Nep-
tuni gur-
gite vates,
Cæruleus
Proteus.
 For they were all prepared by their Day,
And, with Religion, forward on their Way:
When Proteus, (f) the grey Prophet of the Sea,
Met them, and made report, how other Four
Of their black Kind (whereof their Sire had store)
Faithful to that great Wonder, so late done
Upon their Sisters, by bright Albion,
Had followed them to seek Britannia forth,
And there to hope like favour, as like worth.
Which




328 Masques.                    


Which Night envy'd, as done (a) in her despite,
And (mad to see an Æthiope washed white)
Thought to prevent in these; lest Men should
            deem
Her colour, if thus chang'd, of small esteem.
And so, by Malice, and her Magick, tost
The Nymphs at Sea, as they were almost lost,
Till, on an Island, they by chance arriv'd,
That (b) floated in the Main; where, yet, she'
            had giv'dvariant spelling of 'gyved'
Them so, in charms of Darkness, as no might
Should loose them thence, but their chang'd
            Sisters sight.
Where at the Twelve (in piety mov'd, and kind)
Straight put themselves in act, the Place to
            find;
Which was the Nights sole trust they so will do,
That she, with labour, might confound them too.
For ever since with Error hath she held
Them wand'ring in the Ocean, and so quell'd
Their Hopes beneath their Toil, as (desperate
            now
Of any least success unto their Vow;
Nor knowing to return to' express the Grace,
Wherewith they labour to this Prince, and Place)
One of them, meeting me at Sea, did pray,
That for the love of my (c) Orythyia,
(Whose very Name did heat my frosty Brest,
And make me shake my snow-fill'd Wings and
            Crest)
To bear this sad Report I would be won,
And frame their just excuse; which here I
            have done.
    

(a) Because
they were
before of
her com-
plexion.
(b) To give
authority
to this
part of
our fiction
Pliny hath
a chap. 95.
of the 2.
Book Nat.
Hist.de In-
sulis fluctu-
antibus. Et
Card.lib.
1.
de rerum
vari.
&
cap. 7. re-
ports one
to be in
his time
known, in
the Lake
of Lou-
mond,
in
Scotland.
To let pass
that of
Delos, &c.
(c) The
daughter
of Erect-
heus,
King
of Athens,
whom Bo-
reas
ravi-
shed a-
way, into
Thrace, as she was playing with other Virgins by the flood Ilissus: or
(as some will) by the Fountain Cephisus.


J A N U A R I U S.

W
Ould thou had'st not begun, unlucky
       Wind,
That never yet blew'st Goodness to Mankind;
But with thy bitter, and too piercing Breath,
Strik'st (d) Horrors through the Air, as sharp as
             Death.

   Here a second Wind came in, Vulturnus, in a
blue coloured Robe and Mantle, pufft as the former,
but somewhat sweeter; his Face black, and on his
(e) Head a red Sun, shewing he came from the East:
his Wings of several Colours; his Buskins white, and
wrought with Gold.




(d) The vi-
olence of
Boreas,
Ovid
ex-
cellently
describes
in the
place a-
bove quo-
ted. Hâc
nubila pel-
lo, hâc fre-
ta concutio, nodosaque robora verto, induroque nives,
& terras grandine
pulso.
(e) According to that of Virg. —— Denuntiat igneus Euros.


V U L T U R N U S.

A
LL Horrors vanish, and all Name of Death,
 Be all Things here as calm as is my Breath.
A gentler Wind, Vulturnus, brings you News
The Isle is found, and that the Nymphs now use,
Their Rest and Joy. The Nights black Charms
            are flown.
For, being made unto their Goddess known,
Bright Æthiopia, the Silver Moon,
As she was (f) Hecate, she brake them soon:
And now by vertue of their Light, and Grace,
The glorious Isle, wherein they rest, takes place
Of all the Earth for Beauty. (g) There, their
            Queen
Hath raised them a Throne, that still is seen
To turn unto the Motion of the World;
Wherein they sit, and are, like Heaven, whirl'd








(f) She
is called
fwsfor
'Ekath
by Eurip.
in Helena,

which is
Lucifera,
to which
name we
here pre-
sently allude. (g) For the more full and clear understanding of
that which follows, have recourse to the succeeding Pages, where
the Scene presents itself.


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About the Earth; whil'st, to them contrary,
(Following those nobler Torches of the Sky,)
A World of little Loves, and chast Desires,
Do light their Beauties, with still moving Fires.
And who to Heavens consent can better move,
Than those that are so like it, Beauty and Love?
Hither, as to their new Elysium,
The Spirits of the antick Greeks are come,
Poets, and Singers, Linus, Orpheus, all
(h) So Te-
rence,
and
the Anci-
ents call'd
Poësie, Ar-
tem musi-
cam.
That have excell'd in (h) knowledg musical;
Where, set in Arbors made of Myrtle, and Gold,
They live, again, these Beauties to behold.
And thence in flowry Mazes walking forth,
Sing Hymns in celebration of their worth.
Whil'st, to their Songs, two Fountains flow, one
            heightvariant spelling of 'hight' (meaning 'called')
Of lasting Youth, the other chaste Delight,
That at the Closes, from their Bottoms spring,
And strike the Air to eccho what they sing.
But, why do I describe what all must see?
By this time, near the Coast, they floating be;
For, so their vertuous Goddess, the chaste Moon,
Told them, the Fate of th' Island should, and soon
Would fix itself unto thy Continent,
As being the place, by Destiny forement,
Where they should flow forth, drest in her Attires:
And, that the influence of those holy Fires,
(First rapt from hence) being multiplied upon
The other four, should make their Beauties one.
   Which now expect to see, great Neptune's Son,
   And love the Miracle, which thy self hast done.

   Here, a Curtain was drawn, (in which the Night was
painted,) and the
Scene discover'd, which (because the for-
mer was
Marine, and these, yet of necessity, to come from the
Sea) I devised, should be an
Island floating on a calm water.
In the midst thereof was a Seat of State, called,
The Throne
of Beauty, erected: divided into eight Squares, and distin-
guished by so many
Ionic Pilasters. In these Squares the six-
teen
Masquers were placed by Couples: behind them, in the
Centre of the
Throne was a tralucent Pillar, shining with seve-
ral coloured lights, that reflected on their backs. From the top
of which
Pillar went several Arches to the Pilasters, that
sustained the Roof of the
Throne, which was likewise adorned
with Lights and Gyrlands: And between the
Pilasters, in front,
little
Cupids in flying posture, waving of Wreaths and Lights,
bore up the
Coronice: over which were placed eight Figures,
representing the Elements of Beauty; which advanced upon the
Ionic, and being Females, had the Corinthian Order. The
first was


S P L E N D O R

I
N a Robe of flame-colour, naked breasted; her bright
 hair loose flowing: She was drawn in a Circle of Clouds,
her Face and Body breaking thorow; and in her
hand a branch, with two (i) Roses, a white, and       
a red. The next to her was

(i) The
Rose is cal-
led, ele-
gantly, by Achil. Tat. lib. 2. futwn aglaisma, the splendor of Plants,
and is everywhere taken for the Hieroglyphic, of Splendor.


S E R E N I T A S

I
N a garment of bright sky-colour, a long tress, and
 waved with a vail of divers colours, such as the golden
Sky sometimes shews: upon her head a clear and fair Sun
shining, with rays of gold striking down to the
feet of the figure. In her hand a (k) Crystal,
cut with several angles, and shadowed with di-
vers colours, as caused by refraction. The third         

(k) As
this of Se-
renity,
ap-
plying to
the Opticks reason of the Rainbow, and the Mythologists making her
the Daughter of Electra.

G E R-              




                Masques. 329


G E R M I N A T I O.

I
N green, with a Zone of gold about her
 waste, crowned with Myrtle, her hair like-
wise flowing, but not of so bright a colour: In   
her hand, a branch of (a) Myrtle. Her socks
of green, and gold. The fourth was



(a) So Hor.
lib.
1.Od.4.
makes it
the ensign of the Spring. Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impe-
dire myrto, aut flore, terræ quem ferunt solutæ,
&c.


L Æ T I T I A.

(b) They
are every
where the
tokens of
gladness, at      
all Feasts,
Sports.
I
N a vesture of divers colours, and all sorts
 of flowers embroidered thereon. Her socks
so fitted. A (b) Garland of flowers in her
hand; her eyes turning up, and smiling; her
hair flowing, and stuck with flowers. The
fifth

T E M P E R I E S.

(c) The
sign of
tempera-
ture, as
also her
Garland
mixed of            
the four
Seasons.
I
N a Garment of Gold, Silver, and colours
 weaved: In one hand she held a (c) burning
Steel, in the other an Urn with Water. On her
head a Garland of Flowers, Corn, Vine-leaves,
and Olive-branches, interwoven. Her Socks,
as her garment. The sixth

V E N U S T A S.                        

I
N a Silver Robe, with a thin subtil Vail over     
 her Hair, and it: (d) Pearl about her Neck,
and Forehead. Her Socks wrought with Pearl.
In her hand she bore several colour'd (e) Lil-
lies.
The seventh was


(d) Pearls,
with the
Ancients,
were the
special
Hieroglyphicks of loveliness; in quibus nitor tantum & lævor expete-
bantur.
(e) So was the Lilly, of which the most delicate Citre'City' of the
Persians was called Susæ: signifying that kind of Flower, in their
tongue.


D I G N I T A S.


(f) The
sign of ho-
nour,
and         
dignity.
I
N a dressing of State, the Hair bound up with
 Fillets of Gold, and Garments rich, and set
with Jewels, and Gold; likewise her Buskins,
and in her hand a (f) Golden Rod. The eighth

P E R F E C T I O.


(g) Both
that, and
the Com-
pass
are
known
Ensigns of       
perfection.
I
N a Vesture of pure Gold, a Wreath of Gold
 upon her head. About her body the (g) Zo-
diack,
with the Signs: In her hand a Compass
of Gold, drawing a Circle.
   On the top of all the Throne, (as being made
out of all these) stood

H A R M O N I A.

A
 Personage, whose dressing had something    
  of all the others, and had her Robe
painted full of Figures. Her Head was com-
pass'd with a Crown of Gold, having in it
(h) seven Jewels equally set. In her Hand a
Lyra, whereon she rested.




(h) She is
so descri-
bed in Ico-
nolog. di. Cesare Ripa;
his reason of Seven Jewels, in the Crown, al-
ludes to Pythagoras his Comment, with Mac.lib.2. Som. Sci. of the
Seven Planets and their Spheares.


   This was the Ornament of the Throne. The
ascent to which consisting of Six steps, was
covered with a (i) multitude of Cupids (cho-
sen out of the best, and most ingenious Youth      


(i) The in-
ducing of
many Cu-
pids
wants not defence, with the best and most received of the An-
cients,
besides Prop. Stat. Claud. Sido. Apoll. especially Phil. in Icon.
Amor.
whom I have particularly followed in this Description.


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of the Kingdom, noble, and others) that were the Torch-
bearers;
and all armed with Bowes, Quivers, Wings, and
other Ensignes of Love. On the sides of the Throne were
curious, and elegant Arbors appointed; and behind, in
the back-part of the Isle, a Grove of grown Trees laden with
golden Fruit, which other little Cupids plucked,
(k) They
were the
Notes of
Loveliness,
and sacred
to Venus.
See Phil.in
that place
mention'd.
(l) Of
Youth.
(m) Of
Pleasure.
and threw at each other, whilst on the Ground
(k) Leverets picked up the bruised Apples,
and left them half eaten. The Ground-plat of
the whole was a subtle indented Maze: And
in the two formost Angles were two Foun-
tains
that ran continually, the one (l) Hebe's,
the other (m) Hedone's: In the Arbors were
plac'd the Musicians, who represented the
Shades of the old Poets, and were attir'd in a
Priest-like Habit of Crimson and Purple, with
Laurel Gyrlands.
   The Colours of the Masquers were varied; the one
half in Orange-tawny, and Silver: The other in Sea-green,
and Silver. The Bodies and short Skirts on White, and
Gold, to both.
   The Habit and Dressing (for the Fashion) was most
curious, and so exceeding in Riches, as the Throne where-
on they sate seem'd to be a Mine of Light, struck from
their Jewels and their Garments.
   This Throne (as the whole Island mov'd forward on the
Water) had a circular motion of its own, imitating that
which we call Motum Mundi, from the East to the West,
or the Right to the Left side. For so Hom. Ilia. M. un-
derstands by dexia, Orientalia Mundi: By aristera, Occi-
dentalia.
The steps whereon the Cupids sate, had a mo-
tion contrary, with analogy ad motum Planetarum, from
the West to the East: Both which turned with their se-
veral Lights. And with these three varied motions, at
once, the whole Scene shot it self to the Land.
   Above which the Moon was seen in a Silver Chariot,
drawn by Virgins to ride in the Clouds, and hold them
greater Light: With the Sign Scorpio, and the Character,
plac'd before her.
   The order of the Scene was carefully, and ingeniously
dispos'd; and as happily put in act (for the motions)
by the King's Master Carpenter. The Painters, I must
needs say, (not to be-ly them) lent small Colour to any,
to attribute much of the Spirit of these things to their
Pen'cils. But that must not be imputed a Crime, either
to the Invention, or Design.
   Here the loud Musick ceas'd; and the Musicians, which
were plac'd in the Arbors, came forth through the Mazes
to the other Land: Singing this full Song, iterated in the
closes by two Ecchoes, rising out of the Fountains.

S O N G.

W
Hen Love, at first, did move
 From (n) out of Chaos, brigtned
So was the World, and ligtned,
As now!   Ecch. As now!   Ecch. As now!
          Yield Night, then, to the Light,
          As Blackness hath to Beauty:
          Which is but the same duty.
It was (o) for Beauty, that the World was made,
And where she reigns, (p) Loves Lights admit
             no shade.
      Ecch. Loves Lights admit no shade.
         Ecch. Admit no shade.


(n) So is
he fained
by Orphe-
us,
to have
appeared
first of all
the Gods:
awakened
by Clotho:
and is
therefore
call'd Pha-
nes,
both
by him,
and Lactantius. (o) An agreeing Opinion, both with Divines and
Philosophers, that the great Artificer in Love with his own Idea,
did therefore frame the World. (p) Alluding to his Name of Hi-
merus,
and his signification in the Name, which is Desiderium post
aspectum:
And more than Eros, which is only Cupido, ex aspectu
amare.


   Which ended, Vulturnus the Wind spake to the River
Thamesis, that lay along between the Shores, leaning
upon his Urn (that flow'd with water) and crown'd
U u                                            with 




330 Masques.                    


with Flowers; with a blue Cloth of Silver Robe about
him; and was personated by Master Thomas Giles,
who made the Dances.

V U L T U R N U S.

R
Ise aged Thames, and by the hand
 Receive these Nymphs, within the Land.
And in those curious Squares, and Rounds,
Wherewith thou flow'st betwixt the Grounds
Of fruitfull Kent, and Essex fair,
That lend thee Garlands for thy Hair;
Instruct their Silver Feet to tread,
Whilst we, again to Sea, are fled.

   With which the Winds departed; and the River received
them into the Land, by couples and fours, their Cupids
coming before them.

Their Persons were,

The  Q U E E N.   |   La. A N N E  W I N T E R.
La.  A R A B E L L A.   |   La. W I N S O R E.
Co. of  A R U N D E L.   |   La. A N N E  C L I F F O R D.
Co. of  D E R B Y.   |   La. M A R Y  N E V I L L.
Co. of  B E D F O R D.   |   La. E L I Z.  H A T T O N.
Co. of  M O N T G O M E R Y.   |   La. E L I Z.  G A R R A R D.
La.  E L I Z.  G I L F O R D.   |   La. C H I C H E S T E R.
La.  K A T.  P E T E R.   |   La. W A L S I N G H A M.

   These dancing forth a most curious Dance, full of excel-
lent Device and Change, ended it in the Figure of a Dia-
mond,
and so, standing still, were by the Musicians with a
second Song (sung by a loud Tenor) celebrated.

S O N G.

S
O Beauty on the Waters stood,
 When Love had (a) sever'd Earth, from Flood!      
So when he parted Air from Fire,
He did with Concord all inspire!
And then a Motion he them taught,
That elder than himself was thought.
Which thought was, yet, (b) the Child of Earth,
For Love is elder than his Birth.


(a) As, in
the crea-
tion, he is
said by the
Ancients,
to have
done.
(b) That
is, born
since the World, and out of those duller Apprehensions that did not
think he was before.


   The Song ended; they danced forth their second Dance, more
subtle and full of change than the former; and so exquisitely per-
formed, as the King's Majesty incited first (by his own liking,
to that which all others there present wish'd) requir'd them both
again, after some time of dancing with the Lords. Which time
to give them respite was intermitted with Song; first, by a treble
voice, in this manner.


S O N G.

I
F all these Cupids, now, were blind                          
   As is (c) their wanton Brother;
   Or Play should put it in their mind
      To shoot at one another:
   What pretty Battail they would make,
   If they their Objects should mistake,
      And each one wound his Mother!

(c) I make
these diffe-
rent from
him, wch.
they fain
cæcum cu-
pidine,
or
petulan-
tem,
as I express beneath in the third Song, these being chast Loves
that attend a more divine Beauty than that of Loves common
Parent.


Which was seconded by another Treble; thus.

I
T was no policy of Court,
   Albe' the Place were charmed,
   To let in earnest, or in sport,

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            So many Loves in, armed.
      For say, the Dames should, with their Eyes,
      Upon the Hearts, here, mean surprize;
            Were not the Men like harmed?

To which a Tenor answered.

S O N G.

Y
Es, were the Loves or false, or straying;
 Or Beauties not their Beauty weighing:
But here no such deceit is mix'd,
Their Flames are pure, their Eyes are fix'd:
They do not war with different Darts,
But strike a Musick of like Hearts.

   After which Songs they danced Galliards and Coranto's;
and with those excellent Graces, that the Musick appointed to
celebrate them shewed it could be silent no longer; but, by the
first Tenor, admired them thus.


S O N G.

H
Ad those that dwell in Errour foul,
 And hold (d) that Women have no Soul,
But seen these move; they would have then
Said, Women were the Souls of Men.
      So they do move each Heart, and Eye,
      With the (e) World's soul, true harmony.


(d) There
hath been
such a pro-
fane Para-
dox
pub-
lished.
(e) The Platonick's Opinion. See also Mac. lib. 1. and 2. Som. Scip.


   Here they danced a third most elegant and curious Dance, and
not to be described again by any art, but that of their own footing,
which ending in the Figure that was to produce the Fourth,
Ja-
nuary from his state saluted them thus,

J A N U A R I U S.

Y
Our Grace is great, as is your Beauty, Dames;
 Enough my Feasts have prov'd your thankfull Flames.
Now use your Seat: that Seat which was, before,
Thought stray'ing, uncertain, floting to each Shore,
(f) For
what
Country is
it thinks
not her
own Beau-
ty
fairest,
yet?
And to whose having (f) every Clime laid claim,
Each Land and Nation urged as the aim
Of their Ambition, Beauties perfect Throne,
Now made peculiar to this Place alone;
And that by impulsion of your Destinies,
And his attractive Beams, that lights these Skies:
Who (though with th'Ocean compass'd) never wets
His Hair therein, nor wears a Beam that sets.
   Long may his Light adorn these happy Rites
As I renew them; and your gracious Sights
Enjoy that happiness, even to envy, as when
Beauty, at large, brake forth, and conquer'd Men.

   At which they danc'd their last Dance into their Throne again;
and that turning the
Scene, clos'd with this full Song.

S O N G.

S
Till turn and imitate the Heaven
    In Motion swift and even;
         And as his Planets go,
         Your brighter Lights do so:
May Youth and Pleasure ever flow.
But let your state, the while,
Be fixed as the Isle.
Cho. { So all that see your Beauties Sphere,
May know th' Elysian Fields are here.
   Ecch. Th' Elysian Fields are here.
          Ecch. 'Elysian Fields are here.
           


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© 2003 by Clark J. Holloway.