LXXXVIII. Walter Quin. Youth Addressed by Vice and Virtue. Edward Farr, ed. 1847. Select Poetry, Chiefly Sacred, of the Reign of King James the First

Verse > Anthologies > Edward Farr, comp. > Jacobean Poetry

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edward Farr, ed. Select Poetry of the Reign of King James the First. 1847.

Youth Addressed by Vice and Virtue

LXXXVIII. Walter Quin


Vice. BRAVE 1 youth! if to this woman, sterne and grim,
Thou care doe give, and wilt her footsteps tread,
In a most irksome way she will thee lead,
With great turmoile and dangers manifold,
In summer’s parching heat and winter’s cold,	5
Through many a thorny steepe and craggy ground,
Wherein no pleasing mates are to be found,
But savage beasts and monsters fell, to whom,
In end, a wofull prey thou shalt become.
But if thou wilt resolve to goe with mee,	10
In this my way, thou shalt be wholly free
From all such toile and danger: passing still
Through flowrie fields and medowes, where at will
Thou maist most pleasant company enjoy,
And all delightful sports without annoy.	15

Virtue. To please thine eyes
I use no curious art, without disguise
True and unstain’d to be; which to thy view
Her inward falsehood and my truth may shew,
As painfull, dreadfull, dangerous, my path—	20
Yea, and pernicious, she traduced hath;—
Her’s vaunting to be pleasant and secure,
And such as might all joy to thee procure.
In both she a most shamelesse liar is;
For that my path, though painfull, leads to blisse	25
And glory: yea, the pains thereof are sweet,
For that with solid inward joyes they meet:
Whereas her way, though pleasant she it name,
Leads to destruction, infamy, and shame.

Note 1. LXXXVIII. Walter Quin appears to have held an office in the establishment of Henry, as well as Charles, Prince of Wales. He was not only a poet but a musician; for in the Appendix to the Life of Prince Henry, by Dr. Birch, it is stated that he had a salary of fifty pounds a year as “Teacher of Music.” In 1619 he published the work from which our extract is derived, and which is entitled “The Memorie of the most worthy and renowned Bernard Stuart, Lord D’Aubigni, renewed. Whereunto are added, Wishes presented to the Prince at his Creation.” This work was printed for George Purslowe, and consists of only thirty-eight leaves. [back]

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.

Shakespeare · Bible · Saints · Anatomy · Harvard Classics · Lit. History · Quotations · Poetry