Mirror for Magistrates, Volume 2, Part 1

Great Britain -- History -- Poetry; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Sources

Thy intent[1682] I know is honest,[1683] playne, and good,
        To warne the wise, to fray the fond fro[1684] ill,
        But wicked worldlings are so witles wood,
        That to the worst they althinges construe still:
        With rigour oft they recompence good will:
          They racke the wordes till time theyr sinowes burst,
          In dolefull[1685] sences strayning still the worst.

    10.

        A paynfull proofe taught mee the truth of this,
        Through tyraunt’s rage, and fortune’s cruell tourne:
        They murdred mee, for meetring things amisse:
        For wotst thou what? I am that _Collingbourne_
        Which made the ryme, whereof I may well[1686] mourne:[1687]
          “The cat, the rat, and _Louell_ our dog,
          Doe rule all _England_, vnder a hog.”

    11.

        Whereof the meaning was so playne and true,
        That euery foole perceiued it at furst:
        Most liked it, for most that most things knewe,
        In hugger mugger, muttred what they durst:
        The tyraunt prince of[1688] most was held accurst,
          Both for his owne, and for his counsayl’s faults,[1689]
          Of whom were[1690] three, the naughtyest of all naughts.

    12.

        _Catesby_ was one, whom[1691] I called[1692] a cat,
        A crafty lawyer, catching all hee could:
        The second _Ratcliffe_, whom I namde a rat,
        A cruell beast to gnawe on whom hee should:
        Lord _Louell_ barkt and bit whom _Richard_ would,
          Whom I therefore did rightly tearme our dog,
          Wherewith to ryme I calde the king a hog.

    13.

        Tyll he the crowne had caught, hee[1693] gaue the bore,
        In which estate would God hee had deceased,
        Than had the realme not ruined so sore,
        His nephue’s raigne should not so soone haue ceased,
        The noble bloud had not beene so decreased:
          His rat, his cat, and bloudhound had not noyed,
          Such liegemen true, as after they destroyed.[1694]

    14.

        Theyr lawles actes good subiects did[1695] lament.
        And so did I, and therefore made the rymes
        To shew my wit, how well I could inuent,
        To warne withall the carelesse of theyr crymes:
        I thought the freedom of the auncient tymes
          Stoode still in force: _Ridentem dicere verum_
          _Quis vetat?_ nay, nay. _Veritas est pessuma[1696]
               rerum._[1697]

    15.

        Belike no tyraunts were in _Horace’_ dayes,
        And therefore poets freely blamed vice,
        Witnesse theyr satyrs[1698] sharp, and traguike playes,
        With chiefest princes chiefly had in price:
        They name no man, they mixe theyr gall with spice,
          No more doe I, I name no man outright,
          But riddle wise, I meane them as I might.

    16.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Mirror for Magistrates, Volume 2, Part 1

Great Britain -- History -- Poetry; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Sources

Thy intent[1682] I know is honest,[1683] playne, and good,
        To warne the wise, to fray the fond fro[1684] ill,
        But wicked worldlings are so witles wood,
        That to the worst they althinges construe still:
        With rigour oft they recompence good will:
          They racke the wordes till time theyr sinowes burst,
          In dolefull[1685] sences strayning still the worst.

    10.

        A paynfull proofe taught mee the truth of this,
        Through tyraunt’s rage, and fortune’s cruell tourne:
        They murdred mee, for meetring things amisse:
        For wotst thou what? I am that _Collingbourne_
        Which made the ryme, whereof I may well[1686] mourne:[1687]
          “The cat, the rat, and _Louell_ our dog,
          Doe rule all _England_, vnder a hog.”

    11.

        Whereof the meaning was so playne and true,
        That euery foole perceiued it at furst:
        Most liked it, for most that most things knewe,
        In hugger mugger, muttred what they durst:
        The tyraunt prince of[1688] most was held accurst,
          Both for his owne, and for his counsayl’s faults,[1689]
          Of whom were[1690] three, the naughtyest of all naughts.

    12.

        _Catesby_ was one, whom[1691] I called[1692] a cat,
        A crafty lawyer, catching all hee could:
        The second _Ratcliffe_, whom I namde a rat,
        A cruell beast to gnawe on whom hee should:
        Lord _Louell_ barkt and bit whom _Richard_ would,
          Whom I therefore did rightly tearme our dog,
          Wherewith to ryme I calde the king a hog.

    13.

        Tyll he the crowne had caught, hee[1693] gaue the bore,
        In which estate would God hee had deceased,
        Than had the realme not ruined so sore,
        His nephue’s raigne should not so soone haue ceased,
        The noble bloud had not beene so decreased:
          His rat, his cat, and bloudhound had not noyed,
          Such liegemen true, as after they destroyed.[1694]

    14.

        Theyr lawles actes good subiects did[1695] lament.
        And so did I, and therefore made the rymes
        To shew my wit, how well I could inuent,
        To warne withall the carelesse of theyr crymes:
        I thought the freedom of the auncient tymes
          Stoode still in force: _Ridentem dicere verum_
          _Quis vetat?_ nay, nay. _Veritas est pessuma[1696]
               rerum._[1697]

    15.

        Belike no tyraunts were in _Horace’_ dayes,
        And therefore poets freely blamed vice,
        Witnesse theyr satyrs[1698] sharp, and traguike playes,
        With chiefest princes chiefly had in price:
        They name no man, they mixe theyr gall with spice,
          No more doe I, I name no man outright,
          But riddle wise, I meane them as I might.

    16.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Mirror for Magistrates, Volume 2, Part 1

Mirror for Magistrates, Volume 2, Part 1

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