Classic Poem

The fame of Florence is so great,
That simple men do knowe
The brute therof by true report:
Where dwelt not long agoe,
A virgin fresh and fayre to viewe,
A iolly lusty dame,
As any was in all the towne,
Symona was her name
Whose beautie though were very braue
And kinde had done as much
For her, as she mought well request,
Yet fortune seemde to grutche
And malice at her featurd shape:
For as the same did passe,
Euen so her father of the meane
And basest order was.
A man not haueing welth at will,
The stately mistresse chaunce,
Would not voutchsafe from lowe estate
This miser to aduaunce,
And hereupon the fathers want,
With whom it went so harde,
Of force constrainde the mayde to get
Her liuing by the carde
And wheele and other like deuice,
As selly maydens vse,
With handy worke she wonne her bread,
She could none other chuse,
Who though to earne her meat and drink,
In spinning spent the day:
Yet in this beggers brest of hers,
A Lordlike hart there lay,
That durst adventure to assay
The force of Cupides flame:
For by the iestures and the talk
Of one that daily came
Vnto the house where she abode,
A passing pleasant lad,
One of her owne estate, for wealth,
That of his mistresse had
Both wool and yarne to spin and twist:
The wench Symona fell
In fancy with this merry Greeke,
And lykt the weauer well
The virgin by his sweete regardes
Was entred very farre,
And masht within the net of loue:
But yet she did not dare
To further on that first attempt,
She fryde with secret fyre,
Of Pasquine (thus the youth was tearmd)
Whom she did so desire.
But euer as she twisted had
A threed vpon the wheele,
A thousand scalding sighes she fette:
The silly wench did feele
Them whotter farre than any flame
Thus issuing from her brest:
And euer as she went about,
She thought vpon the guest
That brought the wool, to haue it wrought,
The spinning bredde the spight,
The threedes did make her minde the man,
When he was out of sight
And shall we deeme the weauer, whom
The mayden loude so well,
Quite voyde of wanton humors? no:
For he to liking fell,
And likewise eake as carefull woxe
As was the louing trull,
To see that shee did well dispatch
And spinne his mistresse wooll.
(As though the making of the cloth
All wholly did depend,
And only on Symonas threed)
Which made him not to sende,
But often come him selfe, to see
How she her wheele applyde:
He neuer vsde to goe so ofte
To any place beside
And thus the one, by making meanes,
The other by desire
She had to be thus sude vntoo,
It hapt, he felt a fyre
Vnwonted, flaming in his brest:
And she had shifted feare
And shame aside, which still before
Her chiefest iewels were
And hereupon they ioyntly fell
Each other well to leeke,
Both parties did so well agree,
Small neede it was to seeke
Which of them both should first assayle,
Each fancyde other so,
As by each others face, each friend,
Each others heart did know.
And thus from day to day it grewe,
And still enkindled more,
The flaming loue which she to him,
And he Symona bore.
Vntill at length this Pasquine prayde
The mayden earnestly,
To worke such way and meanes to come
Vnto a garden by,
Where he would tarrie her in place
Vntill such time she came,
For that the garden was a plotte
Conuenient for the same,
And meerely voyde of all suspect:
There might they talke their fill.
Symona like a gentle wench,
Did graunt him her good will.
One holyday at after noone,
Her father to deceiue,
Symona came with solemne sute,
Requesting him of leaue
To goe vnto saint Gallus Church,
To fetch a pardon there.
The selly aged syre agreed,
Whose eye the mayd did bleare:
For hereupon, another wench,
Lagina cald, and she
Vnto the garden went, where they
Had poynted him to bee
But Pasquine, ere they came, was there,
And brought with him a mate,
Cald Stramba (Puccio was his name:)
This Stramba he should prate,
And with Lagina chatte of loue;
The matche was pointed thus:
And whilst these two grosse louers did
Their matters so diseusse,
Vnto the farther end of all
The garden, Pasquine went,
And with Symona there conferde
As touching his entent
Heare leaue I (Ladies) both the talke
Which Stramba did deuise
Vnto his new acquainted lasse,
Presume his tale was wise:
For as Cupido whets the tongue,
So doth he sharp the braine
Of those that loue, and earnest are
Their Ladies to attaine
And though perhaps this fellow wer
Not come of gentle kinde,
Yet being matcht with on he likt,
Perhaps coulde tell his minde.
For fansie makes the foolish wise,
And compasse in his hed,
By what deuice he may atchieue
His liked Ladies bed.
To Pasquine turne we now againe,
Who (as I said) of late
Was stept aside, of purpose with
His minion to debate.
There was, where he did sit, by chance
Conferring of the case,
A goodly bordered bed of sage,
Euen full beside the place,
Where as this louing couple coapt
In secret sport and play:
Who haueing long with merrie talke
Consumde the time away,
And made appointment eke to meete
Another day againe,
To banquet with Symona there
To feele a farther vaine.
This Pasquine to the sage resorts,
Whereof a leafe he strips
To rub his teeth and gummes withall,
Hee put it twixt his lips,
And so began to touch his teeth,
And therewithall did say,
That Sage was very good to freat
The filthie flesh away
That stucke betwixt his hollow teeth.
Within a while that he
Had practisde thus vpon his gummes
His countnance gan to be
Quite altered from the former forme,
And after that a space
That thus his visage swolne was
Vnto an vglie face,
He lost the vse of both his eyes,
And of his speech beside:
And so at length in sodaine sort
This louing weauer dide
Which when Symona had beheld,
She watred straight her eyes,
And (out alasse) to Stramba and
Lagina lowde she cries
The louers left the deep discourse,
And to the place they runne,
Where as so late this chaunce befell,
And deadly deed was done.
Ariuing there, and finding dead
The weauer in the grasse,
And more than this, perceiuing how
His body swollen was:
And seeing all his face bespangde
With spots as black as cole,
And that in all the body was
Not any member whole:
Then Stramba cried out aloude,
Oh vile vnthriftie wench,
What hast thou done? why hast thou giuen
Thy friend a poysoned drench?
What meanst thou by this deed of thine?
Which words were spoke so hie,
That all the neighbours heard the same
That were the dwellers by
And in they pressed all in hast,
Into the garden, where
The showte was made, and being come
They found the body there
Both void of life, and fouly swolne,
An vgly sight to see.
And finding Stramba shedding teares,
And blaming her to be
The only cause of Pasquines death:
The wench vnable eke
For verie griefe of heart, a worde
In her defence to speake:
Though shee in deed were not the cause,
Yet they that came to view,
Did apprehend the girle, and thought
That Strambas wordes were true
When thus the wench arested was,
She wrong and wept a pace:
And so from thence, was brought before
The common Judge his face,
Vnto the pallace where hee dwelt
The maidens accusers were
Exceeding earnest in the case,
Both Stramba that was there
With Pasquine as his faithfull friend,
And other moe beside,
That came into the garden, when
The faithfull virgin cride.
And hereupon the Justice fell
To question of the fact,
Debating with the witnesses,
Who hauing throughlie rackt
The matter, and not finding her
As giltie of the deede,
Nor any proofe of malice that
Might from the maide proceede,
As touching murther of the man:
Hee thought it good to stay
His iudgement, and himselfe to goe
Where dead the carkasse lay,
To view the partie, and the place,
To beate the matter out:
For all the other euidence
Might not remoue the doubt
Within his head the Iudge conceivde
In this so strange a case
The men that knew the garden, brought
The Justice to the place
Where Pasquines carkasse puffed lay,
And strouting in such wise
As made the Judge himselfe amazde,
Hee could not well deuise
How such a mischiefe might bee done.
Which made him aske the maide
Symona, how the murther hapt.
To whom the virgin said,
Renowmed Justice, after talke
Betwixt this man and me,
Hee stept aside vnto the bed
Of Sage that here you see:
And with a leafe thereof he rubd
His gummes: as I do nowe,
(And therewithall shee tooke a leafe
To shew the Justice how
Her friend had done) and this (quoth she)
He did, and died than.
Whereat this Stramba, and the rest
That records were, began
To scorne and laugh in presence of
The Iudge, and earnestly
Made sute that fire might bee set,
Wherein the wench to frie,
To feele the penance of her fact,
Which like a wicked wretch
She had deuisde: shee earned death
That would her friend dispatch.
The virgin wofull for the death
Of him that latelie died,
And fearefull at the earnest sute
Which Stramba made beside:
Thus hauing rubd her tender iawes
With Sage before them all,
Without suspect of such mishap,
Bereft of life, did fall
Vnto the ground, where Pasquine lay,
And in like fort did swell,
From louely lookes to loathsome limmes,
A monstrous chaunce to tell.
And thus to shew the meane, how earst
Her louer lost his breath,
This sillie giltlesse wench her selfe
Euen there did die the death
O happy soules, whose hap it was
In one sefe day to loue
So faithfully, and in selfe day
The pangs of death to proue.
And happier had you both ybin
If you had had the grace,
Some other where to spent the time,
And not within that place.
But farre more blessed are yee nowe,
If in this death of yours,
You loue ech other as in life,
Your likings did endure.
But (thou Symona) happiest art,
For ending so thy dayes:
If we that liue may iudge aright,
And yeeld the dead their praise
Whose innocent and giltlesse ghost
Dame Fortune did denie,
By Strambas false surmised proofs,
Without iust cause to die.
I count thee treble blest of God,
For Fortune found (I say)
A meane for thee by selfe same death,
That rid thy friende away,
To set thee free from misreports,
And slaunder that did growe,
And gaue thee leaue by losse of life,
Vnto thy loue to goe.
The Iudge that saw this sodain chance,
And all others eke
That present were, amazed stood,
And wist not what to speake
Or to coniecture in the cace,
The wisest tongues were domme.
At last, the Iudge as soone as hee
Was to his senses comme,
Thus said: By this it doth appeare
The Sage that here you see,
Infected is, and venim strong:
Though Sage by nature be
A very soueraigne holesome hearbe,
The proofe hath made it plaine
But for because we will be sure
It shall not hurt againe,
Do delue it vp, and burne it here,
It may offend no more.
The Gardner therewithall was come,
Who digd it vp before
The Iudge and all the standers by:
He had not parde the ground
Farre in, but that the cause of both
Those louers banes he founde
For vnderneath this bed of Sage
The fellow that did dig,
Turnde vp a Toade, a loathsome fight,
A worme exceeding big
The toade was of a monstrous growth:
Then euery man could tell
And iudge the cause of that mishap
Which both those friends befell
Then could they say, the venomd worme
Had bealchd his poyson out,
And so infected both the roote,
And all the bed about,
Where grewe the Sage, that bred their Deaths:
Then sawe they playne the cause
And reason why the weauer dyde,
By rubbing of his iawes
They made no more adoe, but forst
The gardner by and by
To make a fyre to burne the Sage,
And eke the Toade to frie
That was the cause of double spoyle
The Iudge had nought to say
When this was done, but parted home,
The people went their way
Straight Stramba, and his other mates
That gaue in euidence
Against Symona, brought a Beare,
And bare the bodies thence,
So vgly swollen as they lay,
Vnto Saint Paules, and there
Within one Tombe did burie both,
For of that Church they were.