Whence none shall ever pass t' Elysium plain,
Or from Elysium ever turn again.
With Sorrow for my guide, as there I stood,
A troop of men the most in arms bedight,
In tumult cluster'd 'bout both sides the flood:
'Mongst whom, who were ordain'd t' eternal night,
Or who to blissful peace and sweet delight,
I wot not well, it seem'd that they were all
Such as by death's untimely stroke did fall.
Some headless were, some body, face, and hands,
With shameful wounds despoil'd in every part:
Some strangled, some that died in captive bands,
Some smother'd, drown'd, some stricken through the heart
With fatal steel, all drown'd in deadly smart:
Of hast'ned death, with shrieks, sobs, sighs, and tears,
Did tell the woes of their forepassed years.
We stay'd us straight, and with a rueful fear
Beheld this heavy sight, while from mine eyes
The vapoured tears down stilled here and there,
And Sorrow eke in far more woeful wise,
Took on with plaint, upheaving to the skies
Her wretched hands, that with her cry the rout
'Gan all in heaps to swarm us round about.
Induction to the Mirour for Magistrates, by Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, p. 260270, 1610, 4to.
KING Philip, follow'd by the bravest host
That e'er before the realm of France could boast,
In confidence of conquest to succeed,
And to revenge the late disgrace, with speed
(Although advis'd at Abbeville to stay
And rest his army) marches thence away.
Thou sweetest Muse of all th' Aonian Spring,
Fair-hair'd Calliope, that best canst sing
Of kings' high deeds, and godlike heroes' fames,
Declare King Philip's power, recite the names
Of all (beside the native chivalry
Of France, and flower of her nobility)
The foreign lands, that shar'd in that great day,
And royal princes that did there display
Their dreadful colours in the aid of France,
And forward thence to Cressy field advance.
Within the van, with Charles of Alençon,
The royal bánner of Bohemia shone,
With which did Lodowick, her old martial king,
His furious horse and well-try'd lances bring.
His glittering plume, that many an honour'd field
Had known, and many a dreadful fight beheld,
Wav'd there unhappily, ordained to be
A lasting fame to Edward's victory*.
A lasting fame to Edward's victory.] His crest was three ostrich feathers; and his motto these German words, Ich dien, I serves which the Prince of Wales and his successors adopted in memorial of this great victory. Hume.
Along with him march'd Charles, his princely son;
For whom the Fates a fairer thread had spun,
Sav'd, to preserve the name and ancient stem,
And after wear th' imperial diadem.
Thither from far Majorca's monarch brings
His light-arm'd soldiers, from whose fatal slings,
As from strong bows, death's carried; nor of yore
Were Cretan shafts or Parthian feared more.
With fifteen thousand mortal crossbows there
The stout Grimaldi and Antonio* were,
Two noble chiefs from stately Genoa,
Whose gallies had in many a naval fray
Against proud Venice wrestled long to gain
The rule of all the Midland Ocean.
Stout John of Heinault to King Philip's side
His forces brings, although so near allied
To England's King (as uncle to the Queen),
And had by Edward highly honour'd been.
He now had chang'd his faith, and for the gold
Of France his mercenary valour sold.
There march those warlike Flemings, that attend
Their Earl of Flanders, Lewis, a constant friend
To France: but no strong number could he get,
Nor o'er his subjects was his power so great.
They honour'd Edward's worth, and to his side
Had been, without their Earl's consent, ally'd.
There Charles of Blois leads on his martial train
In glittering armour: Bourbon, and Lorrain.
To whom, whilst all the army march'd away,
Brings Savoy's Duke a thousand men of arms,
Whom from the lofty Alps the loud alarms
Of this great war had drawn with dismal fate,
Too soon, alas! arriv'd, though seeming late.
How many men does fortune bring from far
Their parts to suffer in this tragic war?
How many lands their several shares of woe
Must contribute to Philip's overthrow?
Perchance 'cause Edward will his force advance
No further than the continent of France,
She fear'd his fame would be no further known,
But circumscribed where the deed was done :
Nor therefore suffers France to bleed alone.
The sad Bohemian wives, that live
Great Albi's banks, and drink fair Molda's stream,
Must make this battle their lamented theme.
Those that beyond the clouded Alps do dwell,
And Netherlanders, shall be forc'd to tell
Great Edward's honour, while their own dear wounds
They count, received on Cressy's fatal grounds.
While thus the French march on in rich array,
In Cressy park encamped Edward lay:
His firm battalia on well-chosen ground
Was clos'd behind, and barricado'd round
With strongest fences made by plashing trees,
And placing there the weightiest carriages.
Thither were all the leaders' horses brought
To cut off hope of flight, and leave no thought
In English breasts but death or victory.
Their resolutions, that before were high,
By this strict means were more ascertain❜d* there,
Their minds were cheerful, fresh their bodies were,
* In the time of May, a variety of words were unsettled as to their accent, and were used either short or long, according to the will or necessity of the poet. For instance:
And fit t'encounter their approaching foes.
In three battalias does the king dispose*
His strength, which all in ready order stand,
And to each other's rescue near at hand.
The first in rank, that early blooming flower
Of fame, Prince Edward leads, a warrior
Before a man; no down had cloth'd his chin,
Nor seventeen springs had this young soldier seen.
Within his battle famous leaders are,
Brave Warwick, Stafford, Harcourt, Delawar,
There Beauchamp, Bourchier, Clifford, Chandois wield
Their active arms, whom many an honour'd field
Had fam❜d before: the second squadron by
Northampton's Earl was led: there Willoughby,
There Arundel, Lord Ross, and Basset stand,
Men that could well obey, and well command.
Within the third King Edward means to fight:
The great French army now approach'd their sight.
By this strict means were more ascertain'd there.
Must contribute to Philip's overthrow.
Thus, in Browne's Pastorals:
Not that by mind's commerce, and joint estate.
* In three battalias, &c.] Holinshed's account of the disposition of the English army is as follows: "Then he ordained three battels: in the first was the Prince of Wales, and with him the Earl of Warwicke, the Lord Godfrey of Harecourt, the Lord Stafford, the Lord De la Ware, the Lord Bourchier, the Lord Thomas Clifford, the Lord Reginald Cobham, the Lord Thomas Holland, Sir John Chandos, Sir Bartholomew Browash, Sir Robert Nevill. They were eight hundred men of armes, and two thousand archers, and a thousand of others, with the Welshmen. In the second battel was the Earle of Northampton, the Earle of Arundell, the Lords Ros and Willowbie, Basset, S. Albine, Multon, and others. The third battel the King led himself, having with him seven hundred men of armes, and two thousand archers; and in the other battel even to the number of eight thousand men of armes, and twelve hundred archers. Thus was the English army marshalled according to the report of Froissard." Chron. p. 371.
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