The Printer to the Reader.

IT hath bin an old saying, that vvhiles tvvo doggs do striue for a bone, the thirde may come and carie it avvay. And this prouerbe may (as I feare) be wel verefied in me which take in hand the imprinting of this poeticall Poesie. For the case seemeth doubtful, and I vvill disclose my coniecture. Master. H. VV. in the beginning of this worke, hath in his letter (vvritten to the Readers) cun∣ningly discharged himselfe of any such misliking, as the grauer sort of grey heared iudgers mighte (perhaps) con∣ceiue in the publicatiō of these pleasant Pamphlets. And nexte vnto that learned preamble, the letter of. G. T. (by vvhome as seemeth, the first coppie hereof vvas vnto the same. H. VV. deliuered, doth with no lesse clerkly cūning seeke to persvvade the readers, that he (also) vvoulde by no meanes haue it published. Novv I feare very muche (all these vvords notvvithstāding) that these tvvo gentle∣men vvere of one assent compact to haue it imprinted: And yet, finding by experiēce that nothing is so vvel hād∣led novv adayes, but that some malicious minds may ei∣ther take occasion to mislike it themselues, or else finde meanes to make it odious vnto others: They haue there∣fore (each of them) politiquely preuented the daunger of misreport, and suffered me the poore Printer to runne a∣vvay vvith the palme of so perillous a victorie. Notwith∣standing, hauing vvel perused the vvorke, I find nothing therein amisse (to my iudgemente) vnlesse it be tvvo or three vvanton places passed ouer in the discourse of an a∣morous enterprise: The vvhich for as much as the vvords Page  [unnumbered] are cleanly (although the thing ment be somevvhat natu∣rall) I haue thought good also to let them passe as they came to me, and the rather bicause (as master. H. VV. hath vvell alleadged in his letter to the Reader) the well minded mā may reape some commoditie out of the most friuolous vvorks that are vvritten. And as the venemous spider vvil sucke poison out of the most holesome herbe, and the industrious Bee can gather hony out of the most stinking vveede: Euen so the discrete reader may take a happie exāple by the most lasciuious histories, although the captious and harebraind heads can neither be encora∣ged by the good, nor forevvarned by the bad. And thus muche I haue thought good to say in excuse of some sa∣uours, which may perchance smell vnpleasantly to some noses, in some part of this poeticall poesie. Novv it hath vvith this fault a greater commoditie than common poe∣sies haue ben accustomed to present, and that is this, you shall not be constreined to smell of the floures therein cō∣teined all at once, neither yet to take them vp in such or∣der as they are sorted: But you may take any one flowre by it selfe, and if that smell not so pleasantly as you vvold wish, I doubt not yet but you may find some other which may supplie the defects thereof. As thus, he vvhich wold haue good morall lessons clerkly handled, let him smell to the Tragedie translated out of Euripides. He that wold laugh at a prety conceit closely conueyed, let him peruse the comedie translated out of Ariosto. He that vvould take example by the vnlavvfull affections of a louer be∣stovved vppon an vnconstant dame, let them reade the report in verse, made by Dan Bartholmevv of Bathe, or the discourse in prose of the aduentures passed by master Page  [unnumbered] F. I. vvhome the reader may name Freeman Iones, for the better vnderstanding of the same: he that vvould see any particuler pang of loue liuely displayed, may here ap∣proue euery Pamphlet by the title, and so remaine con∣tented. As also diuers godly himnes and Psalmes may in like manner be founde in this recorde. To conclude, the worke is so vniuersall, as either in one place or other, any mans mind may therevvith be sa∣tisfied. The vvhich I aduenture (vnder pretext of this promise) to present vnto all indifferent eyes as follovveth.