---

“In Ducem”1

Great Duke, Although I litle am acquainted,

with all the crymes, wherewith thy soule it2 taynted:

yet doe thy faults, constrayne my tender muse,

to curse his harte, that did us all abuse:

Where is thy devill, and thy Doctor Lambe?3

5

that purchased the, with Charles, so great a name:

what are they gonne, unto the Stygean Lake?4

and would thee soe unkyndlye now forsake?

No no they went,5 but to prepare a seate

For thee accordinge to thy great estate;

10

Pluto6 proclaymed had a sollemme feaste

and bade thy soule to be cheefest gueste:

Oh strange at first, to get soe great promocion

with dis:7 (I saith) it was for pure devocoun,

thou bare to Lucyffer;8 then thinke off this

15

that Felton, meritts everlastinge bliss,

who caused thee, to gayne that exaltacion

and sent thee to such a place off recreacion,

theire maiste thou use, thy magyke and thy charmes,

thy spells, and figures,9 can doe litle harme:

20

with Sysyphus, theire maiste thou rowle the stonne,10

Or els with Tantalus,11 goe make thy moane:

Yett all too litle for thy soule to feele,

Ixion, shall sett thee on his rowlinge wheele;12

Oh: might thy soule, but come againe and tell,

25

the paynes and travells, that it had too hell:

it would require some Homer,13 to endyte,

and all the Poets sett a worke, to wrytte,

with penns of steele; theire Inike14 the Ocean sea,

theire paper, all the leaves that springe in Maye:

30

but since it comes not; as I best can foarde,15

Ile shew you, all it’s progess in a worde:

When it arryved in the Stygean baye,

Caron16 expected then a mightye paye;

to pass it over; which the soule soone spyed,

35

about it middle, at that tyme was tyed

a girdle, wich was off great woorke and pryze,

called Treacherie: wich did the churle17 suffyze.

A boarde they went; Caron began to rowe,

but to remove it, he had much adooe,

40

the soule so sinfull, waied the boate soe downe,

that Charon stood in feare the boate should drowne,

then rose the surgess,18 over all the brime,

it botes19 them not to practyse, then to swimme,

for they had drenched bene in that vaste floode,

45

but Pluto ayminge, alwayse at his good:

was wandered past the bankes off Cocytus20

towardes Stixe Lake, when that it happened thus,

and seeinge both of them soe nighe bespent,

it forced Dis, theire case for to lament:

50

since both were servaunts true without controule;

Charon had brought him manye a welcome soule,

And Gorge, as willinge came, as any other

which made the devill, adopte him for his brother:

hee toake his soul, and Proserpine,21 it cherishte,

55

that but for them, throughe weight off sinns had perishte:

err that it could attayne th’appoynted place,

wich Radamanthe22 out off a speciall grace,

att the solycytinge off Docter Lambe,

ordayned for it gainst it thither came.

60

Thus have I shewed you in a worde or towe,

the progress straunge, wich some maye judge untrewe,

off Villeir’s soule, from this our Brittish Ile,

to pale Avernus23 in a litle whyle;

Mægera and Alecto24 make it myrthe

65

for Treacherie committed here on earth:

but yett before I make a fynall ende,

his vice, not vertue, needes I must commende,

Iff Conjuracions, Carrecters and spells,

Circles, and figures, furyes, feends of hell;

70

and all enchauntments, were off any merrytte

then might thy soule, Elyzean Joyes25 enherrytte:

wee weptt dere Duke: and soung a dolefull sounge,

because thou lived amounge us, here soe lounge

but now thou art gonne, our Joyes beginne to dubble,

75

hopinge thy lyke will never more us troble:

Caynns deare blessinge,26 light uppon thy harte,

Oedipus Joyes27 unto thy soule reverte:

soe Duke, no otherwyse my leave I take,

but unto God this sole request doe make;

80

to villyffye all men off thy condicions

and keepe our Charles, under his saffe tuition.

---

Source. CCRO MS CR 63/2/19, fols. 70v-71r

Pi31

Quick links to other poems within this section

Select page here P0. Introduction Pi1. lett Charles & george Pi2. Sith number with thy Pi3. Thy numerous name Pi4. Anagram of George Pi5. A yere of wonder Pi6. The Shepheards struck Pi7. Thus Buck-in-game Pi8. England was sick Pi9. Lord, what are wee Pi10. Beehold this Obsequie Pi11. This little Grave Pi12. The pale horse Pi13. Here lies Leachery Pi14. Here lyes great George Pi15. Great Buckingham’s Pi16. Pride lies heere Pi17. Fortunes darling Pi18. Heere lies a gratious Pi19. Had our great duke Pi20. Great potent Duke Pi21. And art thou dead! Pi22. Pale death, with Iron Pi23. Great Gorge, and art Pi24. Thou that on topp Pi25. What once was said Pi26. If good mens graces Pi27. Great Duke, which art Pi28. At Portsmouth Duke Pi29. Make haste I pray Pi30. No sooner had the Pi31. Great Duke, Although Pi32. Away, away, great George Pi33. My honour, favour, life Pi34. I that my countrey Pi35. Mother / My humble Pi36. The Argument is cold Pi37. Ye gastly Spiritts Pii1. Anagram on John Felton Pii2. Anagram on John Felton Pii3. Felton, awake Pii4. The heavens approve Pii5. Some say the Duke Pii6. The Duke is dead Pii7. Why: is our Age Pii8. Immortall Man of glorie Pii9. I mmortal man of glory Pii10. Enjoy thy Bondage Pii11. Sir, I your servant Pii12. You auntient Lawes Pii13. Feare not brave Pii14. Sorrow and Joy Pii15. Heere uninterr’d Pii16. Here uninterd suspends Pii17. Wants hee a grave Pii18. Is Felton dead? Pii19. Here Lyes the bonnes Pii20. Awake, sad Brittaine Piii1. M alignant characters Piii2. Heere lyes the best Piii3. Dearling off Kings Piii4. You braveing spiritts Piii5. I did not flatter thee Piii6. Yee snarling Satyrs Piii7. Heere lyes thy Urne Piii8. Sooner I may some Piii9. Yet weere Bidentalls Piii10. Reader stand still Piii11. Our countrie Merry Piii12. Honor, worth, greatnes Piii13. What! shall I say now Piii14. Who ever lov’d man Piii15. When Poets use to Piii16. Might Teares Revive Piii17. Death come thy selfe Piii18. Hee that can reade Piii19. Nourishd with sighs Piii20. When in the brazen Piii21. Reader when these Piii22. Noe Poets triviall rage

¹   In Ducem: “On the Duke”. <back>

²   it: probable scribal error; read “is”. <back>

³   thy devill, and thy Doctor Lambe: John Lambe, astrologer-physician, convicted witch and alleged associate of the Duke, was sometimes dubbed “the Duke’s devil”. However, while this line could be read as “Doctor Lambe, thy devil and thy doctor”, the plural “they” in the next line but one implies that “thy devill” is not Lambe but a second person. One possible candidate is the Irishman Pierce Butler, who fled England in 1626 after the Commons began investigating stories that he had given Buckinghan some kind of magical amulet which would keep him in royal favour. <back>

⁴   Stygean Lake: the lake of Styx in the classical underworld. <back>

⁵   they went: John Lambe was murdered by a London mob in June 1628. The line implies that the other “devill” was also dead by this time. <back>

⁶   Pluto: ruler of the classical realm of the dead. <back>

⁷   dis: i.e. Dis; another name for Pluto. <back>

⁸   Lucyffer: Satan. <back>

⁹   thy magyke...and figures: Buckingham allegedly used sorcery to maintain his power; usually this charge is connected to Buckingham’s relationships with John Lambe and his mother, Mary Compton, Countess of Buckingham. <back>

¹⁰   Sysyphus...rowle the stonne: in the classical underworld, Sisyphus was punished by being forced in perpetuity to roll a stone up a hill only to watch it roll back down again. <back>

¹¹   Tantalus: in the classical underworld, Tantalus was punished by being tormented with hunger and thirst while having water and food in sight but forever just beyond his grasp. <back>

¹²   Ixion...rowlinge wheele: in the classical underworld, Ixion was punished by being chained to a perpetually rolling wheel. <back>

¹³   Homer: the ancient Greek epic poet. Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey includes descriptions of Sisyphus’ and Tantalus’ torments in the underworld. <back>

¹⁴   Inike: i.e. ink. <back>

¹⁵   foarde: i.e. afford; perform. <back>

¹⁶   Caron: Charon was the ferryman whose boat brought the shades of the dead across the rivers of the underworld. <back>

¹⁷   churle: base person; here meaning Charon. <back>

¹⁸   surgess: i.e. surges. <back>

¹⁹   botes: i.e. boots; benefits. <back>

²⁰   Cocytus: a river in the underworld. <back>

²¹   Proserpine: queen of the underworld, Pluto’s wife. <back>

²²   Radamanthe: in Homeric myth Rhadamanthys was the ruler of the Elysian Fields, the realm of the blessed souls, and was also represented as one of the judges of the dead in the underworld. <back>

²³   Avernus: Lake Avernus was located near to the passageway to the underworld allegedly found in the cave of the Cumaean Sibyl. <back>

²⁴   Mægera and Alecto: two of the three furies, the avenging goddesses and tormenters of the damned. <back>

²⁵   Elyzean Joyes: the pleasures of the Elysian Fields, the resting place of the blessed souls. <back>

²⁶   Caynns deare blessinge: Cain’s punishments for the murder of Abel (see Genesis 4); or, more generally, the eternal torments due to murderers. <back>

²⁷   Oedipus Joyes: Oedipus was the King of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. Upon learning what he had done, Oedipus blinded himself before being taken from earth by the furies. <back>