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“Upon the Duke Buckingham his opposition to the Parliament”

O Admirall!1 since thou camst back againe

more base from Rhee,2 then Cecill did from Spaine3

Since thou hast bin againe receaved at Court

beyond thy owne conceite beyond Reporte.

Since thou hast guilt of all the bloud Rhee spent

5

must thou still live to breake a Parliament!

hath no witch poyson! not one man a dagger

or hath our Coward Age forgott to swagger

no! no! Greate George! it is nor them nor thee

tis not thy Charmes tis not thy Venery4

10

though theese doe much, tis none of them doe this

tis nought that does it but our owne Amisse

would each of us mend one, though thou mend none

then all thy plots were straightwaies overthrowne

till then thou thrivst & till then mayst thou still

15

as hangmen doe by the lewd peoples ill.

if once we prove (as once we may prove) good

then, than thy Brother thou wilt prove more wood.5

meane while this is the state of our lost land

thou standst we fall & when thou fallst we stand.

20

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Source. BL Add. MS 29492, fol. 55r

Oiii1

Quick links to other poems within this section

Select page here O0. Introduction Oi1. The Parliament sitts Oi2. Oh honoured England Oi3. Our digby digd’e Oi4. The base on which Oi5. There was a man Oi6. There was a great fleete Oi7. There was a Munkye Oi8. Yee Spanyards Oi9. There was some policye Oi10. The Kinge and his wyfe Oi11. Why did the fond Oi12. Fower Cheyffe Justices Oi13. Justice of late hath Oi14. Ould Ned Cooke Oi15. Rex and Grex Oi16. Come heare, Lady Muses Oi17. There is a man Oii1. when the uncivill civill Oii2. It makes mee to muse Oii3. Great Buckinghame Oii4. In reading these Oii5. And wilt thou goe Oii6. Charles would yee Prevaile Oii7. Rejoice, brave English Oii8. Why was the varlett Oii9. One askte me Oii10. Oure crossrow’s turnd Oii11. The noblest brave Oii12. And art return’d againe Oii13. All you that will goe Oii14. As sick men feare Oiii1. O Admirall! Oiii2. The wisest King Oiii3. The warrlike King Oiii4. Excuse me Eliott Oiii5. Avaunt you giddie Oiii6. Here Dr Lambe Oiii7. If heav’n rejoyce Oiii8. For Lambe go ringe Oiii9. Heare lyes the Impostar Oiii10. Our state’s a Game Oiii11. When onely one doth Oiii12. Of Brittish Beasts Oiii13. To hunt the Doe Oiii14. The Parliament of late Oiii15. A thinge gott by candle

¹   Admirall: Buckingham was Lord Admiral. <back>

²   Rhee: the Ile de Ré, where Buckingham had led the ill-fated English expedition of 1627. <back>

³   Cecill did from Spaine: alluding to the failed 1625 expedition to Cadiz led by Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon. <back>

⁴   Venery: sexual sins. Buckingham was commonly depicted in the later 1620s as a sexually voracious womanizer. <back>

⁵   thy Brother...prove more wood: “wood” here means “insane”, and thus the allusion is to Buckingham’s brother John Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, who suffered notorious bouts of madness during the 1620s. <back>