that quicklie he is keeper, Chancellor,

a viscount statelie, & high Councellor.1

The maister of the horse is Buckingham

& Englands Lord high Admirall by name,2

yea named is the kinges delight and joy

305

how o’er his mother, like a Countess coye3

doth with the rest abandon whom shee knew

before, shee to such supreame greatnes grewe.

Lord Chamberlaine the noble Pembroke is,4

& to his greife sees manie things a misse.

310

for presentlie doth Montague stepp upp

and with the rest, tastes of ambitions cupp:

for, from Recorder, he chiefe Justice sitts5

& highlie lookes with strange and loftie fitts.

Then from the Citie Cranfielde changeth aire

315

and to the Courte doth handsomelie repaire:6

yea is soe well accepted for his skill

that the kinge grace him, in his fortunes will;

yet all this change, is to resolve this doubt

that Fortunes wheele is quicklie turn’de aboute.

320

O God, what mixtures are amongest us wrought?

& men of honor topsie turvie brought:

Her’s griefe that any should deserve soe ill,

Hers gladnes, that the kinge suppress them will,

but of their faults I will not speake at all,

325

I onelie knowe, who prosper did, or fall.

Cranfeild is maister of the wardes,7 & bringes

a just accomte; with manie other things

Fulk Grevill is Lorde Brooke, & soe it stands

his office is transposde to others hands.8

330

Naunton, & Calvert, Secretaries bee9

but somethinge is amisse; for wee doe see

Naunton suspended, which makes manie sorie10

but kinges (with God) doe in their mercy glory.

The Kings Attorney Yelverton did prove

335

worthie the Cities, and the Contries love,

yet he is tardie founde: for he doth trye

a sentence in Starrchamber, & doth lie

a Tower prisoner close, & close againe.11

For all’s not well when kings doe once complaine,

340

of faulty subiects, yet be not mistaken

that honest men should alwaies be forsaken.

Not an inferior officer I name

who changed are for somethinge worthie blame.

nor how the kinge is not soe pleas’de, but may

345

condemne the rest, who dare his will gainesay.

my poore pretences still resolve this doubt

that Fortunes wheele is quicklie turn’de aboute.

By this tyme Europe hurried is in armes,12

but what have I to doe with warrs alarmes,

350

K1vii

Quick links to other poems within this section

Select page here K0. Introduction K1i. Some would complaine K1ii. K1iii. K1iv. K1v. K1vi. K1vii. K1viii. K1ix. K1x. K2. Bridewell I come

¹   keeper, Councellor: Bacon was appointed to the Privy Council in 1616, Lord Keeper in 1617, Lord Chancellor in 1618, and Viscount St. Albans in 1621. <back>

²   The maister...name: Buckingham became Master of the Horse in 1616 and Lord High Admiral in 1619. <back>

³   his mother...coye: Buckingham’s mother, Mary Villiers, was created Countess of Buckingham in 1618. <back>

⁴   Lord Chamberlaine...Pembroke is: William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, was Lord Chamberlain from 1615 to 1628. <back>

⁵   for presentlie...sitts: Sir Henry Montagu (Earl of Manchester from 1626) resigned his position as Recorder of the City of London in 1616 in order to succeed Sir Edward Coke as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. <back>

⁶   from the Citie...repaire: Lionel Cranfield, a successful London merchant, was appointed Lord Treasurer and Earl of Middlesex in 1622. <back>

⁷   Cranfeild...wardes: Cranfield rose under Buckingham’s patronage. He was appointed Master of the Court of Wards in 1619 and held that position at the time this poem was written; however, he was impeached, and fell from power, in 1624. <back>

⁸   Fulk Grevill...hands: Sir Fulke Greville was made Baron Brooke in 1621, shortly after resigning his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer. <back>

⁹   Naunton...Secretaries bee: in 1618, Sir Robert Naunton succeeded Sir Ralph Winwood, who died in office; in 1619, Sir George Calvert replaced Sir Thomas Lake, after the latter’s fall from power. (This repeats material from earlier in the poem.) <back>

¹⁰   Naunton suspended...sorie: Naunton, who presumably appealed to the poet on account of his reputation for anti-Catholicism, was removed from his post early in 1623. <back>

¹¹   The Kings Attorney...close againe: Sir Henry Yelverton, Attorney-General from 1617, was brought down by his ambivalent stance on monopolies. His failure to defend monopolies with the full rigour of the law might in part explain the poem’s comment that he is “worthie the Cities, and the Contries love”; however, his lenience also led to his own 1620 Star Chamber trial on the grounds of having passed a charter to the City of London containing unauthorized provisions. In a subsequent House of Lords examination Yelverton, summoned from the Tower, confirmed his status as an anti-Buckingham hero by launching a scathing attack on the favourite, comparing his relationship with James to that between Hugh Spencer and Edward II. He was fined heavily for this outburst. <back>

¹²   Europe hurried is in armes: the Thirty Years’ War began in 1618. <back>