IN VERSE.
cliii
In Russia other shift there is not to be had,
For where the bedding is not good the boalsters are but bad;
I mused very much what made them so to lie,
Sith in theyr countrey downe is rife, and feathers out of crie;
Unlesse it be because the countrey is so hard,
They feare by nicenesse of a bed theyr bodyes would be mard.
I wisht thee oft with us, saue that I stood in feare,
Thou wouldst haue loathed to haue layd thy limmes upon a beare,
As I and Stafford did, that was my mate in bed;
And yet (we thank the God of heauen) we both right well haue sped.
Loe thus I make an end; none other newes to thee,
But that the countrey is too colde, the people beastly bee.
I write not all I know; I touch but heere and there;
For if I should, my pen would pinch, and eke offend I feare:
Who so shall read this verse, coniecture of the rest,
And thinke by reason of our trade that I do thinke the best.
But if no traffike were, then could I boldly pen
The hardnesse of the soile, and eke the maners of the men;
They say the lions paw giues iudgement of the beast,
And so may you deeme of the great by reading of the least.
For where the bedding is not good the boalsters are but bad;
I mused very much what made them so to lie,
Sith in theyr countrey downe is rife, and feathers out of crie;
Unlesse it be because the countrey is so hard,
They feare by nicenesse of a bed theyr bodyes would be mard.
I wisht thee oft with us, saue that I stood in feare,
Thou wouldst haue loathed to haue layd thy limmes upon a beare,
As I and Stafford did, that was my mate in bed;
And yet (we thank the God of heauen) we both right well haue sped.
Loe thus I make an end; none other newes to thee,
But that the countrey is too colde, the people beastly bee.
I write not all I know; I touch but heere and there;
For if I should, my pen would pinch, and eke offend I feare:
Who so shall read this verse, coniecture of the rest,
And thinke by reason of our trade that I do thinke the best.
But if no traffike were, then could I boldly pen
The hardnesse of the soile, and eke the maners of the men;
They say the lions paw giues iudgement of the beast,
And so may you deeme of the great by reading of the least.
TO PARKER.
My Parker, pen and inke were made to write,
And idle heads that little do haue leisure to indite;
Wherefore, respecting these, and thine assured loue,
If I would write no newes to thee, thou might’st my pen reproue.
And sithence fortune thus hath shou’d my shippe on shore,
And made me seeke another realme vnseene of me before;
The maners of the men I purpose to declare,
And other priuate points besides, which strange and geazon are.
The Russie men are round of bodies, fully faste,
The greatest part with bellies bigge that ouerhang the waste,
Flat headed for the most, with faces nothing faire,
But browne, by reason of the stoue, and closenesse of the aire;
It is theyr common vse to shaue or els to sheare
Theyr heads, for none in all the land long lolling locks doth weare,
Unlesse perhaps he haue his souereigne prince displeas’d,
For then he neur cuts his haire vntill he be appeas’d.
A certaine signe to know who in displeasure be,
For every man that views his head will say, Loe this is he.
And idle heads that little do haue leisure to indite;
Wherefore, respecting these, and thine assured loue,
If I would write no newes to thee, thou might’st my pen reproue.
And sithence fortune thus hath shou’d my shippe on shore,
And made me seeke another realme vnseene of me before;
The maners of the men I purpose to declare,
And other priuate points besides, which strange and geazon are.
The Russie men are round of bodies, fully faste,
The greatest part with bellies bigge that ouerhang the waste,
Flat headed for the most, with faces nothing faire,
But browne, by reason of the stoue, and closenesse of the aire;
It is theyr common vse to shaue or els to sheare
Theyr heads, for none in all the land long lolling locks doth weare,
Unlesse perhaps he haue his souereigne prince displeas’d,
For then he neur cuts his haire vntill he be appeas’d.
A certaine signe to know who in displeasure be,
For every man that views his head will say, Loe this is he.
