Penny Dreadfuls, 1602 · page 243 of 400
Penny Dreadful Cover — page 243: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains running poetry or verse from what appears to be a moral or cautionary narrative. The speaker (a woman) recounts her youthful vanity and descent into foolishness, describing how she was raised wealthy but became proud and overly concerned with her appearance. She references a friar's warning about Narcissus and Echo as cautionary tales against vanity and pride, then shifts to lamenting her hasty marriage and poor choice of husbands, three of whom are now dead. The text uses early modern spelling and employs colloquial language and parenthetical asides typical of period narrative verse.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
_ My Parents they weare wealthy,and my felfe in wanton youth _ Good Gad, how formall,prankt,and peart became in a trice,, ? " ‘The fae proportion with my heart my groeth nora age did hold: 7 4 | Ned Ainels ech edie in ek +s Glas: hen I was worl wot, ‘sill % On Holly-dayes(for fildome els fuch ydell times we got) A Tubb or Paile of water cleere {tood vs in fteede of Glas: And yeat(which ftill I beare in mind)for | it I {chooled was, Euen by an holy Bryer: Thus,quoth he,it comes to pas, Yong Damfels,and too oftentimes old Dotards; ,vnawaer, Doe thus offend swhilft thus they feeme vpon themfelues to ftaer: But what they fev isnot themfelues.A tayle thendidhetell _ How Eccho and Narei/fus weare aucthorifed from Hell, That egging & This acting pride in Worldlings heartstodwell:) And either oftin Mirrors and in Waters beautions feeme, deve To curious Gazers inn,who thofe to be themfeluesdo deeme: : Flye glas and water-tooting,Girle, 2 arci//ws fall extreeme, — ‘ihn Feare flattrie too,for Men to Maides be Ecchos to fubdewe, en The Fryer fayd sand all tofoone Ltound his fayingstrewe, cy ~—— Was ope enough, but proude enough, fo Foole-enoughin truth, I might haue had igood Husbands,which my deftenywithftood: . Of three now dead(ah,eriefe is drye,Goflyp,this Ale is good) In faith not one of them was{o: for by this drinke I {weare,, (Requarrelling the Cup)we and her lippes vnparted weare, When th’other Beldamme,great with chat(for talkative be Cups): ss The formers Prate, nor worth the while,thus fondly intersups. ae When I(quoch the)the Countrie left to be a London Las, pile I was notfayrer than my felfe belecued faire I was. a ait \ ° t i a = As ifvoto the Place it weare a Nature to be Nice. Scarce entred'l the Teenes, but thatto Wed my will was hot: Yee that be married and intend to arrie,well I wor, The Prieft no fooner fayde,but I vpon my tip-toes ftand,. As if that Leffon had concernd my felfe,euen out of hand. Dayes. | | Com GOS S com