the celestiall Venus, who in the beginning of the world diddest couple
together all kind of things with an ingendered love, by an eternall
propagation of humane kind, art now worshipped within the Temples of the
Ile Paphos, thou which art the sister of the God Phoebus, who nourishest
so many people by the generation of beasts, and art now adored at the
sacred places of Ephesus, thou which art horrible Proserpina, by reason
of the deadly howlings which thou yeeldest, that hast power to stoppe
and put away the invasion of the hags and Ghoasts which appeare unto
men, and to keepe them downe in the closures of the earth: thou which
art worshipped in divers manners, and doest illuminate all the borders
of the earth by thy feminine shape, thou which nourishest all the fruits
of the world by thy vigor and force; with whatsoever name or fashion it
is lawfull to call upon thee, I pray thee, to end my great travaile and
misery, and deliver mee from the wretched fortune, which had so
long time pursued me. Grant peace and rest if it please thee to my
adversities, for I have endured too much labour and perill. Remoove from
me my shape of mine Asse, and render to me my pristine estate, and if
I have offended in any point of divine Majesty, let me rather dye then
live, for I am full weary of my life. When I had ended this orison, and
discovered my plaints to the Goddesse, I fortuned to fall asleepe, and
by and by appeared unto me a divine and venerable face, worshipped even
of the Gods themselves. Then by little and little I seemed to see the
whole figure of her body, mounting out of the sea and standing before
mee, wherefore I purpose to describe her divine semblance, if the
poverty of my humane speech will suffer me, or her divine power give me
eloquence thereto. First shee had a great abundance of haire, dispersed
and scattered about her neck, on the crowne of her head she bare many
garlands enterlaced with floures, in the middle of her forehead was a
compasse in fashion of a glasse, or resembling the light of the Moone,
in one of her hands she bare serpents, in the other, blades of corne,