n wide,
4 Markes which do byte their hasty supper best;
A cloud of +combrous+ gnattes do him molest,
6 All striuing to infixe their feeble stings,
That from their noyance he no where can rest,
8 But with his clownish hands their tender wings
He brusheth +oft+, and oft doth mar their murmurings.

5 combrous > cumbrous _1590_
9 oft > off _conj. Collier_

1 As gentle shepherd in sweet eventide
2 (When ruddy Phoebus begins to welk in west),

welk > fade, wane

3 High on a hill, his flock to view wide,
4 Marks which do bite their hasty supper best,
5 A cloud of cumbrous gnats do him molest,

A > [And a]
cumbrous > harassing

6 All striving to infix their feeble stings,
7 That from their annoyance he nowhere can rest,

That > [So that]

8 But with his clownish hands their tender wings

clownish > rude, rustic

9 He brushes oft, and oft does mar their murmurings.

101.24

Thus ill bestedd, and fearefull more of shame,
2 Then of the certaine perill he stood in,
Halfe furious vnto his foe he came,
4 Resolv'd in minde all suddenly to win,
Or soone to lose, before he once would lin;
6 And +strooke+ at her with more then manly force,
That from her body full of filthie sin
8 He +raft+ her hatefull head without remorse;
A streame of cole black bloud forth gushed from her corse.

6 strooke > stroke _1590_
8 raft > reft _1609_

1 Thus ill-bested, and fearful more of shame

ill-bested > hard-pressed, threatened (bested = placed); _or:_ ill-
bestad: badly beset, badly hemmed in (SUS)

2 Than of the certain peril he stood in,
3 Half furious to his foe he came,
4 Resolved in mind all suddenly to win,
5 Or soon to lose, before he once would lin;

lin > desist, cease

6 And struck at her with more than manly force,

manly > human

7 That from her body, full of filthy sin,

That > [So that]

8 He reft her hateful head without remorse:

reft > severed (catachr.); took away
remorse > compunction; pity

9 A stream of coal-black blood forth gushed from her corse.

corse > body

101.25

Her scattred brood, soone as their Parent deare
2 They saw so rudely falling to the ground,
Groning full deadly, all with troublous feare,
4 Gathred themselues about her body round,
Weening their wonted entrance to haue found
6 At her wide mouth: but being there withstood
They