notwithstanding the first and most ancient Poesie, and the most
vniuersall, which two points do otherwise giue to all humane inuentions
and affaires no small credit. This is proued by certificate of marchants &
trauellers, who by late nauigations haue surueyed the whole world, and
discouered large countries and strange peoples wild and sauage, affirming
that the American, the Perusine & the very Canniball, do sing and also
say, their highest and holiest matters in certaine riming versicles and
not in prose, which proues also that our maner of vulgar Poesie is more
ancient then the artificiall of the Greeks and Latines, ours comming by
instinct of nature, which was before Art or obseruation, and vsed with the
sauage and vnciuill, who were before all science or ciuilitie, euen as the
naked by prioritie of time is before the clothed, and the ignorant before
the learned. The naturall Poesie therefore being aided and amended by Art,
and not vtterly altered or obscured, but some signe left of it, (as the
Greekes and Latines haue left none) is no lesse to be allowed and
commended then theirs.

_CHAP. VI_.

_How the riming Poesie came first to the Grecians and Latines, and had
altered and almost split their maner of Poesie_.

But it came to passe, when fortune fled farre from the Greekes and
Latines, & that their townes florished no more in traficke, nor their
Vniuersities in learning as they had done continuing those Monarchies: the
barbarous conquerers inuading them with innumerable swarmes of strange
nations, the Poesie metricall of the Grecians and Latines came to be much
corrupted and altered, in so much as there were times that the very
Greekes and Latines themselues tooke pleasure in Riming verses, and vsed
it as a rare and gallant thing: Yea their Oratours proses nor the Doctors
Sermons were acceptable to Princes nor yet to the common people vnlesse it
went in manner of tunable rime or metricall sentences, as appeares by many
of the auncient writers, about that time and since. And the great Princes,
and Popes, and Sultans would one salute and greet an other sometime in
frendship and sport, sometime in earnest and enmitie by ryming verses, &
nothing seemed clerkly done, but must be done in ryme: Whereof we finde
diuers examples from the time of th'Emperours Gracian & Valentinian
downwardes; For then aboutes began the declination of the Romain Empire,
by the notable inundations of the _Hunnes_ and _Vandalles_