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PART III I TROW, men would but deem it negligence If I forget to tell the great expense Of Theseus, who prepares so busily To furnish all the lists full royally; A theatre so noble has he made, I say the world its like had ne'er surveyed. Its ample circuit went a mile about, 1029 All strongly walled with stone, and ditched without. Round was its shape, with rising circles dight, Arranged in steps, full sixty yards in height, So that, as rank by rank each step withdrew, No man might hinder other from the view. Eastward there stood a gate of marble white ; And westward, such another, opposite ; And, shortly to describe it, such a place Was none on earth, in such a little space. For in the land no craftsman could be found Skilled in arithmetic or measuring ground, 1040 No draughtsman, none who carved in stone or wood, But Theseus gave him meat and wages good The theatre to fashion and devise. And, more to do his rite and sacrifice, He eastward hath, upon the gate above, In Venus' worship—goddess she of love — Contrived an altar and an orat'ry. And westward, in regard and memory Of Mars, he such another hath designed, That cost him many a load of gold refined. 1050 And northward, in a turret on the wall, Of alabaster white and red coral An oratory, marvellous to see, In worship of Diana's chastity, Hath Theseus contrived with rich array. But yet have I forgotten to portray The noble carvings, and the sculptures rare, The shapes, the ornaments, the figures fair Displayed within these oratories three. And first, in Venus' temple may'st thou see 1060 Wrought on the wall, full piteous to behold, The broken slumbers and the sighings cold; The sacred tears, the lamentations dire;The fiery torments of extreme...
