The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

¶ Sequitur pars secunda.

Whan that Arcite / to Thebes comen was fful ofte a day / he swelte and seyde allas Line 1356 ffor seen his lady / shal he neuere mo And shortly / to concluden al his wo So muche sorwe / hadde neuere creature That is / or shal / whil þat the world may dure Line 1360 His slepe / his mete / his drynke / is hym biraft That lene he wexeth / and drye as is a shaft Hise eyen holwe / and grisly to biholde His hewe falow / and pale as Asshen colde Line 1364 And solitarie he was / and euere allone And waillynge al the nyght makynge his mone And if he herde / song or Instrument Thanne wolde he wepe / he myghte nat be stent Line 1368 So feble eek were hise spiritz and so lowe And chaunged so / that no man koude knowe His speche nor his voys / though men it herde And in his geere / for al the world he ferde Line 1372 Nat oonly / lik the loueris maladye [folio 19b] Of Hereos / but rather lyk Manye [¶ Mania] Engendred / of humour malencolik Biforn his owene Celle fantastik Line 1376 And shortly / turned was al vp so doun Bothe habit / and eek disposicioun Of hym this woful louere daun Arcite ¶ What sholde I / al day of his wo endite Line 1380 Whan he endured hadde / a yeer or two This crueel torment and this peyne and woo At Thebes in his contree / as I seyde Vp on a nyght / in sleepe as he hym leyde Line 1384 Hym thoughte / how that the wynged god Mercurie Biforn hym stood / and bad hym to be murie His slepy yerde / in hond he bar vprighte An hat he werede / vp hise heris brighte Line 1388

Line 1388 Arrayed was this god / as I took keepe As he was / whan þat Argus took his sleepe And seyde hym thus / to Atthenes shaltou wende Ther is thee shapen / of thy wo an ende Line 1392 And with that word / Arcite wook and sterte Now trewely / hou soore þat me smerte Quod he / to Atthenes / right now wol I fare Ne for the drede of deeth / shal I nat spare Line 1396 To se my lady / that I loue and serue In hire presence / I recche nat to sterue ¶ And with that word / he caughte a greet Mirour And saugh / þat chaunged was al his colour Line 1400 And saugh his visage / al in another kynde And right anon / it ran hym in his mynde That sith his face / was so disfigured Of maladye / the which he hadde endured Line 1404 He myghte wel / if þat he bar hym lowe Lyue in Atthenes / eueremoore vnknowe And seen his lady / wel ny day by day And right anon / he chaunged his array Line 1408 And cladde hym / as a poure laborer And al allone / saue oonly a Squier That knew his priuetee / and al his cas Which was disgised / pourely as he was Line 1412 To Atthenes / is he goon the nexte way And to the court he wente vp on a day And at the gate / he profreth his seruyse To drugge and drawe / what so men wol deuyse Line 1416 And shortly / of this matere for to seyn He fil in office / with a Chamberleyn The which þat dwellynge was with Emelye ffor he was wys / and koude soone espye Line 1420 Of euery seruant which that serueth here [folio 20a] Wel koude he / hewen wode / and water bere ffor he was yong / and myghty for the nones And ther to / he was long / and big of bones Line 1424

Line 1424 To doon / that any wight / kan hym deuyse A yeer or two / he was in this seruyse Page of the chambre / of Emelye the brighte And Philostrate / he seyde þat he highte Line 1428 But half / so wel / biloued a man as he Ne was ther neuere in Court of his degree He was so gentil of his condicioun That thurghout al the Court was his renoun Line 1432 They seyden / that it were a charitee That Theseus / wolde enhauncen his degree And putten hym / in worshipful seruyse Ther as he myghte / his vertu excercise Line 1436 And thus / with Inne a while / his name is spronge Bothe of hise dedes / and his goode tonge That Theseus / hath taken hym so neer That of his chambre / he made hym a Squier Line 1440 And gaf him gold / to mayntene his degree And eek men broghte hym / out of his contree ffrom yeer to yeer / ful pryuely his rente But honestly / and slyly he it spente Line 1444 That no man wondred / how þat he it hadde And thre yeer in this wise / his lif he ladde And bar hym so / in pees / and eek in werre Ther was no man / þat Theseus hath derre Line 1448 And in this blisse / lete I now Arcite And speke I wole / of Palamon a lite

IN derknesse and horrible / and strong prison Thise seuen yeer / hath seten Palamon Line 1452 fforpyned / what for wo / and for distresse Who feeleth / double soor heuynesse But Palamon / that loue destreyneth so That wood out of his wit he goth for wo Line 1456 And eek ther to / he is a prisoner Perpetuelly / noght oonly / for a yer ¶ Who koude ryme in englyssh proprely His martirdom / for sothe it am nat I. Line 1460

Line 1460 Therfore I passe / as lightly as I may ¶ It fel / that in the seuenthe yer in May The thridde nyght as olde bookes seyn That al this storie / tellen moore pleyn Line 1464 Were it by auenture or / destynee As whan a thyng is shapen / it shal be That soone after the mydnyght Palamon By helpyng of a freend / brak his prison Line 1468 ¶ And fleeth the Citee / faste as he may go [folio 20b] ffor he hade yeue / his gayler drynke so Of a Clarree maad / of a certeyn wyn Of Nercotikes / and Opie of Thebes fyn [¶ Opium Thebaicum.] That al that nyght thogh þat men wolde him shake The gayler sleepe / he myghte nat awake ¶ And thus he fleeth / as faste as euere he may The nyght was short and faste by the day Line 1476 That nedes cost he moot hym seluen hyde And til a groue / faste ther bisyde With dredeful foot thanne stalketh Palamon ffor shortly / this was his opinion · Line 1480 That in that groue / he wolde hym hyde al day And in the nyght / thanne wolde he take his way To Thebes ward / his freendes for to preye On Theseus / to helpe him to werreye Line 1484 And shortly / outher he wolde lese his lif Or wynnen Emelye / vn to his wyf This is theffect and his entente pleyn ¶ Now wol I turne / to Arcite ageyn Line 1488 That litel wiste / how ny þat was his care Til þat ffortune / had broght him in the snare

The bisy larke / messager of day Salueth in hir song / the morwe gray Line 1492 And firy Phebus / riseth vp so brighte That al the Orient laugheth of the lighte And with hise stremes / dryeth in the greues The siluer dropes / hangynge on the leues Line 1496

Line 1496 And Arcita / that is in the court Roial With Theseus / his Squier principal Is risen / and looketh on the myrie day And for to doon / his obseruaunce to May Line 1500 Remembrynge / on the poynt of his desir He on a Courser / startlynge as the fir Is riden in to the feeldes / hym to pleye Out of the Court were it a myle or tweye Line 1504 And to the groue / of which þat I yow tolde By auenture / his wey / he gan to holde To maken hym / a gerland / of the greues Were it of wodebynde / or hawethorn leues Line 1508 And loude he song ayeyn the sonne shene May / with alle thy floures and thy grene Wel come be thou / faire fresshe May In hope / þat I som grene gete may Line 1512 And from his courser / with a lusty herte In to a groue / ful hastily he sterte And in a path / he rometh vp and doun Ther as by auenture / this Palamon Line 1516 Was in a bussh / that no man myghte hym se [folio 21a] ffor soore aferd of his deeth / thanne was he No thyng ne knew he / that it was Arcite God woot he wolde haue trowed it ful lite Line 1520 But sooth is seyd / go sithen many yeres That feeld hath eyen / and the wode hath eres It is ful fair / a man to bere hym euene ffor al day / meeteth men at vnset steuene Line 1524 fful litel woot Arcite of his felawe That was so ny / to herknen al his sawe ffor in the bussh / he sitteth now ful stille ¶ Whan þat Arcite / hadde romed al his fille Line 1528 And songen al the roundel lustily In to a studie / he fil al sodeynly As doon thise loueres / in hir queynte geres Now in the crope / now doun in the breres Line 1532

Line 1532 Now vp / now doun / as boket in a welle Right as the friday / soothly for to telle Now it shyneth / now it reyneth faste Right so / kan geery Venus ouer caste Line 1536 The hertes of hir folk / right as hir day Is gereful / right so chaungeth she array Selde is the friday / al the wowke ylike ¶ Whan þat Arcite had songe / he gan to sike Line 1540 And sette hym doun / with outen any moore Allas quod he / that day þat I was bore How longe Iuno / thurgh thy crueltee Woltow werreyen Thebes the Citee Line 1544 Allas / ybroght is to confusion The blood roial / of Cadme and Amphion [¶ Cadmus] Of Cadmus / which þat was the firste man That Thebes bulte / or first the toun bigan Line 1548 And of the Citee / first was crouned kyng Of his lynage am I / and his of spryng / By verray ligne / as of the stok roial And now I am / so caytyf / and so thral Line 1552 That he / that is my mortal enemy I serue hym / as his squier pourely And yet / dooth Iuno me / wel moore shame ffor I dar noght biknowe myn owene name Line 1556 But ther as I / was wont to highte Arcite Now highte I Philostrate / noght worth a myte Allas thou felle Mars / allas Iuno Thus hath youre Ire / oure kynrede al fordo Line 1560 Saue oonly me / and wrecched Palamon That Theseus / martireth in prison And ouer al this / to sleen me outrely Loue hath / his firy dart so brennyngly Line 1564 Ystiked / thurgh my trewe careful herte [folio 21b] That shapen was my deeth / erst than my sherte Ye sleen me / with youre eyen Emelye Ye been the cause / wherfore þat I dye Line 1568

Line 1568 Of al the remenant of myn oother care Ne sette I nat the montance of a tare So þat I koude / doon aught to youre plesaunce And with that word / he fil doun in a traunce Line 1572 A longe tyme / and after he vp sterte ¶ This Palamon / þat thoughte þat thurgh his herte He felte a coold swerd / sodeynliche glyde ffor Ire he quook / no lenger wolde he byde Line 1576 And whan þat he / had herd Arcites tale As he were wood / with face / deed and pale He stirte hym vp / out of the buskes thikke And seide Arcite / false traytour wikke Line 1580 Now artow hent that louest my lady so ffor whom þat I haue / al this peyne and wo And art my blood / and to my conseil sworn As I ful ofte / haue seyd thee heer biforn Line 1584 And hast byiaped heere / duc Theseus And falsly / chaunged hast / thy name thus I wol be deed / or elles thou shalt dye Thou shalt nat / loue my lady Emelye Line 1588 But I wol loue hire oonly / and namo ffor I am Palamon / thy mortal foo And though þat I no wepene haue in this place But out of prison / am astert by grace Line 1592 I drede noght / þat outher thow shalt dye Or thow ne shalt nat louen Emelye Chees which thou wolt or thou shalt nat asterte ¶ This Arcite / with ful despitous herte Line 1596 Whan he hym knew / and hadde his tale herd As fiers as leon / pulled out his swerd And seyde thus / by god þat sit aboue Nere it / þat thou art sik and wood for loue Line 1600 And eek þat thow no wepne hast in this place Thou sholdest neuere / out of this groue pace That thou ne sholdest dyen of myn hond ffor I defye / the seurete and the bond Line 1604

Line 1604 Which that thou seist þat I haue maad to thee What verray fool / thynk wel / þat loue is fre And I wol loue hire / mawgree al thy myght But for as muche / thou art a worthy knyght Line 1608 And wilnest to darreyne hire by bataille Haue heer my trouthe / tomorwe I wol nat faile With oute wityng of any oother wight That heere / I wol be founden as a knyght Line 1612 And bryngen harneys / right ynough for thee [folio 22a] And chese the beste / and leue the worste for me And mete and drynke / this nyght wol I brynge Ynough for thee / and clothes for thy beddynge Line 1616 And if so be / that thou my lady wynne And sle me in this wode / ther I am Inne Thow mayst wel haue thy lady / as for me ¶ This Palamon answerde / I graunte it thee Line 1620 And thus they been departed / til amorwe Whan ech of hem / had leyd his feith to borwe

O Cupide / out of alle charitee O regne / þat wolt no felawe haue with thee Line 1624 fful sooth is seyd / þat loue ne lordshipe Wol noght hir thankes / haue no felaweshipe Wel fynden that Arcite and Palamon Arcite is riden anon / vn to the toun Line 1628 And on the morwe / er it were dayes light fful priuely / two harneys hath he dight Bothe suffisaunt and mete to darreyne The bataille in the feeld / bitwix hem tweyne Line 1632 And on his hors / allone as he was born He carieth / al the harneys / hym biforn And in the groue / at tyme and place yset This Arcite / and this Palamon ben met Line 1636 To chaungen / gan the colour in hir face Right as the hunters / in the regne of Trace That stondeth at the gappe with a spere Whan hunted is / the leon and the bere Line 1640

Line 1640 And hereth hym / come russhyng in the greues And breketh / bothe bowes / and the leues And thynketh / heere cometh my mortal enemy With oute faile / he moot be deed / or I Line 1644 ffor outher / I moot sleen hym at the gappe Or he moot sleen me / if þat me myshappe So ferden they / in chaungyng of hir hewe As fer / as euerich of hem oother knewe Line 1648 ¶ Ther nas no good day ne no saluyng But streight with outen word / or rehersyng Euerich of hem / heelpe for to armen oother As freenly / as he were his owene brother Line 1652 And after that with sharpe speres stronge They foynen ech at oother wonder longe Thou myghtest wene / that this Palamon In his fightyng were [as] a wood leon Line 1656 And as a crueel Tigre was Arcite As wilde bores / gonne they to smyte That frothen whit as foom / for Ire wood Vp to the Anclee / foghte they in hir blood Line 1660 ¶ And in this wise / I lete hem fightyng dwelle [folio 22b] And forth I wole / of Theseus yow telle

The destinee / Ministre general That executeth / in the world ouer al Line 1664 The purueiaunce / that god hath seyn biforn So strong it is / þat though the world had sworn The contrarie of a thyng by ye or nay Yet somtyme / it shal fallen on a day Line 1668 That falleth nat eft with Inne a thousand yeere ffor certeinly / oure appetites heere Be it of werre / or pees / or hate / or loue Al is this reuled / by the sighte aboue Line 1672 ¶ This mene I now / by myghty Theseus That for to hunten / is so desirus And namely / at the grete hert in May That in his bed / ther daweth hym no day Line 1676

Line 1676 That he nys clad / and redy for to ryde With hunte and horn / and houndes hym bisyde ffor in his huntyng . hath he swich delit That it is / al his ioye and appetit Line 1680 To been hym self / the grete hertes bane ffor after Mars / he serueth now dyane ¶ Cleer was the day / as I haue toold er this And Theseus / with alle ioye and blis Line 1684 With his ypolita / the faire queene And Emelye / clothed al in grene On huntyng be they riden roially And to the groue / that stood ful faste by Line 1688 In which ther was an hert as men hym tolde Duc Theseus / the streighte wey hath holde And to the launde / he rideth hym ful right/ ffor thider was the hert wont haue his flight Line 1692 And ouer a brook / and so forth in his weye This duc . wol han a cours at hym or tweye With houndes / swiche as hym list comaunde ¶ And whan this duc was come vn to the launde Line 1696 Vnder the sonne he looketh / and anon He was war / of Arcite and Palamon That foughten breme / as it were bores two The brighte swerdes / wenten to and fro Line 1700 So hidously / that with the leeste strook It semed / as it wolde fille an ook But what they were / no thyng he ne woot This duc his courser / with his spores smoot Line 1704 And at a stert he was bitwix hem two And pulled out a swerd / and cride hoo Namoore / vp on peyne of lesynge of youre heed By myghty Mars / he shal anon be deed Line 1708 That smyteth any strook . that I may seen [folio 23a] But telleth me / what mystiers men ye been That been so hardy / for to fighten heere With outen Iuge / or oother Officere Line 1712

Line 1712 As it were / in a lystes roially ¶ This Palamon / answerde hastily And seyde / sire / what nedeth wordes mo We haue / the deeth / disserued bothe two Line 1716 Two woful wrecches been we / two caytyues That been encombred / of oure owene lyues And as thou art a rightful lord and Iuge Ne yeue vs / neither mercy ne refuge Line 1720 But sle me first for seinte charitee But sle my felawe eek as wel as me Or sle hym first . for though thow knowest it lite This is thy mortal foo / this is Arcite Line 1724 That fro thy lond / is banysshed on his heed ffor which / he hath deserued to be deed ffor this is he / þat cam vn to thy gate And seyde / þat he highte Philostrate Line 1728 Thus hath he iaped thee / ful many a yer And thou hast maked hym thy chief Squier And this is he / that loueth Emelye ffor sith the day is come / þat I shal dye Line 1732 I make pleynly / my confession That I am / thilke woful Palamon That hath / thy prison broken wikkedly I am thy mortal foo / and it am I Line 1736 That loueth so hoote / Emelye the brighte That I wol dye / present in hir sighte Therfore I axe deeth / and my Iuwise But sle my felawe / in the same wise Line 1740 ffor bothe / han we deserued to be slayn ¶ This worthy duc answerde anon agayn And seyde / this is a short conclusion Youre owene mouth / by youre confession Line 1744 Hath dampned yow / and I wol it recorde It nedeth noght / to pyne yow with the corde Ye shal be deed / by myghty Mars the rede ¶ The queene anon / for verray wommanhede Line 1748

Line 1748 Gan for to wepe / and so dide Emelye And alle the ladyes / in the compaignye Greet pitee was it as it thoughte hem alle That euere / swich a chaunce sholde falle Line 1752 ffor gentil men they were / of greet estaat And no thyng but for loue was this debaat And saugh hir blody woundes / wyde and soore And alle crieden / bothe lasse and moore Line 1756 Haue mercy Lord / vp on vs wommen alle [folio 23b] And on hir bare knees / adoun they falle And wolde haue kist his feet ther as he stood Til at the laste / aslaked was his mood Line 1760 ffor pitee / renneth soone in gentil herte And though / he first for Ire quook and sterte He hath considered / shortly in a clause The trespas of hem bothe / and eek the cause Line 1764 And al though þat his Ire / hir gilt accused Yet in his reson / he hem bothe excused And thus / he thoghte wel þat euery man Wol helpe hym self in loue / if that he kan Line 1768 And eek deliuere hym self / out of prison And eek his herte hadde compassion Of wommen / for they wepen euere in oon And / in his gentil herte / he thoughte anon Line 1772 And softe vn to hym self / he seyde fy s Vp on a lord / that wol haue no mercy [¶ Notate domini.] But been a leon / bothe in word and dede To hem / þat been in repentance and drede Line 1776 As wel / as to a proud despitous man That wol maynteyne / that he first bigan That lord / hath litel of discrecion That in swich cas / kan no diuision Line 1780 But weyeth / pride and humblesse after oon And shortly / whan his Ire / is thus agoon He gan to looken vp / with eyen lighte And spak thise same wordes / al on highte Line 1784

Line 1784 ¶ The god of loue / A benedicite How myghty / and how greet a lord is he Ayeyns his myght ther gayneth none obstacles He may be cleped a god / for hise myracles Line 1788 ffor he kan maken / at his owene gyse Of euerich herte / as þat hym list diuyse Lo heere this Arcite / and this Palamon That quitly weren / out of my prison Line 1792 And myghte / han lyued in Thebes roially And witen / I am hir mortal enemy And þat hir deth / lith in my myght also And yet hath loue / maugree hir eyen two Line 1796 [Y-]Broght hem hyder / bothe for to dye Now looketh / is nat that an heigh folye ¶ Who may [nat] been a fole / but if he loue Bihoold / for goddes sake þat sit aboue Line 1800 Se how they blede / be they noght wel arrayed Thus hath hir lord / the god of loue ypayed Hir wages / and hir fees / for hir seruyse And yet they wenen / for to been ful wyse Line 1804 That seruen loue / for aught that may bifalle [folio 24a] But this is yet the beste game of alle That she / for whom they han this Iolitee Kan hem ther fore / as muche thank / as me Line 1808 She woot namoore / of al this hoote fare By god / than woot a Cokkow of an hare But all moot ben assayed / hoot and coold A man moot ben a fool / or yong or oold Line 1812 I woot it by my self / ful yore agon ffor in my tyme / a seruant was I oon And therfore / syn I knowe of loues peyne And woot hou soore / it kan a man distreyne Line 1816 As he / þat hath / ben caught ofte in his laas I yow foryeue / al hoolly this trespaas At requeste of the queene / þat kneleth heere And eek of Emelye / my suster deere Line 1820

Line 1820 And ye shul bothe / anon vn to me swere That neuere mo / ye shal my contree dere Ne make werre vp on me nyght ne day But been my freendes / in al that ye may Line 1824 I yow foryeue / this trespas euery deel And they him sworen / his axyng faire and weel And hym of lordshipe / and of mercy preyde And he hem graunteth grace / and thus he seyde Line 1828

TO speke / of roial lynage and richesse Though þat she were a queene or a princesse Ech of you bothe / is worthy doutelees To wedden whan tyme is doutelees Line 1832 I speke / as for my suster Emelye ffor whom ye haue / this strif and Ialousye Ye woot your self she may nat wedden two Atones / though ye fighten eueremo Line 1836 That oon of you / al be hym looth or lief/ He moot[e] pipen / in an yuy leef This is to seyn / she may nat now han bothe Al be ye neuer so Ialouse / ne so wrothe Line 1840 And for thy / I yow putte in this degree That ech of yow / shal haue his destynee As hym is shape / and herkneth in what wyse Lo heere your ende / of that I shal deuyse Line 1844

My wyl is this / for plat conclusion With outen / any repplicacion If that you liketh / take it for the beste That euerich of you / shal goon where hym leste Line 1848 ffrely / with outen raunson / or daunger And this day fifty wykes / fer ne ner Euerich of you / shal brynge an hundred knyghtes Armed for lystes / vp at alle rightes Line 1852 ¶ Al redy / to darreyne hire by bataille [folio 24b] And this bihote I yow / with outen faille Vp on my trouthe / and as I am a knyght That wheither of yow bothe þat hath myght Line 1856

Line 1856 This is to seyn / that wheither he or thow May with his hundred / as I spak of now Sleen his contrarie / or out of lystes dryue Thanne shal I yeue / Emelya to wyue Line 1860 To whom þat ffortune / yeueth so fair a grace Tho lystes / shal I maken in this place And god so wisly / on my soule rewe As I shal euene Iuge been and trewe Line 1864 Ye shul noon oother ende / with me maken That oon of yow / ne shal be deed or taken And if yow thynketh / this is weel ysayd Seyeth youre auys / and holdeth you apayd Line 1868 This is youre ende / and youre conclusion ¶ Who looketh lightly now / but Palamon Who spryngeth vp for ioye / but Arcite Who kouthe telle / or who kouthe endite Line 1872 The ioye / þat is maked in the place Whan Theseus / hath doon so fair a grace But doun on knees / wente every maner wight And thonken hym / with al hir herte and myght Line 1876 And namely the Thebans often sithe And thus with good hope / and with herte blithe They taken hir leue / and homward gonne they ride To Thebes / with hise olde walles wyde Line 1880

¶ Explicit secunda pars