The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales

Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400., Furnivall, Frederick James, 1825-1910.

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GROUP A. FRAGMENT I.

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Page 26

Here bigynneth the knyghtes tale.

¶ Iamque domos patria Scithice post aspera gentis prelia laurigero.

Whilom / as olde stories tellen vs

Ther was a duc þat highte Theseus

860

Of Atthenes / he was lord and gouernour

And in his tyme / swich a conquerour

That gretter was ther noon vnder the sonne

fful many a riche contree / hadde he wonne

864

What with his wysdom / and his chiualrye

He conquered / al the regne of femenye

That whilom / was ycleped Scithia [folio 13a]

And wedded / the queene ypolita

868

And broghte hire hom with hym / in his contree

With muchel glorie / and greet solempnitee

And eek / hir yonge suster Emelye

And thus with victorie / and with melodye

872

Lete I this noble duc to Atthenes ryde

And al his hoost. in armes hym bisyde

¶ And certes / if it nere to long to heere

I wolde haue toold / fully the manere

876

How / wonnen was the regne of ffemenye

By Theseus / and by his Chiualrye

And of the grete bataille / for the nones

Bitwixen Atthenes / and Amazones

880

And how assegeged was ypolita

The faire hardy queene of Scithia

And of the feste / þat was at hir weddynge

And of the tempest at hir hom comynge

884

But al that thyng / I moot as now forbere

I haue god woot / a large feeld to ere

And wayke / been the oxen in my plogh

The remenant of the tale / is long ynogh

888

I wol nat letten eek / noon of this route Page 27

Lat euery felawe / telle his tale aboute

And lat se now / who shal the souper Wynne

And ther I lefte / I wol ayein bigynne*. [[A break in the MS. with]]

Incipit narracio.

This duc / of Whom I make mencion

Whanne he was come / almoost to the town

In al his wele / and in his mooste pryde

He was war / as he caste his eye asyde

896

Wher þat ther kneled / in the heighe weye

A compaignye of ladyes / tweye and tweye

Ech after oother / clad in clothes blake

But swich a cry and swich a wo they make

900

That in this world / nys creature lyuynge

That herde / swich another waymentynge

And of this cry / they nolde neuere stenten [folio 13b]

Til they / the reynes of his brydel henten

904

¶ What folk been ye / þat at myn hom comynge

Perturben so my feste / with cryynge

Quod Theseus / haue ye so greet envie

Of myn honour / that thus compleyne and crye

908

Or who hath yow mysboden / or offended

And telleth me / if it may been amended

And why þat ye / been clothed thus in blak/

The eldeste lady / of hem alle spak

912

Whan she hadde swowned / with a deedly cheere

That it was routhe / for to seen and heere

¶ She seyde / lord / to whom ffortune hath yiuen

Victorie / and as a Conquerour to lyuen

916

Noght greueth vs youre glorie / and youre honour

But we biseken / mercy and socour

Haue mercy on oure wo / and oure distresse

Som drope of pitee / thurgh thy gentillesse

920

Vp on vs wrecched wommen / lat thow falle

ffor certes lord / ther is noon of vs alle

That she ne hath been / a duchesse / or a queene

Now be we caytyues / as it is wel seene

924

Thanked be ffortune / and hir false wheel Page 28

That noon estaat assureth to been weel

Now certes lord / to abiden youre presence

Heere in this temple / of the goddesse clemence

928

We haue been waytynge / al this fourtenyght

Now help vs lord / syth it is in thy myght

¶ I wrecche / which þat wepe and waille thus

Was whilom wyf / to kyng Cappaneus

932

That starf at Thebes / cursed be the day

And alle we / þat been in this array

And maken / al this lamentacioun

We losten alle oure housbondes / at that town

936

Whil þat the sege / ther aboute lay

And yet now / the olde Creon weylaway

That lord is now / of Thebes the Citee

ffulfild of Ire / and of Iniquitee

940

He for despit / and for his tyrannye

To doon / the dede bodyes vileynye

Of alle oure lordes / whiche þat been slawe [folio 14a]

Hath alle the bodyes / on an heepe ydrawe

944

And wol nat suffren hem / by noon assent

Neyther to been yburyed / nor ybrent

But maketh houndes / ete hem in despit

And with that word / with outen moore respit

948

They fillen gruf and cryden pitously

Haue / on vs wrecched wommen / som mercy

And lat oure sorwe / synken in thyn herte

¶ This gentil duc doun from his courser sterte

952

With herte pitous / whan he herde hem speke

Hym thoughte / þat his herte wolde breke

Whan he saugh hem / so pitous / and so maat

That whilom weren / of so greet estaat

956

And in hise armes / he hem alle vp hente

And hem conforteth / in ful good entente

And swoor his ooth / as he was trewe knyght

He wolde doon / so ferforthly his myght

960

Vp on the tiraunt Creon / hem to wreke Page 29

That al the peple of Grece / sholde speke

How Creon was / of Theseus yserued

As he þat hadde his deeth / ful wel disserued

964

And right anoon / with outen moore abood

His baner he desplayeth / and forth rood

To Thebesward / and al his oost bisyde

No neer Atthenes / wolde he go ne ryde

968

Ne take his ese / fully half a day

But onward in his wey / that nyght he lay

And sente anoon / ypolita the queene

And Emelye / hir yonge suster sheene

972

Vn to the town of Atthenes / to dwelle

And forth he ryt ther nys namoore to telle

¶ The rede statue of Mars / with spere and targe

So shyneth / in his white Baner large

976

That alle the feeldes / glitren vp and doun

And by his Baner / born was his penoun

Of gold ful ryche / in which ther was ybete

The Mynotaur / which þat he wan in Crete

980

¶ Thus ryt this duc. thus ryt this conquerour

And in his oost / of Chiualrye the flour

Til þat he cam to Thebes / and alighte [folio 14b]

ffaire in a feeld / ther as he thoghte fighte

984

¶ But shortly / for to speken of this thyng

With Creon / which þat was of Thebes kyng

He faught and slow hym manly / as a knyght

In pleyn bataille / and putte the folk to flyght

988

And by assaut he wan the Citee after

And rente adoun / bothe wal / and sparre / and rafter

And to the ladyes / he restored agayn

The bones / of hir freendes / þat were slayn

992

To doon obsequies / as was tho the gyse

But it weere al to long for to deuyse

The grete clamour / and the waymentynge

That the ladyes made / at the brennynge

996

Of the bodies / and the grete honour Page 30

That Theseus / the noble Conquerour

Dooth to the ladys / whan they from hym wente

But shortly / for to telle is myn entente

1000

¶ Whan þat this worthy duc this Theseus

Hath Creon slayn / and wonne Thebes thus

Stille in that feeld / he took al nyght his reste

And dide with al the / contree / as hym leste

1004

¶ To ransake in the taas / of bodies dede

Hem for to strepe / of harneys / and of wede

The pilours / diden bisynesse / and cure

After the bataille / and disconfiture

1008

And so bifel / in the taas they founde

Thurgh girt with many a greuous blody wownde

Two yonge knyghtes / liggynge by and by

Bothe in oon armes / wroght ful richely

1012

Of whiche two / Arcita highte that oon

And that oother knyght highte Palamon

Nat fully quyk / ne fully deed they weere

But by hir Cote armures / and by hir geere

1016

The heraudes / knewe hem best in special

As they þat weren / of the blood roial

Of Thebes / and of sustren two yborn

Out of the taas / the pilours han hem torn

1020

And han hem caryed / softe vn to the tente

Of Theseus / and he ful soone hem sente

To Atthenes / to dwellen in prison [folio 15a]

Perpetuelly / he nolde no raunson

1024

¶ And whan this worthy duc / hath thus ydoon

He took his oost / and hom he ryt anoon

With laurer corouned / as a conquerour

And there he lyueth / in ioye / and in honour

1028

Terme of his lyf / what nedeth wordes mo

And in a tour / in angwissh and in wo

Dwellen this Palamon / and eek Arcite

ffor euere moore / ther may no gold hem quyte

1032

¶ This passeth yeer by yeer / and day by day Page 31

Til it fil ones / in a morwe of May

That Emelye / þat fairer was to seene

Than is the lilie / vp on his stalke greene

1036

And fressher than the May / with floures newe

ffor with the Rose colour stroof hir hewe

I noot which was / the fairer of hem two

Er it were day / as was hir wone to do

1040

She was arysen / and al redy dight

ffor May wol haue / no slogardye a nyght

The seson pryketh / euery gentil herte

And maketh it out of his sleep to sterte

1044

And seith arys / and do thyn obseruance

This maketh Emelye / haue remembrance

To doon honour to May / and for to ryse

Yclothed was she fressh / for to deuyse

1048

Hir yelow heer / was broyded in a tresse

Bihynde hir bak a yerde long I gesse

And in the gardyn / at the sonne vp riste

She walketh vp and doun / and as hir liste

1052

She gadreth floures / party white and rede

To make a subtil gerland for hir hede

And as an Aungel / heuenysshly she soong

¶ The grete tour / þat was so thikke and strong

1056

Which of the Castel / was the chief dongeon

Ther as the knyghtes / weren in prison

Of whiche I tolde yow / and tellen shal

Was euene ioynant / to the gardyn wal

1060

Ther as this Emelye / hadde hir pleyyng

Bright was the sonne / and cleer / in that mornyng

And Palamon / this woful prisoner [folio 15b]

As was his wone / by leue of his Gailler

1064

Was risen / and romed in a chambre an heigh

In which / he al the noble Citee seigh

And eek the gardyn / ful of braunches greene

Ther as / the fresshe Emelye the sheene

1068

Was in hir walk / and romed vp and down Page 32

This sorweful prisoner / this Palamon

Gooth in the chambre / romyng to and fro

And to hym self / compleynyng of his wo

1072

That he was born / ful ofte he seyde allas

And so bifel / by auenture / or cas

That thurgh a wyndow / thikke of many a barre

Of Iren greet and square as any sparre

1076

He caste his eye / vp on Emelya

And ther with al he bleynte / and cryde .A.

As thogh / he stongen weere / vn to the herte

¶ And with that cry / Arcite anoon vp sterte

1080

And seyde cosyn myn / what eyleth thee

That art so pale / and deedly on to see

Why cridestow / who hath thee doon offence

ffor goddes loue / tak al in pacience

1084

Oure prison / for it may noon oother be

ffortune hath yeuen vs this aduersitee

Som wikked aspect or disposicion

Of Saturne / by som constellacion

1088

Hath yeuen vs this / al thogh we hadde it sworn

So stood the heuene / whan þat we were born

We mote endure it this is the short and playn

This Palamon answerde / and seyde agayn

1092

¶ Cosyn for sothe / of this opinion

Thow hast a vayn ymaginacion

This prison / caused me noght to crye

But I was hurt right now / thurgh out myn Iye

1096

In to myn herte / that wol my bane be

The fairnesse / of that lady þat I se

Yond in the gardyn / romen to and fro

Is cause / of al my cryyng and my wo

1100

I noot wher she be womman / or goddesse

But Venus / is it soothly as I gesse

And ther with al / on knees down he fil [folio 16a]

And seyde / Venus if it be thy wil

1104

Yow in this gardyn / thus to transfigure Page 33

Bifore me / sorweful wrecched creature

Out of this prison / help þat we may scape

And if so be / my destynee be shape

1108

By eterne word / to dyen in prison

Of oure lynage / haue som compassion

That is so lowe ybroght by tirannye

¶ And with that word / Arcite gan espye

1112

Where as this lady / romed to and fro

And with that sighte / hir beautee hurte hym so

That if þat Palamon / was wounded soore

Arcite is hurt. as muche as he / or moore

1116

And with a syk /. he seyde pitously

The fresshe beautee / sleeth me sodeynly

Of hire / þat rometh in the yonder place

And but I haue / hir mercy / and hir grace

1120

That I may seen hire / at the leeste weye

I nam but deed / ther nys namoore to seye

¶ This Palamon / whan he tho wordes herde

Despitously he loked / and answerde

1124

Wheither seistow this / in ernest or in pley

¶ Nay quod Arcite / in ernest by my fey

God help me so / me list ful yuele pleye

This Palamon / gan knytte his browes tweye

1128

¶ It were to thee quod he / no greet honour

ffor to be fals / ne for to be traytour

To me / that am thy cosyn and thy brother

Ysworn ful depe / and ech of vs til oother

1132

That neuere / for to dyen in the peyne

Til þat the deeth / departe shal vs tweyne

Neither of vs / in loue to hyndre oother

Ne in noon oother caas / my leeue brother

1136

But þat thow sholdest trewely forthre me

In euery caas / and I shal forthren thee

This was thyn ooth / as myn also certeyn

I woot right wel / thow darst it nat withseyn

1140

Thus artow of my conseil / out of doute Page 34

And now / thow woldest falsly been aboute

To loue my lady / whom I loue and serue [folio 16b]

And euere shal / til þat myn herte sterue

1144

Now certes false Arcite / thow shalt nat so

I loued hire first and tolde thee my wo

As to my conseil / and my brother sworn

To forthre me / as I haue told biforn

1148

ffor which / thow art ybounden / as a knyght

To helpe me / if it laye in thy myght

Or ellis artow fals / I dar wel sayn

This Arcite / ful proudly spak agayn

1152

¶ Thow shalt quod he / be rather fals than I.

And thow art fals / I telle thee outrely

ffor paramour / I loued hire first er thow

What wiltow seyn / thow woost nat yet now

1156

Wheither she be a womman / or goddesse

Thyn is / affeccion of holynesse

And myn is loue / as to a creature

ffor which / I tolde thee myn auenture

1160

As to my cosyn / and my brother sworn

I pose / that thow louedest hire biforn

Wostow nat wel / the olde clerkes sawe

That who shal / yeue a louere any lawe //*. [Quis legem det amantibus.]

Loue is a gretter lawe / by my pan

Than may be yeue / to any erthely man

And therfore / posityf lawe / and swich decree

Is broke al day for loue / in ech degree

1168

A man moot nedes loue / maugree his heed

He may nat fleen it / thogh he sholde be deed

Al be she mayde / wydwe / or ellis wyf

And eek it is nat likly / al thy lyf

1172

To stonden in hir grace / namoore shal .I.

ffor wel thow woost thy self verraily

That thow and I / been dampned to prison

Perpetuelly / vs gayneth no raunson

1176

We stryue / as dide the houndes for the boon Page 35

They foghte alday / and yet hir part was noon

Ther cam a kyte / whil þat they were so wrothe

That bar awey the boon / bitwix hem bothe

1180

And therfore / at the kynges court my brother

Ech man for hym self / ther is noon oother

Loue if thee lest. for I loue / and ay shal [folio 17a]

And soothly / leue brother this is al

1184

Heere in this prison / moote we endure

And euerich of vs / take his auenture

¶ Greet was the stryf / and long bitwix hem tweye

If þat I hadde leyser for to seye

1188

But to theffect / it happed on a day

To telle it yow / as shortly as I may

A worthy duc. þat highte Parotheus

That felawe was / vn to duc Theseus

1192

Syn thilke day / þat they were children lyte

Was come to Atthenes / his felawe to visite

And for to pleye / as he was wont to do

ffor in this world / he loued no man so

1196

And he loued hym / as tendrely agayn

So wel they loued / as olde bookes sayn

That whan þat oon was deed / soothly to telle

His felawe wente / and soghte hym down in helle

1200

But of that storie / list me noght to write

Duc Perotheus / loued wel Arcite

And hadde hym knowe at Thebes / yeer oy yere

And finally / at requeste and prayere

1204

Of Perotheus / with outen any raunson

Duc Theseus / hym leet out of prison

ffrely to goon / wher þat hym liste ouer al

In swich a gyse / as I yow tellen shal

1208

This was the forward / pleynly for tendite

Bitwixe Theseus / and hym Arcite

That if so weere þat Arcite weere yfounde

Euere in his lyf / by day / or nyght or stounde

1212

In any contree / of this Theseus Page 36

And he weere caught. it was acorded thus

That with a swerd / he sholde lese his heed

Ther nas noon oother / remedye ne reed

1216

But taketh his leue / and homward he hym spedde

Lat hym be war / his nekke lyth to wedde

¶ How greet a sorwe / suffreth now Arcite

The deeth he feeleth / thurgh his herte smyte

1220

He wepeth / wayleth / cryeth pitously

To sleen hym self / he wayteth pryuely

He seyde allas / the day þat I was born [folio 17b]

Now is my prison / worse than biforn

1224

Now is me shape / eternally to dwelle

Noght in purgatorie / but in helle

Allas / þat euere knew I Parotheus

ffor ellis / hadde I dwelled with Theseus

1228

Yfettred in his prison eueremo

Thanne hadde I been in blisse / and nat in wo

Oonly the sighte of hire / whom þat I serue

Thogh þat I neuere / hir grace may disserue

1232

Wolde haue suffised / right ynogh for me

¶ O deere cosyn / Palamon / quod he

Thyn is the victorie / of this auenture

fful blisfully in prison maystow dure

1236

In prison? / nay certes / but in paradys

Wel hath ffortune / yturned thee / the dys

That hast the sighte of hire / and I thabsence

ffor possible is / syn thow hast hire presence

1240

And art a knyght a worthy and an able

That by som caas / syn ffortune is chaungeable

Thow mayst to thy desir / som tyme atteyne

But I / that am exiled and bareyne

1244

Of alle grace / and in so greet despeyr

That ther nys Erthe / water / fyr / ne Eyr

Ne creature / that of hem maked is

That may me helpe / or do confort in this

1248

Wel oghte I sterue / in wanhope / and distresse Page 37

ffarwel my lyf / my lust and my gladnesse

¶ Allas why pleynen folk so / in commune

On purueiance of god / or of ffortune

1252

That yeueth hem ful ofte / in many a gyse

Wel bettre / than they kan hem self deuyse

¶ Som man desireth / for to haue richesse

That cause is ofte / of his moerdre / or gret siknesse

1256

And som man wolde / out of his prison fayn

That in his hous / is of his meynee slayn

Infinite harmes / been in this matere

We woot nat what thyng þat we prayen heere

1260

We fare as he / þat dronke is as a Mous

A dronke man woot wel / he hath an hous

But he noot / which the righte wey is thider [folio 18a]

And to a dronke man / the wey is slider

1264

And certes / in this world / so faren we

We seken faste / after felicitee

But we goon wrong ful ofte trewely

Thus may we seyn alle / and nameliche .I.

1268

That wende / and hadde a greet opinion

That if I myghte / scapen fro prison

Thanne hadde I been in ioye / and parfit heele

Ther now / I am exiled fro my wele

1272

Syn þat / I may nat seen yow Emelie

I nam but deed / ther nys no remedie

¶ Vp on that oother syde Palamon

Whan þat he wiste / Arcite was agon

1276

Swich sorwe he maketh / þat the grete tour

Resowneth / of his yowlyng and clamour

The pure fettres / of his shynes grete

Were / of his bittre salte teeris wete

1280

Allas quod he / Arcita cosyn myn

Of al oure stryf / god woot the fruyt is thyn

Thow walkest now / in Thebes at thy large

And of my wo / thow yeuest litel charge

1284

Thow maystt syn thow hast wisdom / and manhede Page 38

Assemblen / al the folk of oure kynrede

And make a werre / so sharp / on this Citee

That by som auenture / or som tretee

1288

Thow mayst haue hire / to lady and to wyf

ffor whom / þat I moste nedes lese my lyf

ffor as by wey / of possibilitee

Sith thow art at thy large / of prison free

1292

And art a lord / greet is thyn auantage

Moore than is myn / that sterue here in a cage

ffor I moot wepe / and waille whil I lyue

With al the wo / þat prison may me yeue

1296

And eek with peyne / þat loue me yeueth also

That doubleth / al my torment and my wo

Ther with / the fyr of Ialousie vp sterte

With Inne his brest and hente hym by the herte

1300

So woodly / þat he lyk was to byholde

The Boxtree / or the Asshen dede / and colde

¶ Thanne seyde he / o crewel goddes / þat gouerne [folio 18b]

This world / with byndyng of youre word eterne

1304

And writen / in the table of Atthamant

Youre parlement /. and youre eterne grant

What is man kynde / moore vn to yow holde

Than is the sheepe / þat rowketh in the folde

1308

ffor slayn is man / right as another beest

And dwelleth eek in prison and arrest

And hath siknesse / and greet aduersitee

And ofte tymes / giltlees pardee

1312

¶ What gouernance / is in this prescience

That giltlees / tormenteth Innocence

And yet encreeceth this / al my penance

That man is bounden / to his obseruance

1316

ffor goddes sake / to letten of his wille

Ther as a beest may al his lust fulfille

And whan a beest is deed / it hath no peyne

But man after his deeth / moot wepe and pleyne

1320

Thogh in this world / he haue care and wo Page 39

With outen doute / it moot stonden so

The answere of this / lete I to diuynys

But wel I woot þat in this world / greet pyne is

1324

¶ Allas / I se a serpent or a theef

That many a trewe man / hath doon mescheef

Goon at his large / and where hym lust may turne

But I moot been in prison / thurgh Saturne

1328

And eek thurgh Juno / Ialous / and eek wood

That hath destroyed / wel neigh al the blood

Of Thebes / with his waste walles wyde

And Venus / sleeth me / on that oother syde

1332

ffor Ialousie / and feere / of hym Arcite

¶ Now wol I stynte / of Palamon alite

And lete hym / in his prison stille dwelle

And of Arcita / forth I wol yow telle

1336

¶ The Somer / and the nyghtes longe

Encreecen / double wise / the peynes stronge

Bothe of the louere / and the prisoner

I noot which hath / the sorwefuller myster

1340

ffor soothly for to seyn / this Palamon

Perpetuelly / is dampned to prison

In cheynes / and in fettres / to been deed [folio 19a]

And Arcite / is exiled / vp on his heed

1344

ffor euere mo / as out of that contree

Ne neueremo / ne shal his lady see

¶ Yow loueris / axe I now / this question

Who hath the worse / Arcite / or Palamon

1348

That oon may seen his lady / day by day

But in prison / moot he dwelle alwey

That oother where hym list may ride or go

But seen his lady / shal he neuere mo

1352

Now demeth as yow list ye þat kan

ffor I wol telle forth / as .I. bigan Page 40

¶ Whan þat Arcite / to Thebes comen was

fful ofte a day / he swelte / and seyde allas

1356

ffor seen his lady / shal he neuere mo

And shortly / to concluden al his wo

So muchel sorwe / hadde neuere creature

That is or shal / whil þat the world may dure

1360

¶ His sleepe / his mete / his drynke / is hym biraft

That leene he weex / and drye as is a shaft

Hise eyen holwe / and grisly to biholde

His hewe falow / and pale as asshen colde

1364

And solitarie he was / and euere alloone

And waillynge al the nyght. makynge his moone

And if he herde / soong or Instrument

Thanne wolde he wepe / he myghte nat be stent

1368

So feble eek were his spiritz / and so lowe

And chaunged so / þat no man koude knowe

His speche / nor his voys / thogh men it herde

And in his gere / for al the world he ferde

1372

Nat oonly / lyk the loueris maladye

Of Hereos / but rather lyk Manye*. [Mania]

Engendred / of humour malencolyk

Biforn his Celle fantastyk

1376

And shortly / turned was / al vp so down

Bothe habit and eek disposicioun

Of hym / this woful louere daun Arcite

¶ What sholde I al day / of his wo endite

1380

Whanne he endured hadde / a yeer / or two

This cruel torment and this peyne and wo

At Thebes in his contree / as I seyde [folio 19b]

Vp on a nyght in sleep / as he hym leyde

1384

Hym thoughte / how þat the wynged god Mercurye

Biforn hym stood / and bad hym to be murye

His slepy yerde / in honde he bar vp righte

An hat he wered / vp on his herys brighte Page 41

1388

Arrayed was this god / as he took keepe

As he was / whan þat Argus took his sleepe

And seyde hym thus / to Atthenes shaltow wende

Ther is thee shapen / of thy wo an ende

1392

¶ And with that word / Arcite wook and sterte

Now trewely / how sore þat me smerte

Quod he / to Atthenes right now wol I fare

Ne for the drede of deeth / shal I nat spare

1396

To se my lady / þat I loue and serue

In hir presence / I recche nat to sterue

¶ And with that word / he caughte a greet Mirour

And saugh / þat chaunged was al his colour

1400

And saugh his visage / al in another kynde

And right anoon / it ran hym in his mynde

That sith his face / was so disfigured

Of maladie / the which he hadde endured

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 anoon / he chaunged his array

1408

And cladde hym / as a poure laborer

And al allone / saue oonly a Squyer

That knew his pryuetee / and al his cas

Which was disgised / pourely as he was

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

1416

¶ And shortly / of this matere / for to seyn

He fil in office / with a Chambreleyn

The which / þat dwellyng was with Emelye

ffor he was wys / and koude soone espye

1420

Of euery seruant which þat serueth here

Wel koude he / hewen wode / and water bere

ffor he was yong. and myghty for the nones [folio 20a]

And ther to / he was strong and byg of bones Page 42

1424

To doon / what any wight kan hym deuyse

A yeer / or two / he was in this seruyse

Page of the chambre / of Emelie the brighte

And Philostrate / he seyde þat he highte

1428

¶ But half so wel biloued a man / as he

Ne was ther neuere in Court of his degree

He was so gentil / of condicion

That thurgh out al the Court was his renon

1432

They seiden / þat it were a charitee

That Theseus / wolde enhauncen his degree

And putten hym / in worshipful seruyse

Ther as he myghte / his vertu exercise

1436

And thus with Inne a while / his name is spronge

Bothe of his dedes / and his goode tonge

That Theseus / hath taken hym so ner

That of his chambre / he made hym a Squier

1440

And gaf hym gold / to mayntene his degree

And eek men broghte hym / out of his contree

ffro yeer to yeer / ful pryuely his rente

But honestly / and sleighly / he it spente

1444

That no man wondred / how þat he it hadde

And thre yeer in this wise / his lyf he ladde

And bar hym so / in pees / and ek in werre

Ther was no man / that Theseus hath derre

1448

And in this blisse / lete I now Arcite

And speke I wole / of Palamon alite

¶ In derknesse / and horrible / and strong prison

This seuen yeer / hath seten Palamon

1452

fforpyned / what for wo / and for distresse

Who feeleth / double soor / and heuynesse

But Palamon / that loue destreyneth so

That wood out of his wit he gooth for wo

1456

And eek ther to / he is a prisoner

Perpetuelly / nat oonly for a yer

Who koude ryme / in englissh proprely

His martirdom / for sothe it am noght I Page 43

1460

Ther fore I passe / as lightly / as I may

¶ It fil / þat / in that Seuenthe yeer of May

The thridde nyght. as olde bokes seyn [folio 20b]

That al this storie / tellen moore pleyn

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

1468

And fleeth the Citee / faste as he may go

ffor he hadde yeue / his Gailler drynke so

Of a Clarree / maad of certeyn wyn

1471

With Nercotikes / and opye / of Thebes fyn //*. [Opium Thebaicum.]

That al that nyght. thogh þat men wolde hym shake

The Gailler sleepe / he myghte noght awake

¶ And thus he fleeth / as faste as euere he may

The nyght was short and faste by the day

1476

That nedes cost he moste hym seluen hyde

And til a groue / faste ther bisyde

With dreedful foot thanne stalketh Palamon

ffor shortly / this was his opynyon

1480

That in that groue / he wolde hym hyde al day

And in the nyght thanne wolde he take his way

To Thebesward / his freendes for to preye

On Theseus / to helpe hym to werreye

1484

And shortly / outher he wolde lese his lyf

Or wynnen Emelie / vn to his wyf

This is theffect and his entente pleyn

¶ Now wol I turne / to Arcite ageyn

1488

That litel wiste / how neigh þat was his care

Til þat ffortune / hadde broght hym / in the snare

¶ The bisy larke / messager of day

Salueth in hir song the morwe gray

1492

And firy Phebus / riseth vp so brighte

That al the Orient. laugheth of the lighte

And with his stremes / dryeth in the greues

The siluer dropes / hangynge on the leues Page 44

1496

And Arcita / that in the Court roial

With Theseus / Squyer principal

Is risen / and looketh on the murye day

And for to doon / his obseruance to May

1500

Remembrynge / on the point of his desir

He on a Courser / startlynge as the fir

Is riden in to the feldes / hym to pleye [folio 21a]

Out of the Court. were it a myle / or tweye

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

1508

And loude he soong. ayein the sonne shene

May / with alle thy floures / and thy grene

Wel come be thow / faire fresshe May

In hope / þat I som grene gete may

1512

And from his courser / with a lusty herte

In to the groue / ful hastily he sterte

And in a path / he rometh vp and doun

Ther as by auenture / this Palamon

1516

Was in a bussh / þat no man myghte hym se

ffor soore afered / of his deeth was he

No thyng knew he / þat it was Arcite

God woot he wolde haue trowed it ful lite

1520

But sooth is seyd / go sithen many yeris

That feeld hath eyen / and the wode hath erys

It is ful fair / a man to bere hym euene

ffor alday meeten men / at vnset steuene

1524

fful litel woot Arcite / of his felawe,

That was so neigh / to herknen al his sawe

ffor in the bussh / he sitteth now ful stille

¶ Whan þat Arcite / hadde romed al his fille

1528

And songen al the roundel lustily

In to a studie / he fil sodeynly

As doon thise louerys / in hir queynte gerys

Now in the crope / now down in the brerys Page 45

1532

Now vp / now down / as boket in a welle

Right as the friday / soothly for to telle

Now it shyneth / now it reyneth faste

Right so / kan gery Venus ouercaste

1536

The hertes of hir folk. right as hir day

Is gerful / right so chaungeth she array

Selde is the friday / al the wike ylike

¶ Whan þat Arcite hadde songe / he gan to syke

1540

And sette hym down / with outen any moore

Allas quod he / that day / þat I was bore

How longe Iuno / thurgh thy crueltee [folio 21b]

Woltow werreyen / Thebes the Citee

1544

Allas / ybroght is to confusion

The blood roial / of Cadme and Amphion

¶ Cadmus / which þat was the firste man

That Thebes bulte / and first bigan

1548

And of the Citee / first was crowned 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

1552

That he þat is / my mortal enemy

I serue hym / as his Squyer pourely

And yet dooth Iuno / me wel moore shame

ffor I dar noght biknowe myn owen name

1556

But ther as I was wont to highte Arcite

Now highte I Philostrate / noght worth a myte

¶ Allas thow felle Mars / allas Juno

Thus hath youre Ire / oure lynage al fordo

1560

Saue oonly me / and wrecchid Palamon

That Theseus / martireth in prison

And ouer al this / to sleen me outrely

Loue hath his firy dart so brennyngly

1564

Ystiked / thurgh my trewe careful herte

That shapen was my deeth / erst than my sherte

Ye sleen me with youre eyen / Emelye

Ye been the cause / wherfore þat .I. dye Page 46

1568

Of al the remenant of myn oother care

Ne sette I noght. the mountaunce of a tare

So þat I koude doon aught. to youre plesaunce

And with that word / he fil down in a traunce

1572

A longe tyme / and afterward he vp sterte

¶ This Palamon / that thoughte / þat thurgh his herte

He felte a coold swerd / sodeynly glyde

ffor Ire he quook. no lenger wolde he byde

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 seyde Arcite / false traytour wikke

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 [folio 22a]

As I ful ofte / haue toold thee her biforn

1584

And hast byiaped here / duc Theseus

And falsly / chaunged hast thy name thus

I wol be deed / or ellis thow shalt dye

Thow shalt noght / loue my lady Emelye

1588

But I wol loue hire oonly / and namo

ffor I am Palamon / thy mortal foo

And thogh þat I / no wepne haue in this place

But out of prison / am astert by grace

1592

I drede noght þat outher thow shalt dye

Or thow ne shalt noght louen Emelye

Chees which thow wolt or thow shalt noght asterte

¶ This Arcite / with ful despitous herte

1596

Whan he hym knew / and hadde his tale herd

As fiers as leon / pulled out his swerd

And seyde thus / by god þat sitteth aboue

Nere it þat thow art syk and wood for loue

1600

And eek þat thow / no wepne hast in this place

Thow sholdest neuere / out of this groue pace

That thow ne sholdest dyen of myn hond

ffor I diffye / the seuretee and the bond Page 47

1604

Which þat thow seist þat I haue maad to thee

What verray fool / thynk wel þat loue is free

And I wol loue hire / maugree al thy myght

¶ But for as muche / as thow art a worthy knyght

1608

And wilnest to darreyne hire by bataille

Haue here my trouthe / tomorwe I nyl nat faille

With outen wityng of any oother wight

That here / I wol be founden / as a knyght

1612

And bryngen harneys / right ynogh for thee

And chees the beste / and leef the worste to me

And mete and drynke / this nyght wol I brynge

Ynogh for thee / and clothes for thy beddynge

1616

And if so be / þat thow 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

1620

And thus they been departed / til amorwe

Whan ech of hem / hadde leyd his feith to borwe

O Cupide / out of alle charitee [folio 22b]

O regne / that wolde no felawe haue to thee

1624

fful sooth is seyd / þat loue ne lordshipe

Wol noght his thankes / haue no felaweshipe

Wel fynden that Arcite and Palamon

¶ Arcite / is riden anoon / vn to the town

1628

And on the morwe / er it were dayes lyght

fful priuely / two harneys hath he dyght

Bothe suffisaunt and mete to darreyne

The bataille in the feeld / bitwix hem tweyne

1632

And on his hors / allone / as he was born

He carieth al this harneys / hym biforn

And in the groue / at tyme and place yset

This Arcite / and this Palamon been met

1636

¶ To chaungen / gan the colour in hir face

Right as the hunterys / in the regne of Trace

That stonden at the gappe / with a spere

Whanne hunted is / the leon or the Bere Page 48

1640

And hereth hym / come russhynge in the greues

And breketh / bothe bowes / and the leues

And thynketh / here cometh my mortal enemy

With oute faille / he moot be deed / or .I.

1644

ffor outher / I moot sleen hym / at the gappe

Or he moot sle me / if þat me myshappe

So ferden they / in chaungyng of hir hewe

As fer / as euerich / oother of hem knewe

1648

¶ Ther nas no good day / ne no saluynge

But streight with outen word / or rehersynge

Euerich of hem / heelp for to armen oother

As frendly / as he weere / his owene brother

1652

And after that / with sharpe speres stronge

They foynen / ech at oother / wonder longe

Thou myghtest wene / þat this Palamon

In his fightynge were a wood leon

1656

And as a crewel Tygre / was Arcite

As wilde boores / gonnen they to smyte

That frothen / whit as foom / for Ire wood

Vp to the Anclees / foghte they in hir blood

1660

And in this wise / I lete hem fightyng dwelle

And forth I wole / of Theseus yow telle

¶ The destynee / Ministre general [folio 23a]

That executeth / in the world ouer al

1664

The purueiance / that god hath seyn biforn

So stroong it is / þat thogh the world hadde sworn

The contrarie of a thyng by ye / or nay

Yet som tyme / it shal fallen on a day

1668

That falleth nat eft / with Inne a thousand yeer

ffor certeinly / oure appetites heer

Be it of werre / or pees / or hate / or loue

Al is this ruled / by the sighte aboue

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 Page 49

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

1680

To been hym self / the grete hertes bane

ffor after Mars / he serueth now Diane

¶ Cleer was the day / as I haue told er this

And Theseus / with alle ioye and blys

1684

With his ypolita / the faire queene

And Emelie / clothed al in greene

On huntyng be they riden roially

And to the groue / that stood ful faste by

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

1692

And ouer a brook / and so forth on his weye

This duc wol han a cours at hym / or tweye

With houndes swiche / as þat hym list comaunde

And whan this duc. was come vn to the launde

1696

Vnder the sonne he looketh / and anon

He was war / of Arcite and Palamon

That foghten breme as it were boles two

The brighte swerdes / wenten to and fro

1700

So hidously / that with the leeste strook

It semed / as it wolde felle an ook

But what they weere / no thyng he ne woot [folio 23b]

This duc his courser / with the spores smoot

1704

And at a stert he was bitwix hem two

And pulled out a swerd / and cryed Hoo

Namoore / vp on peyne / of lesyng of youre heed

By myghty Mars / he shal anon be deed

1708

That smyteth any strook / þat I may seen

But telleth me / what myster men ye been

That been so hardy / for to fighten heer

With outen Iuge / or oother officer Page 50

1712

As it weere in a lystes roially

¶ This Palamon / answerde hastily

And seyde / sire / what nedeth wordes mo

We haue the deeth disserued / bothe two

1716

Two woful wrecches been we / two caytyues

That been encombred / of oure owene lyues

And as thow art a rightful lord and Iuge

Ne yif vs / neither mercy ne refuge

1720

But slee me first. for seinte charitee

But slee my felawe eek / as wel as me

Or slee hym first. for thogh thow knowe it lite

This is thy mortal foo / this is Arcite

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 yate

And seyde / þat he highte Philostrate

1728

Thus hath he iaped thee / ful many a yeer

And thow . hast maked hym / thy chief Squyer

And this is he / þat loueth Emelye

ffor sith the day is come / þat I shal dye

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

1736

That loueth so hoote / Emelye the brighte

That I wol dyen / present in hir sighte

Wherfore I axe deeth / and my Iuwise

But slee my felawe / in the same wise

1740

ffor bothe haue we / deserued to be slayn

¶ This worthy duc answerde anoon agayn

And seyde / this is a short conclusion [folio 24a]

Youre owene mouth / by youre confession

1744

Hath dampned yow / and I wol it recorde

It nedeth noght to pyne yow with the corde

Ye shul be deed / by myghty Mars the rede

¶ The queene anoon / for verray wommanhede Page 51

1748

Gan for to wepe / and so dide Emelye

And alle the ladies / in the compaignye

Greet pitee was it / as it thoughte hem alle

That euere swich a chaunce / sholde falle

1752

ffor gentil men they weere / of greet estaat

And no thyng but for loue / was this debaat

And sawe / hir blody wowndes / wide and soore

And alle cryden / bothe lasse and moore

1756

Haue mercy lord / vp on vs wommen alle

And on hir bare knees / adown they falle

And wolde haue kist his feet ther as he stood

Til at the laste / aslaked was his mood

1760

ffor pitee / renneth soone in gentil herte

And thogh he first for Ire quook and sterte

He hath considred / shorthly in a clause

The trespas of hem bothe / and eek the cause

1764

And al thogh þat his Ire / hir gilt accused

Yet in his reson / he hem bothe excused

¶ As thus / he thoghte wel þat euery man

Wol helpe hym self in loue / if þat he kan

1768

And eek / deliuere hym self / out of prison

And eek / his herte hadde compassion

Of wommen / for they wepten euere in oon

And in his gentil herte / he thoghte anoon

1772

And softe vn to hym / self he seyde fy

Vp on a lord / that wol haue no mercy*. [¶ nota]

But be a leon / bothe in word / and dede

To hem / that been in repentaunce and drede

1776

As wel / as to a proud despitous man

That wol mayntene / that he first bigan

That lord / hath litel of discrecion

That in swich caas / kan no dyuysion

1780

But weyeth pryde / and humblesse / after oon

And shortly / whan his Ire is thus agoon

He gan to loken vp / with eyen lighte [folio 24b]

And spak thise same wordes / al on highte Page 52

1784

¶ The god of loue / a benedicitee

How myghty / and how greet a lord is he

Agayns his myght. ther gayneth none obstacles

He may be clepid a god / for his miracles

1788

ffor he kan maken / at his owene gyse

Of euerich herte / as þat hym list deuyse

¶ Lo here / this Arcite / and this Palamon

That quitly were / out of my prison

1792

And myghte haue lyued in Thebes roially

And witen / I am hir mortal enemy

And þat hir deeth / lyth in my myght also

And yet hath loue / maugree hir eyen two

1796

Broght hem hyder / bothe for to dye

Now looketh / is nat that an heigh folye

¶ Who may been a fool / but if he loue

Bihoold for goddes sake / þat sit aboue

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 to be ful wyse

1804

That seruen loue / for aught þat may bifalle

But this is yet the beste game of alle

That she / for whom / they haue this Iolitee

Kan hem ther fore / as muche thank as me

1808

She woot namoore / of al this hoote fare

By god / than woot a cokkow of an hare

But al moot been assayed / hoot and coold

A man moot been a fool / or yong or oold

1812

I woot it by my self / ful yoore agoon

ffor in my tyme / a seruant was I oon

And ther fore / syn I knowe of loues peyne

And woot how soore / it kan a man distreyne

1816

As he þat hath been caught ofte in his laas

I yow foryeue / al hoolly this trespas

At requeste of the queene / þat kneeleth heere

And eek of Emelye / my suster deere Page 53

1820

And ye shal bothe anoon / vn to me swere

That neuere mo / ye shal my contree dere

Ne make werre vp on me / nyght nor day [folio 25a]

But been my freendes / in al that ye may

1824

I yow foryeue / this trespas euerydel

And they hym sworen / his axing faire and wel

And hym of lordshipe / and of mercy preyde

And he hem graunteth grace / and thanne he seyde

1828

¶ To speke of roial lynage / and richesse

Thogh þat she weere a queene / or a princesse

Ech of yow bothe / is worthy doutelees

To wedden whan tyme is / but nathelees

1832

I speke / as for my suster Emelye

ffor whom / ye haue this stryf and Ialousye

Ye woot your self. she may nat wedden two

Atones / thogh ye fighten eueremo

1836

That oon of yow / al be hym looth / or lief

He moot go pipen / in an yuy leef

This is to seyn / she may nat now haue bothe

Al be ye nevere so Ialous / ne so wrothe

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 here youre ende / of that I shal deuyse

1844

¶ My wyl is this / for plat conclusion

With outen any replicacion

If that yow liketh / take it for the beste

That euerich of yow / shal goon where hym leste

1848

ffrely / with outen raunson / or daunger

And this day fifty wykes / fer ne neer

Euerich of yow / shal brynge an hundred knyghtes

Armed for listes / vp at alle rightes

1852

Al redy / to darreyne hire by bataille

And this bihoote I yow / with outen faille

Vp on my trouthe / and as I am a knyght

That wheither of yow bothe / þat hath myght Page 54

1856

This is to seyn / þat wheither he or thou

May with his hundred / as I spak of now

Sleen his contrarie / or out of lystes dryue

Thanne shal I yeue / Emelye to wyue

1860

To whom þat ffortune / yeueth so fair a grace

The lystes / shal I maken in this place

And god so wisly / on my soule rewe [folio 25b]

As I shal / euene Iuge been and trewe

1864

Ye shul noon oother ende / with me maken

That oon of yow ne / shall be deed / or taken

And if yow thynketh / this is well ysayd

Sey youre auys / and holdeth yow apayd

1868

This is youre ende / and youre conclusion

¶ Who looketh lightly now / but Palamon

Who spryngeth vp for ioye / but Arcite

Who koude telle / or who koude it endite

1872

The ioye / that is maked in the place

Whan Theseus / hath doon so fair a grace

But doun on knees / wente euery maner wight

And thonken hym / with al hir herte and myght

1876

And namely the Thebans ofte sythe

And thus with good hope / and herte blythe

They take hir leeue / and homward gonne they ryde

To Thebes / with olde walles wyde

1880

Explicit prima pars

Incipit pars secunda.

I trowe / men wolde deme it necligence

If I foryete / to tellen the despence

Of Theseus / that gooth so bisily

To maken vp the lystes / roially

1884

That swich a noble Theatre / as it was

I dar wel seyn / in this world ther nas

The circuit a myle was aboute

Walled of stoon / and dyched al with oute

1888

Round was the shape / in manere of compas Page 55

fful of degrees / the heighte of sixty paas

That whan a man / was set on o degree

He letted noght his felawe for to see

1892

¶ Estward ther stood a gate / of Marbul whit

Westward / right swich another / in the oposit

And shortly to concluden / swich a place

Was noon in erthe / as in so lite a space

1896

ffor in the lond / ther was no crafty man [folio 26a]

That Geometrye / or Ars metrik kan

Ne purtreyour / ne keruere of ymages

That Theseus / ne yaf mete and wages

1900

The Theatre / for to maken and deuyse

And for to doon / his ryte and sacrifise

He Estward hath / vp on the gate aboue

In worship of venus / goddesse of loue

1904

Doon maad an Auter / and an oratorie

And on the westward / in memorie

Of Mars / he maked hath right swich another

That coste largely / of gold a fother

1908

And Northward / in a touret on the wal

Of Alabastre whit and reed Coral

An oratorie / riche for to see

In worshipe / of Diane of chastitee

1912

Hath Theseus / doon wroght in noble Wise

¶ But yet hadde I forgeten / to deuyse

The noble keruyng / and the purtreitures

The shape / the contenance / and the figures

1916

That weren / in thise oratories thre

¶ ffirst / in the temple of Venus / maystow se

Wroght on the wal / ful pitous to biholde

The broken slepes / and the sykes colde

1920

The sacred teerys / and the waymentynge

The firy strokes / of the desirynge

That loues seruantz / in this lyf enduren

The othes / that hir couenantz assuren

1924

Plesance / and hope / desir / foolhardynesse Page 56

Beautee and youthe / baudrye / richesse

Charmes and force / lesynges / flaterye

Despense / bisynesse / and Ialousye

1928

That wered / of yelowe gooldes a gerland

And a Cokkow / sittyng on hir hand

ffestes / Instrumentz / caroles / daunces

Lust and array / and alle the circumstaunces

1932

Of loue / whiche þat I rekned / and rekne shal

By ordre / weren peynted on the wal

And mo than / I kan make of mencion

ffor soothly / al the Mount of Citheron

1936

Ther Venus / hath hir principal dwellynge [folio 26b]

Was shewed on the wal / in purtreyynge

With al the gardyn / and the lustynesse

Nat was foryeten / the porter ydelnesse

1940

Ne Narcisus the faire / of yoore agon

Ne yet / the folie / of kyng Salomon

Ne yet the grete strengthe of Ercules

Thenchantementz / of Medea and Circes

1944

Ne of Turnus / with the hardy fiers corage

The ryche Cresus / caytif in seruage

¶ Thus may ye seen / þat wisdom ne richesse

Beautee / ne sleighte / strengthe hardynesse

1948

Ne may with Venus / maken champartie

ffor as hir lust the world than may she gye

Lo all this folk / so caught were in hir laas

Til they for wo / ful ofte seyde allas

1952

Suffiseth heere ensamples / oon or two

And though / I koude rekne a thousand mo

¶ The statue of Venus / glorious for to see*. [ad vid]

Was naked / fletyng in the large See*. [.i. mare]

1956

And fro the nauele doun / al couered was

With wawes grene / and brighte as any glas

A Citole in hir right hand / hadde she

And on hir heed / ful semely for to se

1960

A rose gerland / fressh / and wel smellynge Page 57

Aboue hir heed / hir dowues flikerynge

Biforn hire stood / hir sone Cupido

Vp on his shuldres / wynges hadde he two

1964

And blynd he was / as it is ofte seene

A bowe he bar / and Arwes brighte and keene

¶ Why sholde I nat as wel / eek telle yow al

The purtreyture / þat was vp on the wal

1968

With Inne the temple / of myghty Mars the rede

Al peynted was the wal / in lengthe and brede

Lyk to the eestres / of the grisly place

That highte the grete temple / of Mars in Trace

1972

In thilke colde / frosty Region

Ther as Mars / hath his souereyn mansion

¶ ffirst on the wal / was peynted a fforest

In which ther dwelleth / neither man ne best

1976

With knotty / knarry / bareyne trees olde [folio 27a]

Of stubbes sharpe / and hidouse to biholde

In which / ther ran a rombul / in a swough

As thogh a storm / sholde bresten euery bough

1980

And downward on an hil / vnder a bente

Ther stood the temple / of Mars armypotente.

Wroght al of burned steel / of which the entree

Was long and streyt and gastly for to see

1984

And ther out cam a rage / and swich a veze*. [.i. impetus]

That it made / al the gate for to rese

The Northren light in at the dores shoon

ffor wyndow on the wal / ne was ther noon

1988

Thurgh which men myghten / any light discerne

The dore was al / of Athamant eterne

Yclenched / ouerthwart and endelong/

With Iren togh / and for to make it strong

1992

Euery piler / the temple to sustene

Was tonne greet of Iren bright and shene

¶ Ther say I first. the dirke ymagynynge

Of felonye / and al the compassynge

1996

The cruel Ire / reed as any gleede Page 58

The pike purs / and eek the pale drede

The smylere / with the knyf vnder the cloke

The shipne brennyng / with the blake smoke

2000

The treson / of the mordryng in the bed

The open werre / with woundes al bibled

Contek / with blody knyf and sharpe manace

Al ful of chirkyng was that sory place

2004

¶ The sleere of hym self / yet saugh I ther

His herte blood / hath bathed al his heer

The nayl ydryuen / in the shode a nyght

The colde deeth / with mouth gapyng vp right

2008

Amyddes of the temple / sat meschaunce

With disconfort and sory contenaunce

¶ Yet saugh I woodnesse / laughyng in his rage

Armed compleynt out hees / and fiers outrage

2012

The caroyne in the bussh / with throte ycorue

A thousand slayn / and noght of qualm ystorue

The tiraunt with the praye / by force yraft

The town destroyed / ther was no thyng laft

2016

¶ Yet saugh I brent. the shippes hoppesteres [folio 27b]

The hunte strangled / with the wilde beres

The sowe freten the child / right in the Cradel

The Cook yscalded / for al his longe ladel

2020

¶ Naught was forgeten / by the Infortune of Marte

The Cartere / ouer ryden / with his Carte

Vnder the wheel / ful lowe he lay adown

Ther were also / of Martes deuysioun

2024

The Barbour / and the Bochier and the Smyth

That forgeth sharpe swerdes / on his styth

¶ And al aboue / depeynted in a tour

Saugh I Conquest sittyng in greet honour

2028

With the sharpe swerd / ouer his heed

Hangynge / by a subtil twynes threed

¶ Depeynted was / the slaghtre of Iulius

Of grete Nero / and of Anthonius

2032

Al be / þat thilke tyme / they were vnborn Page 59

Yet was hir deeth / depeynted ther biforn

By manacynge of Mars / right by figure

So was it shewed / in that purtreyture

2036

As is depeynted / in the Sertres aboue

Who shal be slayn / or ellis deed for loue

Suffiseth oon ensample / in stories olde

I may nat rekne hem alle / thogh I wolde

2040

¶ The Statue of Mars / vp on a Carte stood

Armed / and loked grym / as he were wood

And ouer his heed / ther shynen two figures

Of sterres / þat been clepyd in Scriptures

2044

That oon Puella / that oother Rubeus

This god of armes / was arrayed thus

A wolf ther stood / bifore hym at his feet

With eyen rede / and of a man he eet

2048

With subtil pencel / was depeynted this storie

In redoutynge of Mars / and of his glorie

¶ Now to the temple / of Diane the chaste

As shortly as I kan / I wol me haste

2052

To telle yow / al the discripsioun

Depeynted been the walles / vp and doun

Of huntyng and of shamefast chastitee

Ther saw .I. / how woful Calistopee

2056

Whan þat Diane / agreued was with here [folio 28a]

Was turned / fro a womman / til a Bere

And after was she maad / the lode sterre*. [// Vrsa maior]

Thus was it peynted / I kan seye yow no ferre

2060

Hir sone is eek a sterre / as men may see

Ther saw I Dane / yturned to a tree

I mene nat / the goddesse diane

But Penneus doghter / which þat highte Dane

2064

¶ Ther saw I Attheon / an hert ymaked

ffor vengeaunce / þat he saw Diane al naked

I seigh / how þat hise houndes haue hym caught

And freten hym / for þat they knewe hym naught

2068

¶ Yet peynted was / a litel ferther moor Page 60

How Atthalante / hunted the wilde boor

And Meleagree / and many another mo

ffor which Diane / wroghte hym care and wo

2072

Ther saw .I. many another wonder storie

The whiche / me list nat drawen to memorie

¶ This goddesse on hert ful hye seet

With smale houndes / al aboute hir feet

2076

And vnder nethe hir feet. she hadde a moone

Wexinge it was / and sholde wanye soone

In gaude grene / hir statue yclothed was

With bowe in honde / and arwes in a cas

2080

Hir eyen caste she / ful lowe adown

Ther Pluto / hath his dirke Regioun

A womman trauailyng was hir biforn

But for hir child / so longe was unborn

2084

fful pitously / lucina gan she calle

And seyde help / for thow mayst best of alle

Wel koude he peynte lyfly / that it wroghte

With many a floryn / he the hewes boghte

2088

¶ Now been thise listes maad / and Theseus

That at his grete cost arrayed thus

The temples / and the Theatre euery del

Whan it was doon / hym liked wonder wel

2092

But stynte I wole / of Theseus alite

And speke of Palamon / and of Arcite

¶ The day approcheth / of hir retournynge

That euerich / sholde an hundred knyghtes brynge

2096

The bataille to darreyne / as I yow tolde [folio 28b]

And til Atthenes / hir couenant for to holde

Hath euerich of hem / broght a hundred knyghtes

Wel armed for the werre / at alle rightes

2100

And sikerly / ther trowed many a man

That neuere sithen / þat the world bigan

As for to speke / of knyghthod of hir hond

As fer / as god hath maked see and lond

2104

Nas of so fewe / so noble a compaignye Page 61

ffor euery wight þat loued chiualrye

And wolde his thankes / han a passant name

Hath prayd / that he myghte been of that game

2108

And wel was hym / þat ther to chosen was

ffor if ther fille / tomorwe swich a cas

Ye knowen wel / þat euery lusty knyght/

That loueth paramours / and hath his myght

2112

Were it in Engelond / or ellis where

They wolde hir thankes / wilnen to be there

To fighten for a lady / benedicitee

It were a lusty sighte / for to see

2116

¶ And right so / ferden they with Palamon

With hym ther wenten / knyghtes many oon

Som wol ben armed / in an haubergeon

And in a Brestplate / and in a light gypon

2120

And som wol haue / a piere plates large

And som wol haue / a Pruce sheeld / or a targe

Som wol been armed / on his legges weel

And haue an Ax / and som a Maas of steel

2124

Ther nys no newe gyse / þat it nas oold

Armed were they / as I haue yow toold

Euerich / after his opinyon

¶ Ther maystow seen / comynge with Palamon

2128

Lygurge hym self the grete kyng of Trace

Blak was his beerd / and manly was his face

The cercles of his eyen / in his heed

They gloweden / bitwixen yelow and reed

2132

And lyk a griffon / loked he aboute

With keempe herys / on his browes stoute

His lymes grete / his brawnes / harde and stronge

Hys shuldres brode / hise armes rounde and longe

2136

And as the gyse was / in his contree [folio 29a]

fful hye / vp on a Chaar of gold stood he

With foure white Boles / in the trays

In stide of Cotearmure / ouer his harnays

2140

With nayles yelwe / and brighte as any gold Page 62

He hadde a Berys Skyn / colblak / for old

His longe heer / was kembed bihynde his bak

As any Rauenes fetthere / it shoon for blak

2144

A wrethe of gold / greet of huge wighte

Vp on his heed / and ful of stones brighte

Of fyne Rubyes / and of dyamauntz

Aboute his Chaar / they wente white Alauntz

2148

Twenty and mo / as grete as any Steer

To hunten at the leon / and the deer

And folwed hym / with mosel faste ybounde

Colered of gold / and turrettes filed rounde

2152

An hundred lordes / hadde he in his route

Armed ful wel / with hertes stierne and stoute

¶ With Arcita / in stories as men fynde

The grete Emetrius / the kyng of Inde

2156

Vp on a Steede bay / trapped in steel

Couered in a clooth of gold / dyapred weel

Cam ridynge / lyk the god of Armes Mars

His cote armure / was of clooth of Tars

2160

Couched with perlys white / and rounde and grete

His sadel was / of brend gold newe ybete

A Mantelet vp on his shulder hangynge

Bretful of Rubies reede / as fyr sparklynge

2164

His crispe heer / lyk rynges was yronne

And that was yelow / and glitred as the sonne

His nose was heigh / hise eyen bright Citryn

His lyppes rounde / his colour was sangwyn

2168

A fewe fraknes / in his face yspreynd

Bitwixen yelow / and som del blak ymeynd

And as a leon / he his lookyng caste

Of .xxv. yeer / his age I caste

2172

His beerd / was wel bigonne for to sprynge

His voys / was as a trompe thonderynge

Vp on his heed / he wered of laurer grene

A gerland fressh / and lusty for to seene

2176

Vp on his hand / he bar for his deduyt [folio 29b] Page 63

An Egle tame / as any lilie whyt

An hundred lordes / hadde he with hym there

Al armed saue hir heddes / in al hir gere

2180

fful richely / in alle manere thynges

ffor trusteth wel / þat dukes / Erles / kynges

Were gadred / in this noble compaignye

ffor loue / and for encrees of chiualrye

2184

Aboute this kyng ther ran on euery part

fful many a tame leon and leopart

¶ And in this wise / thise lordes alle and some

Been on the Sonday / to the Citee come

2188

Aboute pryme / and in the town alight

¶ This Theseus / this duc this worthy knyght

Whan he hadde broght hem / in to his Citee

And Inned hem / euerich at his degree

2192

He festeth hem / and dooth so gret labour

To esen hem / and doon hem al honour

That yet men wenen / þat no mannes wit

Of noon estaat ne koude amenden it/

2196

¶ The Mynstralcye / the seruyce / at the feeste

The grete yiftes / to the meeste and leeste

The ryche array / of Theseus Paleys

Ne who sat first or last vp on the deys

2200

What ladyes fairest been / and best daunsynge

Or which of hem / kan daunse best and synge

Ne who moost feelyngly / speketh of loue

What haukes sitten / on the perche aboue

2204

What houndes lyggen / on the floor adown

Of al this / make I now no mencioun

But al theffect that thynketh me the beste

Now comth the point and herkneth if yow leste

2208

¶ The Sonday nyght er day bigan to sprynge

Whan Palamon / the larke herde synge

Al thogh it nere nat day / by houres two

Yet soong the larke / and Palamon right tho

2212

With holy herte / and with an heigh corage Page 64

He roos / to wenden on his pilgrymage

Vn to the blisful / Scitherea benygne

I mene Venus / honurable and digne

2216

And in hir hour / he walketh forth a paas [folio 30a]

Vn to the lystes / ther hir temple was

And down he kneleth / and with humble cheere

And herte soor / he seyde as ye shal heere

2220

¶ ffaireste of faire / o lady myn Venus

Doghter of Ioue / and spouse to Vulcanus

Thow gladere / of the mount of Cytheron

ffor thilke loue / thow haddest to Adoon

2224

Haue pitee / of my bittre teerys smerte

And taak myn humble prayere at thyn herte

¶ Allas I ne haue no langage to telle

Theffecte. ne the tormentz of myn helle

2228

Myn herte / may myne harmes nat biwreye

I am so confus / þat I kan noght seye

But mercy lady bright þat knowest wele

My thoght and seest what harmes þat I feele

2232

Considre al this / and rewe vp on my soore

As wisly / as I shal for euere moore

Emforth my myght thy trewe seruant be

And holden werre / alwey with chastitee

2236

That make I myn avow / so ye me helpe

I kepe noght of armes for to yelpe

Ne I ne axe noght / tomorwe / to haue victorie

Ne renoun in this cas / ne veyne glorie

2240

Of prys of armes / blowen vp and down

But I wolde haue / fully possessioun

Of Emelye / and dye in thy seruyse

ffynd thow the manere / how / and in what wyse

2244

I recche nat but it may bettre be

To haue victorie of hem / or they of me

So þat I haue / my lady in myn armes

ffor thogh so be / þat Mars is god of armes

2248

Youre vertu is so greet in heuene aboue Page 65

That if yow list I shal wel haue my loue

¶ Thy temple / wol I worshipe euere mo

And on thyn Auter / wher I ryde or go

2252

I wol doon sacrifice / and fyres beete

And if ye wol noght so / my lady sweete

Thanne praye I thee / to morwe with a spere

That Arcita / me thurgh the herte bere

2256

Thanne rekke I noght whan I haue lost my lyf [folio 30b]

Thogh þat Arcita / wynne hire to his wyf

This is theffect and ende of my prayere

Yif me my loue / thow blisful lady deere

2260

¶ Whan the orison was doon / of Palamon

His sacrifice he dide / and that anon

fful pitously / with alle circumstances

Al telle I nat as now / his obseruances

2264

But at the laste / the Statue of Venus shook

And made a signe / wher by þat he took

That his prayere / accepted was that day

ffor thogh the signe / shewed a delay

2268

Yet wiste he wel / þat graunted was his boone

And with glad herte / he wente hym hoom ful soone

¶ The thridde hour in equal / þat Palamon

Bigan / to Venus temple / for to gon

2272

Vp roos the soone / and vp roos Emelye

And to the temple of Diane / gan hye

Hir maydens / þat she thider with hire ladde

fful redily with hem / the fyr they hadde

2276

Thencens / the clothes / and the remenant al

That to the sacrifice / longen shal

The hornes ful of Mede / as was the gyse

Ther lakked noght to doon hir sacrifise

2280

¶ Smokynge the temple / ful of clothes faire

This Emelye / with herte debonaire

Hir body wessh / with water of a welle

But hou she dide hir ryte / I dar nat telle

2284

But it be / any thyng in general Page 66

And yet it were a game / to heren al

To hym þat meneth wel / it nere no charge

But it is good / a man be at his large

2288

¶ Hir brighte heer was kembed / vntressed al

A corone / of a grene ook cerial

Vp on hir heed was set ful fair and meete

Two fyres / on the Auter gan she beete

2292

And dide hir thynges / as men may biholde

In Stace of Thebes / and othere bokes olde

Whan kyndled was the fyr / with pitous cheere

Vn to Diane / she spak / as ye may heere

2296

¶ O chaste goddesse / of the wodes grene [folio 31a]

To whom / bothe heuene / and erthe / and See*. [.i. mare] is seene

Queene of the regne of Pluto / derk and lowe

Goddesse of maydenes / þat myn herte hast knowe

2300

fful many a yeer / and woost what I desire

As keepe me / fro thy vengeance and thyn Ire

That Attheon / aboghte crewelly

Chaste goddesse / wel wostow þat I

2304

Desire / to been a mayden / al my lyf

Ne neuere wol I be / no loue / ne wyf

I am thow woost yet of thy compaignye

A mayde / and loue huntyng and venerye

2308

And for to walken / in the wodes wilde

And noght to been a wyf / and be with childe

Noght wol I knowe / compaignye of man

Now help me lady / sith ye may and kan

2312

ffor tho thre formes / þat thow hast in thee

And Palamon / þat hath swich loue to me

And eek Arcite / þat loueth me so soore

This grace I praye thee / with oute moore

2316

As seend[e] loue and pees / bitwix hem two

And fro me / turn awey / hir hertes so

That al hir hote loue / and hir desir

And al hir bisy torment and hir fyr

2320

Be queynt and turned in another place Page 67

And if so be / thow wolt noght do me grace

Or if my destynee / be shape so

That I shal nedes / haue oon of hem two

2324

As seend me hym / þat moost desireth me

Bihoold goddesse / of clene chastitee

The bittre teerys / þat on my chekes falle

Syn thow art mayde / and kepere of vs alle

2328

My maydenhode thow kepe / and wel conserue

And whil I lyue / a mayde I wol thee serue

¶ The fyres brenne / vp on the Auter cleere

Whil Emelie / is thus in hir prayere

2332

But sodeynly / she seigh a sighte queynte

ffor right anon / oon of the fyres queynte

And quyked agayn / and after that anon

That oother fyr was queynt and al agon

2336

And as it queynte / it made a whistlynge [folio 31b]

As doon thise weete brondes / in hir brennynge

And at the brondes ende / out ran anoon

As it were / blody dropes many oon

2340

ffor which / so soore agast was Emelye

That she was wel neigh mad / and gan to crye

ffor she ne wiste / what it signyfied

But oonly for the feere / thus hath she cryed

2344

And weepe / þat it was pitee for to heere

¶ And ther with al / Diane gan appeere

With bowe in honde / right as an hunteresse

And seyde doghter / stynt thyn heuynesse

2348

Among the goddes hye / it is affermed

And by eterne word / writen and confermed

Thou shalt be wedded / vn to oon of tho

That han for thee / so muche care and wo

2352

But vn to which of hem / I may noght telle

ffare wel / for I ne may no lenger dwelle

The fires / which þat on myn Auter brenne

Shul thee declaren / er þat thow go henne

2356

Thyn auenture of loue / as in this cas Page 68

And with that word / the Arwes in the Caas

Of the goddesse / clateren faste and rynge

And forth she wente / and made a vanysshynge

2360

ffor which / this Emelye astoned was

And seyde / what amounteth this allas

I putte me / in thy proteccion

Diane / and in thy disposicion

2364

And hoom she gooth anoon / the nexte weye

This is theffect ther nys namoore to seye

¶ The nexte houre of Mars / folwynge this

Arcite / vn to the temple walked is

2368

Of fierse Mars / to doon his sacrifise

With alle the rytes / of his payen wise

With pitous herte / and heigh deuocion

Right thus to Mars / he seyde his orison

2372

¶ O stronge god / þat in the regnes colde

Of Trace / honoured art and lord yholde

And hast in euery regne / and euery lond

Of armes / al the brydel in thyn hond

2376

And hem fortunest as thee list deuyse [folio 32a]

Accepte of me / my pitous sacrifise

If so be / þat my youthe may disserue

And þat my myght be worthy for to serue

2380

Thy godhede / þat I may be oon of thyne

Thanne praye I thee / to rewe vp on my pyne

ffor thilke peyne / and thilke hote fyr

In which / thow whilom brendest for desir

2384

Whan þat thow vsedest the beautee

Of faire yonge / fresshe Venus free

And haddest hire in armes at thy wille

Al though thee ones / on a tyme mysfille

2388

Whan Vulcanus / hadde caught thee in his laas

And foond thee lyggyng by his wyf allas

ffor thilke sorwe / þat was in thyn herte

Haue routhe as wel / vp on my peynes smerte

2392

I am yong / and vnkonnyng as thow woost/ Page 69

And as I trowe / with loue offended moost

That euere was / any lyues creature

ffor she þat dooth me / al this wo endure

2396

Ne reccheth neuere / wher I synke or fleete

And wel I woot er she me mercy heete

I moot with strengthe / wynne hire in the place

And wel I woot with outen help and grace

2400

Of thee / ne may my strengthe noght auaille

Thanne help me lord / tomorwe in my bataille

ffor thilke fyr / þat whilom brende thee

As wel as thilke fyr / now brenneth me

2404

And do þat I tomorwe / may haue victorie

Myn be the trauaille / and thyn be the glorie

Thy souereyn temple / wol I moost honouren

Of any place / and alwey moost labouren

2408

In thy plesaunce / and in thy craftes stronge

And in thy temple / I wol my baner honge

And alle the armes / of my compaignye

And euere mo / vn til þat day I dye

2412

Eterne fyr / I wol bifore thee fynde

And eek to this auow / I wol me bynde

My berd / myn heer / þat hangeth long adown

That neuere yet ne felte offensioun

2416

Of Rasour / nor of Shere / I wol thee yiue [folio 32b]

And been thy trewe seruant whil I lyue

Now lord haue routhe / vp on my sorwes soore

Yif me the victorie / I axe thee namoore

2420

¶ The prayere stynt of Arcita the stronge

The rynges / on the temple dore þat honge

And eek the dores / clatereden ful faste

Of which Arcita / som what hym agaste

2424

The fires brende / vp on the Auter brighte

That it gan al the temple for to lighte

A swete smel / anoon the ground vp yaf

And Arcita / anoon his hand vp haf

2428

And moore encens / in to the fyr he caste Page 70

With othere rytes mo / and at the laste

¶ The statue of Mars / bigan his hauberk rynge

And with that sown / he herde a murmurynge

2432

fful lowe and dym / and seyde thus / Victorie

ffor which / he yaf to Mars / honour and glorie

¶ And thus with ioye / and hope / wel to fare

Arcite anoon / vn to his In is fare

2436

As fayn as fowel / is of the brighte sonne

¶ And right anoon / swich stryf ther is bigonne

ffor thilke grauntyng in the heuene aboue

Bitwixe Venus / the goddesse of loue

2440

And Mars / the sterne god armipotente

That Iuppiter / was bisy it to stente

Til þat the pale / Saturnus the colde

That knew so manye / of auentures olde

2444

ffoond in his olde experience / an art

That he ful soone / hath plesed euery part

As sooth is seyd / elde hath greet auantage

In elde / is bothe wisdom and vsage

2448

Men may the olde atrenne and nat atrede

Saturne anoon / to stynten stryf and drede

Al be it / þat it is agayn his kynde

Of al this stryf he kan remedie fynde

2452

¶ My deere doghter Venus / quod Saturne

My cours / that hath so wyde for to turne

Hath moore power / than woot any man

Myn is the drenchyng in the See so wan

2456

Myn is the prison / in the derke cote [folio 33a]

Myn is the stranglyng and hangyng by the throte

The murmur / and the cherles rebellynge

The groynyng and the pryuee empoysonynge

2460

I do vengeance / and pleyn correccion

Whil I dwelle / in the signe of the leon

Myn is the ruyne / of the heighe halles

The fallyng of the toures / and of the walles

2464

Vp on the Mynour / or the Carpenter Page 71

I slow Sampson / shakyng the piler

And myne be / the maladies colde

The derke tresons / and the castes olde

2468

My lookyng is the fader of pestilence

Now weep namoore / I shal doon diligence

That Palamon / that is thyn owene knyght

Shal haue his lady / as thow hast hym hight

2472

Thogh Mars shal helpe his knyght yet nathelees

Bitwixe yow / ther moot be som tyme pees

Al be ye noght of o complexion

That causeth al day / swich diuision

2476

I am thyn Aiel / redy at thy wille

Weepe now namoore / I wol thy lust fulfille

¶ Now wol I stynten / of the goddes aboue

Of Mars / and of Venus / goddesse of loue

2480

And telle yow / as pleynly as I kan

The grete effect . for which þat I bigan*. [[No gap in the MS.]]

¶ Greet was the feeste / in Atthenes that day

And eek the lusty seson / of that May

2484

Made euery wight to been in swich plesaunce

That al that monday / Iusten they and daunce

And spenden it in Venus heigh seruyse

And by the cause / þat they sholde ryse

2488

Erly / for to seen the grete sight

Vn to hir reste / wente they at nyght

And on the morwe / whan the day gan sprynge

Of hors and harneys / noyse and claterynge

2492

Ther was in hostelryes / al aboute

And to the paleys / rood ther many a route

Of lordes / vp on steedes and palfreys

Ther maistow seen / deuysynge of harneys

2496

So vnkouth / and so ryche / and wroght so weel [folio 33b]

Of Goldsmythrye / of Broudyng and of steel Page 72

The sheldes brighte / testers / and trappures

Goldhewen helmes / hauberkes / cote armures

2500

Lordes in parementz / on hir coursers

Knyghtes of retenue / and eek Squyers

Nailynge the speres / and the helmes bokelynge

Gyggynge of sheeldes / with layners lasynge

2504

Ther as nede is / they were no thyng ydel

The fomy steedes / on the golden brydel

Gnawynge / and faste the Armurers also

With fyle and hamer / prykyng to and fro

2508

Yemen on foote / and communes many oon

With shorte staues / thikke as they may goon

Pipes / trompes / Nakers / Claryounes

That in the bataille / blowen blody sownes

2512

The paleys ful of peples / vp and down

Heer thre / ther ten / holdynge hir questioun

Deuynynge / of thise Thebans knyghtes two

Somme seyde thus / somme seyden it shal be so

2516

Somme helden with hym / with the blake berd

Somme with the balled / somme with the thikke herd

Somme seyde / he looked grym / and he wolde fighte

He hath a Sparth / of .xx. pound of wighte

2520

Thus was the halle / ful of deuynynge

Longe after / þat the sonne gan to sprynge

¶ The grete Theseus / þat of his sleepe awaked

With mynstralcye / and noyse þat was maked

2524

Held yet the chambres / of his paleys ryche

Til þat the Theban knyghtes / bothe yliche

Honoured /. weren in to the paleys fet

¶ Duc Theseus / is at a wyndow set

2528

Arrayed / right as he weere a god in Trone

The peple preeseth / thiderward ful soone

Hym for to seen / and doon heigh reuerence

And eek / to herkne his heste / and his sentence

2532

¶ An heraud on a Scaffold / made an .oo.

Til al the noyse / of the peple was ydo Page 73

And whan he say the peple / of noyse al stille

Thus shewed he / the myghty dukes wille

2536

¶ The lord hath / of his heighe discrecion [folio 34a]

Considred / þat it were destruccion

To gentil blood / to fighten in the gyse

Of mortal bataille / now in this emprise

2540

Wher fore / to shapen / þat they shal noght dye

He wole / his firste purpos modifie

¶ No man ther fore / vp on peyne / of los of lyf

No manere shot ne polax / ne short knyf

2544

In to the lystes sende / or thider brynge

Ne short swerd for to stoke / with point bitynge

No man ne drawe / ne bere it by his syde

Ne no man / shal vn to his felawe ryde

2548

But o cours / with a sharp ygrounde spere

ffoyne if hym list on foote / hym self to were

And he þat is at meschief / shal be take

And noght slayn / but be broght vn to the stake

2552

That shal been ordeyned / on eyther syde

But thider he shal bi force / and ther abyde

And if so falle / the Chiefteyn be take

On outher syde / or ellis sleen his make

2556

No lenger / shal the tourneying laste

God spede yow / go forth and ley on faste

With long swerd / and with mace / fighteth your fille

Go now youre wey / this is the lordes wille

2560

¶ The voys of peple / touched the heuene

So loude cryde they / with loude steuene

God saue swich a lord / that is so good

He wilneth / no destruccion of blood

2564

¶ Vp goon the trompes / and the melodye

And to the lystes / ryt the compaignye

By ordinance / thurgh out the Citee large

Hanged with clooth of gold / and noght with sarge

2568

¶ fful lyk a lord / this noble duc gan ryde

Thise two Thebans / vp on eyther syde Page 74

And after rood the queene / and Emelye

And after that another compaignye

2572

Of oon and oother / after hire degree

And thus they passen / thurgh out the Citee

And to the lystes / coome they bityme

It nas nat of the day / yet fully pryme

2576

¶ Whan set was Theseus / ful ryche and hye [folio 34b]

Ypolita the queene / and Emelye

And othere ladyes / in degrees aboute

Vn to the setes / preeseth al the route

2580

And westward / thrugh the gates vnder Marte*. [.i. sub Marte]

Arcite / and eek the hundred of his parte

With baner reed / is entred right anon

¶ And in that selus moment Palamon

2584

Is vnder Venus / Estward in the place

With baner whit / and hardy cheere and face

In al the world / to seken vp and down

So euene / with outen variacioun

2588

Ther nere / swiche compaignyes tweye

ffor ther was noon so wys / þat koude seye

That any hadde / of oother auantage

Of worthynesse / ne of estaat ne age

2592

So euene / were they chosen for to gesse

And in two renges / faire they hem dresse

¶ Whan þat hir names / rad were euerichon

That in hir nombre / gyle were ther noon

2596

Tho were the gates shet and cryd was loude

Do now youre deuoir / yonge knyghtes proude

¶ The heraudes / lefte hir prikyng vp and down

Now ryngen trompes loude / and Clarioun

2600

Ther is namoore to seyn / but west and Est

In goon the speres / ful sadly in the arest

In gooth the sharpe spore / in to the syde

Ther seen men / who kan Iuste / and who kan ryde

2604

Ther shyueren shaftes / vp on sheeldes thikke

He feeleth / thurgh the herte spoon the prykke Page 75

Vp spryngeth speres / twenty foot on highte

Out goon the swerdes / as the siluer brighte

2608

The helmes they tohewen / and to-shrede

Out brest the blood / with sterne stremys rede

With myghty maces / the bones they tobreste

He thurgh the thikkest of the throng gan threste

2612

Ther stomblen steedes stronge / and doun gooth al

He rolleth vnder foot as dooth a bal

He foyneth on his feet with his tronchoun

And he hym hurteth / with his hors adoun

2616

He thurgh the body is hurt and sithen ytake [folio 35a]

Maugree his heed / and broght vn to the Stake

As forward was / right there he moste abyde

Another / lad is on that oother syde

2620

¶ And som tyme / dooth hem Theseus to reste

Hem to refresshe / and drynken if hem leste

fful ofte a-day / haue thise Thebans two

Togydre ymet and wroght his felawe wo

2624

Vnhorsed hath ech oother / of hem tweye

Ther nas no tygre / in the vale of Galgopheye

Whan þat hir whelp is stole / whan it is lyte

So cruel on the hunte / as is Arcite

2628

ffor Ialous herte / vp on this Palamon

Ne in Belmarye / ther nys so fel leon

That hunted is / or for his hunger wood

Ne of his praye / desireth so the blood

2632

As Palamon / to sleen his foo Arcite

The Ialous strokes / on hir helmes byte

Out renneth blood / on bothe hir sydes rede

¶ Som tyme an ende ther is / of euery dede

2636

ffor er the sonne / vn to the reste wente

The stronge kyng Emetrius / gan hente

This Palamon / as he faught with Arcite

And made his swerd / depe in his flessh to byte

2640

And by the force of twenty / is he take

Vnyolden / and ydrawen to the stake Page 76

And in the rescous / of this Palamon

The stronge kyng lygurge / is born adoun

2644

And kyng Emetrius / for al his strengthe

Is born out of his sadel / a swerdes lengthe

So hitte hym Palamon / er he were take

But al for noght he was broght to the stake

2648

His hardy herte / myghte hym helpe naught

He moste abyde / whan þat he was caught

By force / and eek by composicion

¶ Who sorweth now / but woful Palamon

2652

That moot namoore / goon agayn to fighte

And whan þat Theseus / hadde seen this sighte

Vn to the folk / that foghten thus echon

He cryde / hoo namoore / for it is doon

2656

I wol be trewe Iuge / and nat partye [folio 35b]

Arcite of Thebes / shal haue Emelye

That by his fortune / hath hire faire ywonne

Anon ther is a noyse of peple bigonne

2660

ffor ioye of this / so loude and heigh with alle

It semed / þat the lystes sholde falle

¶ What kan now faire Venus / doon aboue

What seith she now / what dooth this queene of loue

2664

But wepeth so / for wantyng of hir wille

Til þat hir teerys / in the lystes fille

She seyde / I am ashamed doutelees

¶ Saturnus seyde / doghter hoold thy pees

2668

Mars hath his wyl / his knyght hath al his boone

And by myn heed / thow shalt been esed soone

¶ The trompours / with the loude Mynstralcye

The heraudes / þat ful loude yelle and crye

2672

Been in hir wele / for ioye of daun Arcite

But herkneth me / and stynteth noyse a lite

Which a myracle / ther bifel anon

¶ This fierse Arcite / hath of his helm ydon

2676

And on a Courser / for to shewe his face

He priketh / endelong the large place Page 77

Lookyng vpward / vp on this Emelye

And she agayn / hym caste a freendly eye

2680

. . . . .

. . . . .*. [no gap in the MS.]

And she was al his cheere / as in his herte

Out of the ground / a furye Infernal sterte

2684

ffrom Pluto sent at requeste of Saturne

ffor which his hors / for feere gan to turne

And leep asyde / and foundred as he leepe

And er þat Arcite / may taken keepe

2688

He pighte hym / on the pomel of his heed

That in the place / he lay as he were deed

His brest to brosten / with his Sadel bowe

As blak he lay / as any col / or crowe

2692

So was the blood / yronnen in his face

Anon he was yborn out of the place

With herte soor / to Theseus Paleys

Tho was he coruen / out of his harneys

2696

And in a bed ybroght ful faire and blyue

ffor he was yet in memorie and alyue

And alwey cryinge / after Emelye [folio 36a]

¶ Duc Theseus / with al his compaignye

2700

Is comen hoom / to Atthenes his Citee

With alle blisse / and greet solempnytee

Al be it þat this auenture was falle

He nolde noght disconforten hem alle

2704

¶ Men seyde eek Arcite / shal nat dye

He shal been heelyd / of his maladye

And of another thyng / they were as fayn

That of hem alle / was ther noon yslayn

2708

Al were they soore yhurt and namely oon

That with a Spere / was thirled the brest boon

¶ To oothere woundes / and to broken armes

Somme hadden salues / and somme hadden charmes

2712

ffermacyes of herbes and eek saue

They dronken / for they wolde hir lymes haue Page 78

ffor which this noble duc / as he wel kan

Conforteth / and honoureth euery man

2716

And made reuel / al the longe nyght

Vn to the straunge lordes / as was right

¶ Ne ther was holden to disconfitynge

But as a Iustes / or a tourneyinge

2720

ffor soothly / there was no disconfiture

ffor fallyng . nys nat but an auenture

Ne to been had by force vn to the stake

Vnyolden / and with twenty knyghtes take

2724

A persone allone / with outen mo

And haryed forth / by arm / foot / and to

And eek his steede / dryuen forth with staues

With footmen / bothe yemen and eek knaues

2728

It nas arretted hym / no vileynye

Ther may no man / clepe it cowardye

¶ ffor which anoon / Duc Theseus leet crye

To stynten / al rancour and enuye

2732

The gre / as wel of oo syde as of oother

And eyther syde ylyk as otheres brother

And yaf hem yiftes / after hir degree

And fully heeld a feeste / dayes three

2736

And conueyed / the kynges worthily

Out of his toun / a iournee largely

And hoom wente euery man / the righte way [folio 36b]

Ther was namoore / but fare wel haue good day

2740

Of this bataille / I wol namoore endite

But speke of Palamon / and of Arcite*. [[A break in the MS. with]]

¶ Explicit secunda pars

¶ Incipit pars tercia & vltima

Swelleth the brest of Arcite / and the soore

Encreese that his herte / moore and moore

The clothered blood / for any lechecraft

Corrupteth / and is in his bouk / ylaft

That neyther veyne blood / ne ventusynge

Ne drynke of herbes / may been his helpynge

2748

The vertu expulsyf / or animal

ffro thilke vertu / clepyd natural Page 79

Ne may the venym / voyden ne expelle

The pipes of his longes / gan to swelle

2752

And euery lacerte / in his brest adown

Is shent with venym and corrupcioun

Hym gayneth neither / for to gete his lyf

Vomyt vpward / ne downward laxatyf

2756

Al is to brosten / thilke regioun

Nature / hath no dominacioun

And certeinly / ther nature wol nat werche

ffare wel Phisyk . go ber the man to cherche

2760

This al and som / þat Arcita moot dye

ffor which / he sendeth after Emelye

And Palamon / þat was his cosyn deere

Thanne seyde he thus / as ye shal after heere

2764

¶ Nat may the woful spirit in myn herte

Declare a point of alle my sorwes smerte

To yow my lady / þat I loue moost

But I byquethe / the seruice of my goost

2768

To yow / abouen euery creature

Syn þat my lyf / may no lenger dure

Allas the wo / allas the peynes stronge

That I for yow haue suffred / and so longe

2772

Allas the deeth / allas myn Emelye [folio 37a]

Allas / departyng of oure compaignye

Allas myn hertes queene / allas my wif

Myn hertes lady / endere of my lyf

2776

What is this world / what axeth men to haue

Now with his loue / now in his colde graue

. . . . .

2780

. . . . .

. . . . .*. [no gap in the MS.]

¶ I haue heer / with my cosyn Palamon

Had stryf and rancour / many a day gon

2784

ffor loue of yow / and for my Ialousye

And Iuppiter / so wys my soule gye Page 80

To speken / of a seruaunt proprely

With circumstaunces alle / trewely

2788

That is to seyn / trouthe / honour / knyghthede

Wisdom / humblesse / estaat / and heigh kynrede

ffredom / and al / that longeth to that art

So Iuppiter / haue of my soule part

2792

As in this world / right now ne knowe I non

So worthy to been loued / as Palamon

That serueth yow / and wol doon al his lyf

And if þat euere / ye shal been a wyf

2796

fforyet nat Palamon / the gentil man

And with that word / his speche faille gan

ffor from his feet vp to his brest was come

The coold of deeth / þat hadde hym ouercome

2800

And yet moore ouer / for in his armes two

The vital strengthe / is lost and al ago

Oonly the Intellect with oute moore

That dwelled in his herte / syk and soore

2804

Gan faillen / whan the herte felte deeth

Dusked hise eyen two / and fayled breeth

But on his lady / yet caste he his eye

His laste word / was mercy Emelye

2808

His spirit chaunged hous / and wente ther

As I cam neuere / I kan nat tellen wher

Therfore I stynte / I nam no dyuynystre

Of soules / fynde I nat in this Registre

2812

Ne me ne lyst thilke opynyons to telle

Of hem / thogh þat they writen wher they dwelle

Arcite is coold / ther Mars his soule gye

Now wol I speken / forth of Emelye

2816

¶ Shrighte Emelye / and howleth Palamon [folio 37b]

And Theseus / his suster took anon

Swownynge / and baar hire fro the corps away

What helpeth it to tarien forth the day

2820

To tellen how she weepe / bothe eue and morwe

ffor in swich caas / wommen haue swich sorwe Page 81

Whan þat hir housbondes / been from hem ago

That for the moore part they sorwen so

2824

Or ellis fallen / in swich a maladye

That at the laste / certeinly they dye

¶ Infinite / been the sorwes and the teerys

Of olde folk . and folk of tendre yeerys

2828

In all the town for the deeth of this Theban

ffor hym ther wepeth bothe child a[nd] man

So greet wepyng was ther noon certayn

Whan Ector was broght al fressh yslayn

2832

To Troye / allas the pitee þat was ther

Cracchynge of chekes / rentyng eek of heer

Why woldestow be deed / thise wommen crye

And haddest gold ynow / and Emelye

2836

¶ No man / myghte gladen Theseus

Sauyng his olde fader Egeus

That knew / this worldes transmutacioun

As he hadde seyn it chaungen / bothe vp and down

2840

Ioye after wo / and wo after gladnesse

And shewed hem / ensample and lyknesse

¶ Right as ther deyed neuere man / quod he*. [Argumentum.]

That he ne lyued in erthe / in som degree

2844

Right so / ther lyued neuere man he seyde

In al this world / þat som tyme he ne deyde

This world nys but a thurghfare / ful of wo

And we been pilgrymes / passynge to and fro

2848

Deeth is an ende / of euery worldly soore

And ouer al this / yet seyde he muchel moore

To this effect ful wysly / to enhorte

The peple / that they sholde hem reconforte

2852

¶ Duc Theseus / with al his bisy cure

Caste now / wher that the sepulture

Of goode Arcite / may best ymaked be

And eek moost honurable / in his degree

2856

And at the laste / he took conclusion [folio 38a]

That ther / as first Arcite and Palamon Page 82

Hadden for loue / the bataille hem bitwene

That in the selue groue / swoote and grene

2860

Ther as he hadde / hise amorouse desires

His compleinte / and for loue his hote fyres

He wolde make a fyr / in which the office

ffuneral / he myghte al acomplice

2864

And leet anoon comaunde / to hakke and hewe

The okes olde / and leyen hem on a rewe

In colpons / wel arrayed for to brenne

Hise officers / with swifte feet they renne

2868

And ryde anoon / at his comandement

And after this / Theseus hath ysent

After a Beere / and it al ouerspradde

With clooth of gold / the richeste þat he hadde

2872

And of the same suyte / he cladde Arcite

Vp on his handes / his gloues white

Eek on his heed / a coroune of laurer greene

And in his hand / a swerd ful bright and keene

2876

He leyde hym bare the visage / on the beere

Ther with he weepe / þat pitee was to heere

And for the peple / sholde seen hym alle

Whan it was day / he broghte hym to the halle

2880

That roreth / of the cryyng and the sown

Tho cam / this woful Theban Palamon

With flotry berd / and ruggy asshy heerys

In clothes blake / ydropped al with teerys

2884

And passyng othere / of wepyng Emelye

The rufulleste / of al the compaignye

In as muche / as the seruyce sholde be

The moore noble / and ryche in his degree

2888

Duc Theseus / leet forth thre steedes brynge

That trapped weren in steel al gliterynge

And couered with the armes / of daun Arcite

Vp on thise steedes / grete and whyte

2892

Ther seten folk / of which oon baar his sheeld

Another his spere / vp on his hondes heeld Page 83

The thridde bar with hym / his bowe Turkeys

Of brend gold / was the caas / and eek the harneys

2896

And ryden forth a paas / with sorweful cheere [folio 38b]

Toward the groue / as ye shul after heere

The nobleste of the Grekys / þat ther were

Vp on hir shuldres / carieden the beere

2900

With slak[e] paas / and eyen rede and weete

Thurgh out the Citee / by the maister streete

That sprad was al with blak and wonder hye

Right of the same / is the strete ywrye

2904

Vp on the right hand / wente olde Egeus

And on that oother syde / Duc Theseus

With vessels in hir hand / of gold ful fyn

As ful of hony / melk / and blood and wyn

2908

Eek Palamon / with ful greet compaignye

And after that / cam woful Emelye

With fyr in hande / as was that tyme the gyse

To do the office / of funeral seruyse

2912

¶ Heigh labour / and greet apparaillynge

Was at the seruyce / and the fyr makynge

That with his grene tope / the heuene raughte

And twenty fadme of brede / the armes straughte

2916

This is to seyn / the bowes / were so brode

Of stree first ther was leyd many a lode

But how the fyr was maked vp on highte

Ne eek the names / how the trees highte

2920

As ook / ffyrre / Birch / Asp / Alder / holm / popler

Wylow / Elm / Plane / Assh / Box / Chestayn / lynde / laurer

Mapul / Thorn / Beech / hasyl / Ew / Whippultree

How they were feld / shal nat been told for me

2924

Ne how the goddes / ronnen vp and doun

Desherited / of hir habitacioun

In which they woneden / in reste and pees

Nymphes / ffawnes / and Amadrides

2928

Ne how the beestes / and the bryddes alle

ffledden / for fered / whan the wode was falle Page 84

Ne how the ground / agast was of the lyght

That was nat wont to seen the sonne bright

2932

Ne how the fyr / was couched first with stree

And thanne with drye stikkes / clouen a three

And thanne with grene wode / and spicerye

And thanne with clooth of gold / and with perrye

2936

And gerlandes hangynge / ful of many a flour [folio 39a]

The Mirre / thencens / with al so greet sauour

Ne how Arcite / lay among al this

Ne what richesse / aboute the body is

2940

Ne how that Emelye / as was the gyse

Putte in the fyr / of funeral seruyse

Ne how she swowned / whan men made the fyr

Ne what she spak ne what was hir desir

2944

Ne what Iuels / men in the fyr caste

Whan þat the fyr was greet and brente faste

Ne how somme caste hir sheeld / and somme hir spere

And of hir vestimentz / whiche þat they were

2948

And coppes fulle of Milk / and wyn and blood

In to the fyr / þat brente as it were wood

Ne how the Grekys / with An huge route

Thries ryden / al the fyr aboute

2952

Vp on the left hand / with a loud shoutynge

And thries / with hir speres claterynge

And thries / how the ladyes gonne crye

And how þat lad / was homward Emelye

2956

Ne how Arcite / is brent to Asshen colde

Ne how that lychwake / was yholde

Al thilke nyght ne how the grekys pleye

The wake pleyes / ne kepe I noght to seye

2960

Who wrastleth best naked / with oille enoynt

Ne who þat baar hym best in no disioynt

I wol nat tellen al / how [that] they goon

Hoom til Atthenes / whan the pleye is doon

2964

But shortly to the poynt than wol I wende

And maken / of my longe tale an ende Page 85

¶ By proces / and by lengthe of certeyn yerys

Al stynt is / the moornynge and the terys

2968

Of Grekys / by oon general assent

Thanne semed me / ther was a parlement

At Atthenes / vp on a certeyn point and caas

Among the whiche pointes / y-spoken was

2972

To haue / with certeyn contrees alliance

And haue fully / of Thebans obeisance

ffor which this noble Theseus anon

Leet senden / after gentil Palamon

2976

Vnwist of hym / what was the cause and why [folio 39b]

But in his blake clothes / sorwefully

He cam at his comandement / in hye

Tho sente Theseus / for Emelye

2980

¶ Whan they were set and hust was al the place

And Theseus / abiden hath a space

Er any word / cam from his wise brest/

His eyen sette he ther as was his lest

2984

And with a sad visage / he siked stille

And after that right thus he seyde his wille

¶ The firste moeuere / of the cause aboue*. [Nota]

Whan he first made / the faire cheyne of loue

2988

Greet was theffect and heigh was his entente

Wel wiste he why / and what ther of he mente

ffor with that faire cheyne of loue he boond

The fyr / the Eyr / the water / and the loond

2992

In certeyn boundes / þat they may nat flee

That same Prince / and that moeuere quod he

Hath stabliced / in this wrecched world adoun

Certeine dayes / and duracioun

2996

To al / that is engendred / in this place

Ouer the which day / they may nat pace

Al mowe they yet / tho dayes abregge

Ther nedeth / noon auctoritee to allegge

3000

ffor it is proued / by experience

But þat me list declaren my sentence Page 86

Thanne may men wel / by this ordre discerne

That thilke moeuere / stable is and eterne

3004

Wel may men knowe / but it be a fool

That euery part . is diryued from his hool

ffor nature / hath nat taken his bigynnyng

Of no partie / or of cantel of a thyng

3008

But of a thyng . that parfit is and stable

Descendynge so / til it be corrumpable

And ther fore / for his wise purueiaunce

He hath / so wel biset his ordinaunce

3012

That specis of thynges / and progressions

Shullen enduren / by successions

And noght eterne / with outen any lye

This maistow vnderstonde / and seen at Iye

3016

¶ Loo the ook / that hath so long a norisshynge [folio 40a]

ffro the tyme / that it first gynneth sprynge

And hath so long a lyf / as ye may see

Yet at the laste / wasted is the tree

3020

¶ Considreth eek / how þat the harde stoon

Vnder oure foot on which we ryde and goon

It wasteth / as it lyth by the weye

The brode Ryuer / som tyme wexeth dreye

3024

The grete townes / se we wane and wende

Thanne se ye / þat al this thyng hath ende

Of man and womman / se we wel also

That nedeth / in oon of thise termes two

3028

This is to seyn / in youthe / or ellis age

He moot be deed / the kyng as shal a page

Som in his bed / som in the depe see

Som in the large feeld / as ye may se

3032

Ther helpeth noght al gooth that ilke weye

Thanne may I seyn / þat al this thyng moot deye

What maketh this? but Iuppiter the kyng

That is Prince / and cause of alle thyng

3036

Conuertyng / al vn to his propre welle

ffrom which he is diryued sooth to telle Page 87

And heer agayns / no creature on lyue

Of no degree / auailleth for to stryue

3040

¶ Thanne is it wisdom / as it thynketh me

To maken vertu / of necessitee

And take it wel / þat we may nat eschue

And nameliche / that to vs alle is due

3044

And who so gruccheth oght he dooth folye

And rebel is / to hym þat al may gye

And certeinly / a man hath moost honour

To dyen / in his excellence and flour

3048

Whan he is siker / of his goode name

Thanne hath he doon / his freend ne hym no shame

And gladder oghte / his freend been of his deeth

Whan with honour / yolden is vp his breeth

3052

Than whan his name / apalled is for age

ffor al forgeten is his vasselage

Thanne is it best as for a worthy fame

To dyen / whan he is best of name

3056

¶ The contrarie of al this / is wilfulnesse

Why grucchen we / why haue we heuynesse

That goode Arcite / of chiualrie flour [folio 40b]

Departed is / with duetee / and with honour

3060

Out of this foule prison / of this lyf

Why gruccheth heere / his cosyn and his wyf/

Of his welfare / þat loueth hem so weel

Kan he hem thank? nay good woot neuer a deel

3064

That bothe his soule / and eek hem self offende

And yet they mowe / hir lustes nat amende

¶ What may I conclude / of this longe serye

But after wo / I rede vs to be merye

3068

And thanken Iuppiter / of al his grace

And er we / departen from this place

I rede we make / of sorwes two

O parfit Ioye / lastynge euere mo

3072

And loketh now / wher moost sorwe is her Inne

Ther wol I first amenden and bigynne Page 88

¶ Suster quod he / this is my ful assent

With al thauys / heer of my parlement

3076

That gentil Palamon / youre owene knyght

That serueth yow / with wyl and herte myght

And euere hath doon / syn ye first hym knewe

That ye shal of youre grace vp on hym rewe

3080

And taken hym / for housbond and for lord

Leen me youre hond / for this is oure acord

Lat se now / of youre wommanly pitee

He is / a kynges brother sone pardee

3084

And thogh he were / a poure Bachiler

Syn he hath serued yow / so many a yeer

And had for yow / so greet aduersitee

It moste been considred / leueth me

3088

ffor gentil mercy / oghte to passen right

¶ Thanne seyde he thus / to Palamon the knyght

I trowe / ther nedeth litel sermonyng

To make yow / assente to this thyng

3092

Com neer / and taketh youre lady by the hond

Bitwixe hem / was maad anon the bond

That highte matrymoigne / or mariage

By al the conseil / and the Baronage

3096

And thus / with alle blisse / and melodye

Hath Palamon / ywedded Emelye

And god / that al this world hath wroght [folio 41a]

Sende hym his loue / that hath it deere aboght

3100

ffor now is Palamon / in alle wele

Lyuynge in blisse / in richesse / and in heele

And Emelye / hym loueth so tendrely

And he / hir serueth so gentilly

3104

That was ther no word hem bitwene

Of Ialousie / or any oother teene

Thus endeth Palamon / and Emelye

And god saue / al this faire compaignye Amen.

3108

¶ Here is ended the Knyghtes tale.

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