By processe / and by lengthe of certeyn yeres
Al styntyd is / the moornynge and the teres
Line 2968
Of grekes / by oon general assent
Thanne semed me / ther was a parlement
At Atthenes / vpon certein poyntz and caas
Among the whiche poyntz / yspoken was
Line 2972
To haue with certein contrees alliance
And have fully of Thebans obeissance
ffor which / this noble Theseus anon
Leet senden / after gentil Palamon
Line 2976
Vnwist of hym / what was the cause and why
But in hise blake clothes / sorwefully
He cam / at his comandement in hye
Tho sente / Theseus for Emelye
Line 2980
Whan they were set and hust was al the place
And Thesens / abiden hadde a space
Er any word / cam fram his wise brest
Hise eyen sette he / ther as was his lest
Line 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
Whan he first made / the faire cheyne of loue
Line 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 bond
The fyr / the eyr / the water and the lond
Line 2992
In certeyn boundes / that they may nat flee
That same prince / and that same moeuere quod he
Hath stablissed / in this wrecched world adoun [folio 36b]
Certeyne dayes / and duracioun
Line 2996
To al / that is engendrid in this place
Ouer the which[e] day / they may nat pace
Al mowe they yet tho dayes wel abregge
Ther nedeth noght noon Auctoritee allegge
Line 3000
ffor it is preeued / by experience
But that me list declaren my sentence
