The hystorye, sege and dystruccyon of Troye

¶How the Grekes sent to kynge Pryamus for to haue trewes for Eyght wekes / And of theyr Bataylles after the trewes faylled .Ca. xxiij.

[illustration]

THey haue mater / to complayne sore For fro that daye / farewell for euermore Victory and laude / fro them of the towne To them denyed / by disposicyowne Of mortall fate / whiche was contrarye In this mater / me lyste no lenger tarye For they of Troye / be entred theyr Cyte And shet theyr gates / for more surete For of that daye / lyke as made is mynde Thus was the ende / in Euydo as I fynde They wende haue done / paraunter for the beste And whan the sonne / was ygo to reste They toke theyr ease / all that ylke nyght Tyll on the morowe / Tytan clere and bryght Shadde his bemys / on theyr Emysperye Makynge the day / for to shewe merye At whiche tyme / Troyans anone ryght They that were hole / and lusty for to fyght Gan arme them / in purpose full that day Theyr foon to mete / platly if they may For that was hole / theyr wyll & playne entent And eke they hadde / in cōmaundement Tofore of Ector / redy them to make Out of theyr slepe / a morowe whan they wake Of whiche thynge / they were nat neclygent But to Pryam / the grekes haue ysent There messangeres / the same day or pryme To take trewes / oonly for the tyme Of eyghte wekes / the whiche Pryamus By assent of Ector / the story telleth thus Hath graunted them / and by auctoryte Of the wysest / that were in that Cyte

In whiche tyme / whyle they leyser haue The grekes gan / for to burye and graue The bodyes / that afore were slawe Lyke the rytys / in theyr paynem lawe With all theyr myght / and theyr besy cure For some brent / and by sepulture Enclosed were / lyke theyr estate in all And thus they helde / the feste funerall Fro day to day / durynge aye the pees In whiche space / I fynde how Achylles Of Patroclus / the deth hath sore playned As he that was / with terys all be rayned So inwardely / he loued hym in his herte That for the anguysshe / and the cruell smerte He longe abode / in lamentacyon And dyde make / by great affeccyon A large toumbe / for a remembraunce Myd the felde / as tho was the vsaunce Amonge grekes / with great reuerence Lyke the honour / and the excellence Of royall buryenge / so this Patroclus Ygraue was / and Protheselaus In theyr toumbes / korue of marbyll graye And nye togydre / in a playne they laye The werke aboute them / rychely ywrought And to the Erthe / they were togydre brought Solempnely / lyke the obseruaunces Of theyr rytys / with the circumstaunces Of grekes vsed / sothely in tho dayes Fro poynt to poynt / as longeth to theyr layes Of suche as were / of the estate royall So holden was / the feste funerall Of these two / whyle the trewes doth laste And they of Troye / besyed them full faste With all theyr myght / and theyr besy eure Theyr grene hurtes / and woundes for to cure By aduyse of them / that were in Surgerye Full well expert / to shape remedye Sheyr swolle sores / to softe of theyr payne That in the space / of thyse monthes twayne They were restored / to helthe in euery thynge In whiche tyme / Pryamus the kynge. Suche sorowe made / for Cassybellan In his herte / that no wyght ne can Hym recomforte / of his heuynesse For day by day / of inwarde tendernesse Full pyteously / he gan to sobbe and wepe And the bodye / he made for to kepe Aboue the erthe / for a certayne space Tyll he hadde / chosen out a place To his buryeng / and his sepulture And as Guydo / vs fully doth assure In venus Temple / ryche as any shryne He made his workemen / a toumbe for to myne In marbyll graye / and metall rychely In whiche he putte / full solempnely The dede corps / of this Cassybellan Beynge present / full many manly man In the Phane / of Cytherea The whiche thynge / whan that Cassandra Within hir selfe / consydered and behelde And sawe vp offred / his helme / and his shelde His swerde also / and vnto Mars his stede Of inwarde woo / she felte hir hette blede Herynge the noyse / and the pyteous crye The tendre wepynge / and sorowynge vtterly Of them of Troye / and lamentacy owne Whiche for theyr frend{is} / thrugh out al y^• towne They gan to make / that were slawe afore With sodayne rage / hir herte was to tore So inwardely / she myght hir nat restrayne Furyously / to crye and complayne And sayde alas / full ofte and wellawaye O wofull wretches / that ye be this daye Vnhappy eke / and graceles also Infortunat / and inly woo bego Howe ye may suffre / the great harmes kene Whiche ye are lykely / hereafter to sustene Durynge the sege / in this towne beloke Seynge your foon / redy to be wroke Aboute you beset / on euery syde To be venged / on your great pryde I wote ryght well / ye maye them nat eschewe That they ne shall / vnto the deth pursewe You euerychone / besegyd in this place Without mercy / pyte or any grace Alas alas / why ne wyll ye besy be Ye wofull wretches / shet in the cyte With the grekes / for to seke pees Or the swerde of vengeaunce / mercylees On hye and lowe / do execucy owne And or this noble / worthy royall towne Euersyd be / and ybrought to nought Why lyste ye nat / consydre in your thought How the Modres / with theyr childresmale In stretes shall / with face dede and pale Lye mordred there / thorugh grekes cruelte And yonge maydens / in captyuyte Be wepe shall / in myserye and who Theyr seruytute / and this towne also

So famous ryche / alas it is pyte With grekes fyre / shall destroyed be In shorte tyme / sothly this no were ••leyne of vs / alas is bought to dere Syth for hyr sake / we shall euerychone Pore and ryche / I excepte none An ende make / wofull and pyteous The yre of them / shalbe so furyous Vpon vs all / there is none other mene Saue oonly deth / vs to go bytwene This was the noyse / and the pyteous cry Of Cassandra / that so dredefully She gan to make / aboute in euery strete Thorugh y^• towne / whom euer she myght mete Lyke as she hadde / be out of hir mynde Tyll Pryamus / faste made hir bynde And shytte vp / it as the more routhe She was nat herde / albe she sayde trouthe For neyther wysedome / nor discrecyon Counsayle nor wyt / prudence nor reson Trouthe nor rede / without any lye Nor the spirite / of trewe prophecye Auayleth nat / nor all suche sapyence In place where / there is no audyence For be a man / inly neuer so wyse In counsaylynge / or in hye deuyse In werkynge outher / or in eloquence Eche thynge to se / in his aduertence Or it be falle / afore in his reson Amyd the Eye / of his discrecyon Yet for all this / it is the more dole Without fauour / he holden is but a fole For vnfauoured / wysedome vayleth nought Neyther trouthe / how dere that it be bought Lyke as Cassandra / for all hir wyse rede Despysed was / and taken of no hede Of them of Troye / to theyr confusyon But cruelly / ythrowen inpryson Where a whyle / I wyll leue hir dwelle And of Grekes / forth I wyll you telle.

ANd firste of all / how Pallamydes Gan to grutche / agaynst them y^• ches He beynge absent / kynge Agamenon To haue lordshyp / or domynacyon On them all / namely syth that he Was nat worthy / to suche dignyte For to gouerne so great / a myghty oost Thorugh out the worlde / come from euery cost Of kynges / prynces / so worthy of renowne For he therof / hadde indignacy owne. And sayde hymselfe / was of more poustee Amonge grekes / and gretter of degree Concludynge / that by no maner weye To his power / he ne wolde obeye In peas and werre / as by subieccyon Syth he ne was / at his eleccyon Platly affermynge / how there were but thre Whan he was chose / kynges of degre Where as thurty / were that tyme absent For whiche he swore / it was nat his entent Nor accordynge / with his oppynyon In any wyse / that Agamenon Of Grekes shulde / haue suche gouernaunce Lo what myschefe / lyeth in varyaunce Amonge lordes / whan they nat accorde For to drawe / fully by one corde Enuye is cause / of suche dyuysyon And Couetyse / of domynacyon That eueryche wolde / surmounte his felawe This cursed vyse / often hath withdrawe Hap and grace / in many regyon For whan discorde / and false discencyon Allyed ben / in hertes for to stryue Amonge lordes / that kyndh•••• may nat thryue Tyll they reformed / be agayne to pees Amonge themselfe / playnely this no lees Of whiche thynge / grekes toke hede And thought nat / ferther to procede In the matere / that Pallamydes Ymeued hadde / amonges all the prees And thorugh theyr wyt / they set all in quyete And made hym / his rancour for to lete And to accorde / fully in his herte But nowe muste / I my style agayne dyuerte Vnto the werre / and telle the manere After the trewes / how they mette yfere.

LYke as the storye / maketh mencyon The worthy kynge / great Agamenon Whan the trewes / were passyd and ygone In all haste / he gan ordayne anone With all myght / and waker dylygence Deuoyde of slouthe / and neclygence To sette his wardes / full auysely And to Achylle / he full prudently The firste warde / cōmytteth for to lede And the seconde / vnto Dyomede. The thyrde also / to kynge Menelay And the fourthe / on the same day

••e hadde Menestee / the Duke of Athene At his ledynge / in stele armed clene And other wardes / folowynge by and by Agamanon the kynge / full manfully Ordayned hath / how they shall procede As he that was / in all his werke and dede Full circumspect / bothe in werre and pees And worthy Ector / was nat reckles To sette his wardes / of them of the towne In knyghtly wyse / of discrecy owne And to Troylus / so yonge / so fresshe and lyght The firste warde / with many lusty knyght He hath assigned / and other wardes set So prudently / they myght be no bet And forth in haste / hym lyste no lenger byde With many worthy / rydynge by his syde Out at the gates / he went of the towne Towarde grekes / this Troyan champyowne And firste / whan he sawe the fyerse Achylle He ne coude / no lenger kepe hym stylle But sinot his hors / felly in the syde And towarde hym / cruelly gan ryde The whiche thynge / with a despytous eye Whan Achylles / sothly gan espye Agayne Ector / of manfull hardynesse With herte enuyous / gan his stede dresse And in the felde / togydre / as they mette With rounde speres / the poyntes kene whette At the encountrynge / of knyghtly excellence Eueryche other / thorugh great vyolence By very force / bare other vnto grounde As full ofte / it happeth and is founde Whan stronge / dothe mete with his perygall There is no more / but eueryche had a fall But Ector firste / of strengthe moste assured His stede agayne / hath anone recured And lefte Achylle / tho of gentyllesse And in great haste / forth he gan hym dresse Amonge grekes / and where so that he rode He kylled and slewe / all that hym withstode For w^t his swerde / he made theyr woūdes wyde And thorugh the brest / & some thorugh the syde He percy•• hath / and waged them foreuer And brake sheltroūs / & made them to disseuer For in his herte / hym thought it dydehȳ gode To bathe his swerde / in the grekes blode And this contynued / tyll that Achylles Caughte his stede / agayne amonge the prees And entrede in / amonges them of troye And with his swerde / he made large weye Sleeth and bare downe / whom y^• euer he mette For there was none / hardy hym to lette Tyll it befell / in his melancoly ••ctor he mette / rydynge sodaynely And whan they sawe / eche other come a fere Without abode / eueryche caught a spere And ran togydre / there was no more areste But Ector firste / smette hym in the breste That his spere / playnely this no tale All to shyuered / into peces smale That Achylles / of necessyte To grounde goth / it wolde none other be And vnhorsed / at the erthe lay And Ector than / in all the haste he may Enforced hym / for to catche his stede But many a greke / in this great nede Came to reskues / of this Achylles And for his loue / put themselfe in prees Thrugh help of whom / his hors he doth atta••e Enhastynge hym / with all his myght & payne To be auenged / of his great miurye And sodaynely / in his woode furye With a swerde / ful sharpe grounde and whette He smote Ector / vpon the basenet That from his sadell / he made hym to remewe The whiche stroke / he myght nat eschewe But for all that / this noble worthy knyght Of very force / thorugh his great myght Maugre his foon / his sadell hath recured As he that was / in manhode moste assured And sodaynely / in herte / he wexed so wrothe That in arage / to Achylles he gothe And with his swerde / so smet hym on the hede Thorugh the basenet / that the blode all rede By his face gan / to ronne downe Lyke a ryuer / his chekes enuyrowne But he hymselfe / diffendeth as a knyght And tho of newe / began the cruell fyght At wene them two / to se that it was wonder For euery stroke / great as dent of thonder Range in the eyre / for none wolde other spare And this the sothe / in theyr fyght they fare Lyke woode Tygres / or bores in theyr rage Or sterne bulles / whan they be sauage That it sempte / in very sothfastnesse If these two / so full of worthynesse Contune longe / in fyghtynge and endure The tone or bothe / of cruell aduenture Muste haue be dede / of necessyte The whiche thynge / hadde be pyte

Bycause they were / worthy knyghtes bothe But whyle that they / in fyghtyng fell & wrothe Moste besy were / the grekes to begynne With theyr wardes / for to entre inne And they of Troye / the storye maketh mynde On theyr party / lefte nat behynde But in the felde / enhaste them euerychone In knyghtly wyse / to mete with theyr fone That with the prease / here and also yonder The knyghtes two / seueryd were a sonder And tho came in / sterne Dyomede With the knyghtes / whiche he dyde lede Full lustely / in the selue place With whom hath mette / proudely in the face Whorthy Troylus / on his hors backe That neuer hadde / yet in manhode lacke And as they countre / the storye dothe vs lere Eueryche vnhorsed / knyghtly hath his fere But firste his hors / recureth Dyomede And in all haste / gan hym spede To assayle Troylus / stondynge vpon foote And whan he sawe / there was none other bote As knyghtly yet / as euer dyde man Agaynst hym / diffende hym tho began But Dyomede / hote as any fyre Wonder enuyous / and hatefull of desyre With his swerde / of rancour for the nones The ryche Cercle / full of ynde stones That was that tyme / on Troylus basenet Full cruelly / hath racyd of and smet But Troylus ne wolde / for all y^t hym w^tdrawe For hym diffendynge / he hath the stede slawe On whiche sat / that tyme Dyomede That maugre hym / he muste alyght nede And whan they were / on fote bothe twayne They dyd theyr myght / and theyr cruell payne Eueryche of them / other to assayle With swerdes sharpe / so that plate and mayle They gan to seuere / and a sonder race As woode lyons / with mortall chere and face Tyll the Grekes / stronge stoute and felle As myn Auctour / in his boke can telle Haue thorugh theyr myght / made Dyomede Sodaynely / to recure a stede And Troyan knyghtes / on the tother syde Haue Troylus brought / a stede for to ryde And whan they were / horsed bothe two Without more / agayne togydre they go With stronge foynes / and yfere ran Eche at other / as felly as they can Tyll at the laste / cruell Dyomede Lyke as ye may / in myn Auctour rede Were it by case / hap / or aduenture In whiche no man / fully may assure Or by Fortune / with hir false vysage Hadde that tyme / of Troylus a vauntage For he on hym / was falle at myschese The whiche thynge / to hym was no reprefe Though he hym toke / amonge so great aroute On euery halfe / with grekes set aboute Syth doutous euer / is the fyne of fyght Now vp / now downe / now derk & after bryght For no wyght may / be aye victoryous In peas nor werre / nor ylyche Eurous Let euery man / syth hap is sette in doute Take his tourne / as it cōmeth aboute Though troylus now / was take of dyomede Another tyme / he shall hym quyte his mede For as the storye / telleth in this place This Dyomede / but a lytell space Troylus ladde / forth as prysonere That to reskewes / in stele armed clere Many Troyan / came pryckynge in this nede That maugre all / the myght of Dyomede They Troylus haue / from his handes take And tho began / the slaughter for his sake On euery halfe / that wonder is to telle Of the Troyans / and the Grekes felle Than into felde / is entrede Menelay Whiche on Troyans / all that ylke day Full besy was / auenged for to be To them he hadde / so cruell enmyte And whan Parys / sawe hym in the felde Towardes hym / the right waye he helde And of purpose / they theyr wardes sette Eche on other / tyll they togydre mette And tho the skarmysshe / & the slaughter gan On outher parte / of many manly man And all this whyle / Ector ne wolde cease Amonge grekes / cruelly to prease And new and new / of hym as I rede A lyke fresshe / the blode of them to shede For of his swerde / the traces were ysene That the grekes / myght nat sustene To resyste / nor stande afore his face But where he rode / aye they gaue hym place ¶Tyll that aknyght / whiche Boetes hyght Yonge of age / whan he hadde a syght How Ector slewe / the Grekes mortally On euery syde / hauynge no mercy

He presyd in / to encrease his name Perpetuelly / to purchace hym a fame And furyously / in herte nat afferde He caste hym platly / to mete hym in the berde The whiche thynge / whan Ector gan aduerte So hye raucour / enbracyd hath his herte That with his swerde / of indignacyowne He rofe hym / euen to the nauell downe Fro the crowne / with so great a payne That in the felde / he partyd lay in twayne And Ector tho / assygned hath his stede To a squyer / and bad he shulde it lede To troye towne / without more abode And all this whyle / furyously he rode Amonge Grekes / and euer mercylees He slewe all the / that put them selfe in prees And shadde theyr blode / of herte despytous The whiche thynge / whan kynge Archylogus Rydynge besyde / sawe and gan espye How Boetes / his cosyn and allye So cruelly was / of Ector slawe Towardes hym / in haste he gan hym drawe Vpon his deth / auenged for to be And tode at hym / with great cruelte Fully in purpose / Ector for to quyte And sodaynely / as he gan at hym smyte Ector vnwarely / hyt hym on the hede So myghtely / that he felle downe dede Partyd on two / by cruell aduenture Natwithstādyng / his myghty stronge armure Agayne his stroke / it was of no diffence For it was gyuen / with suche vyolence That it holpe hym / in no maner thynge. And than anone / Prochenor the kynge Of hatefull yre / and foole hardynesse Of surquedye / and of hastynesse Of melancolye / and indignacyon Caught in his herte / a presumpcyon To assayle Ector / of inwarde foly pryde And goth to hym / a trauerse on the syde Furyously / with a despytous herte That his cōmynge / he myght nat aduerte Oonly for he came at his backe behynde And vnwarely / in Guydo as I fynde And Ector smote / from his hors to grounde In whom there was / so moch manhode foūde That he anone / with a knyghtly herte Without abode / into his sadell sterte And right fyersly / Prothen or purseweth That fynally his honde / he nat escheweth For with his swerde / he marked hym so wele Thorugh basenet / by his breste of stele That into twayne / withoute any fayle He roofe hym downe / into his paunce of mayle And he felle downe / in full pyteous wyse Of whiche stroke / the grekes sore agryse And specyally / the hardy fyerse Achylle Whan he behelde / lyked full ylle For Phothenor / was his nye cosyne And descendyd / of the same lyne For deth of whom / he hath suche heuynesse So inwarde thought / and so great distresse In all this worlde / he ne wyste what to do For hym he had / so moche payne and wo And for the deth / of Archylogus To be auenge / he was full desyrous And in his herte / many waye he caste And in the wardes / gan to seke faste With many greke / on Ector to haue falle Conspyred fully in soth amonge them alle Of one entent / Ector to assayle But all for nought / it wolde nat auayle He was that day / so cruell in his rage They myght of hym / haue none auauntage And Troyan knyghtes / by fauour of Fortune Vpon Grekes / so myghtely contune Thorugh conueyinge / of Ector and his myght That they anone / haue them put to flyght And to theyr tentes / maugre who that stryue In their pursuyte / for woūded they them dryue That here and there / they laye in aswowe And many a greke / mercyles they slowe The longe day / tyll it drewe to nyght And sothly than / for very lacke of lyght These troyan knyght{is} / full worthy of renowne Aboute Ector / repayre to the towne And entre in / with honour and with glorye That day of grekes / hauynge the victorye And thus I leue them / in theyr towne within And forth of Grekes / telle I wyll begyn.

WHan Esperus / the fayre bryght sterre Agaynst eue / caste his stremys ferre And in the west / rathest gan appere Whan the twylyght / with a pale chere In maner morneth / the absence of the sonne And nyght approcheth / with his copys donne The same tyme / whan Tytan / toke his leue That clerkes calle / crepusculum at eue Whiche is nat ellys / but the meane lyght

Of Phebus absence / and the derke nyght And twylyght hatte / for it is a mene Of daye and nyght / departynge them betwene Fully nouther / but of bothe meynt Or the heuen / be clustred and depeynt With bryght sterrys / in the euenynge

AT whiche tyme / Agamenon the kynge For his lordes / sodaynely hath sent To come echone / anone / into his tent And whan they were / assembled all yfere Tryst and heuy / and with a sorefull chere They gan y^• slaughter / of Ector to complayne Affermyng playnly / they myght neuer attayne Vnto victorye / whyle he were a lyue Wherfore they gan / to conspyre blyue The deth of hym / in many sondry weye Echone concludynge / whyle he were in Troye It was nat lykely / Grekes for to wynne For he alone / of them that were withinne Was chefe diffence / and proteccy owne And soueraynely / vpholder of the towne Theyr myghty Castell / and theyr stronge wall And vnto grekes / dedely foo mortall For they ne myght / his great force endure Nor neuer a right / agayne theyr foos be sure He standynge hole / they sayde in no degre Nor whyle he floureth / in Felycyte Wherfore echone / of one entencyon They condescende / to this conclusyon That by some sleyghte / of awayte lymge Whan he were moste besy / in fyghtynge Amonge them / in myschefe or distresse That Achylles / do his besynesse With all his myght / vnwarely hym to assayle That hym to slee / for no thynge that he fayle And grekes all / gan theyr prayer make To Achylles / for to vndertake Of this Empresse / fynally the sute Thorugh his manhode / that it be execute The hasty deth / of theyr mortall foo And Achylles / without wordes moo Theyr request / assenteth to parfourme And to theyr luste / gan hooly hym confourme For that tyme / let hym beware I rede To be to hasty / this iourne for to spede Vpon Ector / his power for to kythe Lyste Fortune / a wronge hir face wrythe To loke on hym / with a frowarde chere Hym to brynge / vnto his handes nere Thorugh sorte or hap / of Ector folylye To put his lyfe / of deth in Ieopartye Lyste vnto hym / it happe euen lyche To falle hymsefe / in the same dyche That he for Ector / compassed hath and shape For it is wonder / if that he escape Syth Ector hadde / without any drede As brennynge yre / and as great hatrede To Achylles / his deth for to puruey If he hym founde / or in place sey Conuenyent / for execucyon I trowe there shulde / hym gayne no raunson Nor other mede / his herte to quyete But onely deth / whan so that they mete This the ende / and fyne of this matere As in this boke / after ye shall here And thus Grekes / made haue an ende Of theyr counsayle / and an one they wende Eueryche of them / home to theyr lodgynge And toke theyr reste / tyll the morenynge.