The hystorye, sege and dystruccyon of Troye

Here begynneth the Thyrde Boke / That telleth howe the Troy ans yssued out on the morowe and fought with the Grekes / and how valyauntly Ector bare hymselfe that daye. Capitulo .xxij.

[illustration]

WHan Aurora / with hyr pale lyght Vnder y^• mantel / of y^• myrke nyght And the curtyne / of hyr hewes fade Yshroudyde was / in y^e derke shade Abasshed rody / as I can desyre Oonly of hyr / that is Femynyne For ashamed / durste nat be seyne Bycause she hadde / so longe a bedde leyne With fresshe Phebus / her owne chosen knyght For whiche she hydde hyr / sothely out of syght Tyll his stede / that called is Flegonte Enhasted hym / aboue oure Oryzonte And Appollo / with his bemys clere Hath recomforted hyr oppressed chere This to saye / after the dawnynge Whan Tytan was / in Eest rysynge Of his hete atempre / and right softe Hyr Emysperye / for to glade a lofte. The same houre / the Troyan champyowne Gouernour of werres / of the towne Worthy Ector / whiche in the Cyte Next Pryam hadde of all / the souereynte The towne to guyde / by knyghtly excellence For his manhode / and his sapyence Of Troyan knyghtes / lorde & eke cheuetayne Whiche hath cōmaunded / in a large playne To hye and lowe / he exceptynge none Kynges / Pryces / and lordes euerychone

The same morowe for to mete Yfere In theyr arraye / to mustre and apere Lyke as they were / of name and of estate Besyde a temple / whylom consecrate To the goodes / that called is Dyane Moste honoured in this ryche faane There to array them / in all the haste they can Lyke the deuyse / of this knyghtly man And this playne passynge fayre to se Was sette amydde / of Troye the Cyte Smothe & right fayre / & full of fresshe floures Where all the worthy / noble werryoures Of troye towne togydre assembled be And many other / to beholde and se The famous knyghtes / arme them in y^• place And some of them / gan full streyte lace Theyr doublettes made / of lynnen clothe A certayne folde / that aboute hym gothe And some also dempte moste sureste To 〈◊〉〈◊〉 them / for batayle of ar••ste And dyde on firste / after theyr desyres Sabatous greues cussues with voydres A payre breche / alder firste of mayle And some there were / eke that ne wolde fayle To haue of mayle / a payre bras And therwithall / as the custome was A payregussettes / on a pety cote Garnysshed with golde / vp vnto the throte A paunce of plate / whiche of the selfe behynde Was shet and close / and theron as I fynde Enuyron was / abordure of smalle mayle And some chose / of the newe entayle For to be surmyd / of all their foos An hole breste plate / with arere doos Behynde shet / or elles on the syde And on his armes / rynged nat to wyde There were voyders / frettyd in the mayle With cordes rounde / and of fresshe entayle Vambras with wynges / and rerebras therto And theron sette / were besaguys also Vpon the hede / a basenet of stele That within / locked was full wele A crafty syght / wrought in the vyser And some wolde haue / of plate a bauer That on the breste / fastened be aforne The canell pece / more esy to be borne Gloues of plate / of stele forged bryght ¶And some wolde / armed be more lyght In thykkes Iackes / couered with satyne & some wolde haue / of mayle wrought ful fyne An hawberion / all of late wrought cassade That with weyghte / he be nat ouer lade Hymsefe to welde / lyke a lyfly man And some wyll haue / of choce geseran On his doublet / but an hawberion And some oonly / but a sure gepon Ouer his poleyns / rechynge to thekne And that the ••••euys / eke so longe be That his vambras / may be cured ner A pryckynge palet / of plate the cower And some wyll haue / also no vyser To saue his face / but oonly anaser And some wyll haue / a payre platys lyght To welde hym well / whan that he shall fyght And some wyll haue / a target or a spere And some a pauys / his body for to were And some a targe made / stronge to laste And some wyll haue / dartes / for to caste Some a pollax / heded of fyne stele And pycked square / for to laste wele And some a swerde / his enemy for to mete And some wyll haue / a bowe for to shete Some an arblast / to stande out asyde ¶And some on foot / and some for to tyde Array themsesfe / their foomen for to sayle And many one was / besy for to nayle His felawes harneys / for to make it stronge And to dresse / it sytte nat wronge With poyntes / tresshes / & other maner thynge That in suche case / longeth to armynge I haue no connynge / euery thynge to telle And vnto you / were to longe to dwelle Where I fayle / ye mot haue me excused For in suche crafte / I am lytell vsed And ignoraunce / doth my penne lette In theyr ordre / my termys for to sette And ofte chaungeth / suche harneys and deuyse And ye that be therin / expert and wyse Dysdayne nat / that I speke in this place Of theyr armynge / for all is in your grace Right at your lyste / to correcte euery dell And whan Ector sawe / that all was well And euery armed / and arrayed This worthy knyght / no lenger hath delayed Aduysely his wardes / for to make And prudently / badde they shulde take Theyr grounde in haste / to put all in certayne And stande in ordre / endelonge the playne So that no man / were founde recheles And the gate called / Dardanydes

Without abode / Ector made vnshette And after bad / that men shulde fette To his presence / that it were done in haste Cyncynabor / his brother borne in baste And vnto hym / firste of euerychon And to a lorde / that named was Glaucon The kynges sone / of Lycye and his heyre With many baner / displayed in the eyre To this two / Ector gaue the guarde And gouernaunce / of the firste warde In which he hath / a thousande knyghtes sette With speres rounde / and swerdes kene whette And on theyr breste / full many ryche shelde And they werechosen out / in all the felde Amonge the beste / that endure myght Agayne grekes / manly for to fyght And vnto them / Ector bad anone In goddes name / that they shulde gone Out at the gate / sothely as I rede And ie••te they fylle / in myschefe or in nede He assygned / in the selfe place With manly chere / to the kynge of Trace Wysely on hym / to be awaytynge A thousande knyghtes / to haue at his ledynge In a wenge knyghtly / for to abyde To wayte on hym / vpon euery syde And with hym / was his sone Archylogus Of his age / a man right vertuous To fulfylle / that longeth to a knyght For bothe he had herte / and also myght And next to them / Ector gan deuyse The next warde / to the kynge of Fryse That in his tyme / called zantipus And vnto hym / yonge stronge and desyrous He assygned to wayte / on his vanere Thre thousande knyght{is} / armed bryght & clere With whiche warde / kynge Alchomus also Of Ector / was cōmaunded for to go And to his byddynge / he mekely dyde obeye And full knyghtly / they haue take theyr weye Out at the gate / passyngly arrayed Towarde grek{is} / with baners fresshe displayed And theyr penons / vnrolled euerychone And after Ector assygned / hath anone To the noble / yonge lusty free His brother Troylus / so fresshe vpon to se Whiche in knyghthode / had all suffysaunce The thirde warde / to haue in gouernaunce With .iii. thousande knyghtes / yonge of age Flourynge in force / hardy of courage Suche as he was / of custome wont to lede To whom Ector / of very bretherhede Full goodly spake & sayde / at his departynge Brother quod he / my herte is so louynge Towardes the / of very kyndenesse That though I haue / in partye great gladnesse Of thy manhode / that so ferre is kouthe And the knyghthode / of thy grene youthe Yet douteles / in my fantasye Full ofte a daye / I stonde in Iupardye Of pensyfehede / and in warde besy drede Whan I remembre / vpon thy manhede Lest thy courage / be to vyolent Of thy lyfe / to be neclygent Thy selfe to put / to ferre in aduenture Of surquydrye / so moche to assure In thy force / kynghtly to a sterte Euery peryll / in thy manfull herte Hauynge no rewarde / in suche mortall stryfe Of wylfulnesse / nouther to deth nor lyfe Nor aduertence / to thy sauacyowne But as fortune / turneth vp and downe Hyr whele meuable / hye and after lowe In Martys Ire / as the wynde doth blowe Whiche causeth me / full ofte syghe and thynke And to wake / whan I shulde wynke Reuoluynge / aye thy hasty wylfulnesse But gentyll brother / for any hardynesse Thus ylke day / vpon euery syde I praye the so wysely / to prouyde For hate or yre / thy foos pursuynge Nat to excede / more than is syttynge But let prudence / the kepe in a mene And wysdome eke / holde agayne the reyne Of thy herte / and thy fyers courage That fyred haue / thy grene tendre age Deuoyde of drede / eche peryll to endure That our enemyes / of thy mysauenture Reioysenat / myn owne brother dere And myghty mars / I praye of herte entere Thus euery day / on Troyans grounde From theyr handes / the to kepe sounde Lyke as I wolde / that he dyde me To whom / anone with all humylyte In manly wyse / this yonge iusty knyght This worthy Troylus / of herte fresshe & lyght Answered agayne / and sayd with glad chere Myn owne lorde / and my brother dere And god to fore / I fully shall obeye To fulfylle / what you lyste to seye

Now vnto me / of your gentyllesse And nat declyne / thorugh none reklesnesse In any poynt / from your cōmaundement But with hole herte / in all my best entent I shall take hede / and playnely do none other Than ye haue sayde / myn owne lord & brother So lothe me were / offende you or greue And in this wyse / he lowly toke his leue And forth herode / so lyke a manly knyght That to beholde / it was a noble syght Amonge his men / he behaueth hym so wele Thre thousande knyght{is} / armed in bryght stele Enuyron rode / with Troylus into felde And that day / he bare in his shelde Passant of golde / iij. lyons rychely The chaumpe of asure / wrought full craftely And by the gate / he yssued out anone And with hym ladde / his knyghtes euerychone To the grekes / holdynge the next waye And Ector hasteth / all that euer he maye Prudently / his wardes to ordayne And to the noble / worthy bretherne twayne To kynge Hupon / and to Ardelaus He assygned / the storye telleth thus The fouthe warde / to guye and to wysse And in the lande / that called was larysse The bretherne two / hadde reygned longe And kynge Hupon / was passyngly stronge And of stature / lyke a chaumpyowne And saue Ector / in all Troye towne Was none to hym / egall as of myght More delyuere / nor a better knyght And on his foon / passynge despytous Whiche with his brother / called Ardelaus Foure thousande knyghtes / hadde for to lede And seuen thousande / sothly as I rede And to them lyke / as wrytte Guydo Worthy Ector / assygned hath also One of his bretherne / called Brymarchus A noble knyght / in armes right famous And hadde in manhode / passynge excellence And of Ector / they taken haue lycence And rode theyr waye / amonge all the prces Thorughe the gate / of Dardanydes. The fyfte warde / to haue at his ledynge Was by Ector / cōmytted to the kynge That of Cesoyne lorde / and prynce was And to his brother / called Pollydamas And Cysones / were of hye stature And myghty in armes / passyngly endure Vpon whom / full many man behelde And theyr kynge / bare no thynge in his shelde But a felde of Gowlys / as I fynde Of other sygne / Guydo maketh no mynde And forth he rode / a full sterne pas This noble kynge / and Pollydamas Whan they hadde / of Ector leue take Whiche euer in one / full besy was to make The sixte warde / with all his dylygence And to the kynge / called Pretemense That was full worthy / bothe in werre & pees And to a Duke / that hyght Sterepes Whiche was also / full worthy of his honde He toke the folke / of Pauonye londe Them to gouerne / in the felde that daye The whiche people / hath in custome aye Without plate / hawberion or mayle On swyfte hors / theyr foomen for to assayle With myghty bowes / & arrowes sharpe groūde Thorugh an harneys / mortally to wounde And with this folke / of Ector eke also Deyphebus / assygned was to go In the felde / to guyde them and to lede And on theyr waye / they faste gan them spede But or they passe / by Dardanydes Full discrtely / Ector for them chees Pauyseres / cladde in mayle and plate Them cōmaundynge / at yssynge of the gate And with the Archers / into felde to gone And many worthy / well armed euerychone To awayte on them / that they were nat lore For this folke / that I of spake tofore Of Pauonye / hadde none armure But prudent Ector / for to make them sure Out of Agrest / the myghty regyowne Hath chosen out / full worthy of renowne The beste knyghtes / of them euerychon And with two kynges / Esdras and Phyon Assygned them / for to take hede To the fotemen / whan that they haue nede The whiche Phyon / made full rychely Rode in a chare / all of Yuory Of whiche the wheles / wrought full curyous Were of a tree / Ycalled Ebenus The whiche tree / groweth ferre in ynde Blacke of hewe / and also as I fynde Whan it is korue / this tree wyll wexe anone Of his nature / harde as any stone Whan it is graue / eyther rounde or square And of pure golde / roued was this chare

Fret with perle / and many ryche stonys That such a nother / I trowe now ther none is In all this worlde / it I shall nat fayne And it was ladde / of myghty knyght{is} twayne Men of armes / within and withoute Armed in stele / rydynge rounde aboute This worthy kynges / Esoras and Phyon And Ector hath called / to hym anone One of his bretherne / what so that be falle To be guyde / and leder of them alle. The name of whom / was Pyktagoras And to the great / Troyan Eneas Of whom tofore / made is mencyon Ector / by goode delyberacyon The .vij. warde / assygned hath to kepe And vpon stedys / lusty for to lepe Of suche as were / vsed moche to ryde Full manly knyghtes / to houe by his syde Whiche with Emphranye / vnto Troye towne Come so ferre / from theyr regyowne To fostre them / for Ectors sake And whan they hadde / of hym leue take They rode full proudely / forthe with Eneas Out at the gate / a wonder knyghtly pas The brode felde / tyll they haue atteyned And in this whyle / Ector hath ordayned Lyke myn Auctour / as I can reherce The eyght warde / of the folke of Perce Worthy knyghtes / manly and ryght wyse The whiche were / cōmytted to Paryse On hym that day / to awayte besyly To whom Ector / full benyngnely Spake and sayde / at his departynge O brother myn / in all maner thynge Whan thou art passed / by Dardanydes This daye to ferre / put the nat in prees Amonge grekes / nor in Iupardye Leste thy foon / in myschefe the espye To whom they haue / of olde and newe date In theyr hertes full fresshe / and mortall hate The fyre of which / their breste hath so enbraced That it were harde / out to be arraced Wherfore brother / loke that thou be In all wyse / nat to ferre fro me But kepe the nye / that no mysauentoure Falle vpon the / so that I may socoure This day to the / myn owne brother dere To whom Parys / with full humble chere Answered and sayde / that in euery thynge He wolde obeye / vnto his byddynge And rode his waye / anone with his meyne Into the felde / out of the Cyte And Ector / aye dyde his besynesse The nynthe warde / in ordre for to dresse Whiche he thought / hymselfe for to lede In whiche he put / sothly as I rede Fyue thousande knyght{is} / borne of troye towne The worthyest / and grettest of renowne And passyngly famous / in knyghthode Borne by descent / of troyans blode. ¶And of his bretherne / he toke with hym ten Suche as he knewe / for moost manly men That were forayne / fro stocke of regallye Out of the lyne / borne in bastardye Whom Ector had / in great chyerte For the knyghthode / he coude in themse And whan he hadde / by knyghtly purueaunce All his wardes set / in gouernaunce Lyke Mars hymselfe / faste gan hym spede Without abode / for to take his stede Whiche was in bokes / called Gallathe Of all hors / hauynge the soueraygnete As ferre as men / ryde in any coste Of whom Dares / maketh so great a boste Of shape of hyghte / and also of fayrenesse Of strengthe of loke / and of great swyftenesse So lyke an hors / perfourmed out and oute And w^t a wyer / men myght hym turne aboute Lyke as Dares / maketh mencyowne Of whom Ector / rode thorugh troye towne Armed at all / that came hym wonder well From foot to hede / full rychely euerydell That shone as bryght / as sonne on somers day And to pryam / he helde the right way And whan that he / was come to the kynge He reherseth / in ordre euery thynge How he hath done / and all his ordynaunce And lowly sayde / so it be pleasaunce To your noble / royall excellence I haue chosen / with besy dylygence A thousande knyghtes / full of suffysaunce With fyue houndred / to haue attendaunce On your persone / alway where ye be With all footmen / that be in the Cyte That shall awayte / on you euer in one Wherfore my lorde / as faste as we are gone Lowly I praye / to your worthynesse To sewe vs / by good aduysenesse Out at the towne / alwaye eke that ye Togydre kepe / your knyghtes and meyne

This I beseche / with all my full myght Within the boundes / where as we shall fyght That ye suffre none / of them passe But kepe ye hole / in the selfe place At wyxe vs / and this stronge Cyte If we haue nede / that ye may aye se Vs to releue / kepynge you asyde And specyally there / for to abyde Where moste is lyckely / our partye to sustene For euer amonge / there shall men go betwene Of our expleyt / the trouthe to reporte For whiche parte / Mars lyste the felde to sorte Of his power / this ylke day fatalle For ye shalbe / our castell and our walle And our refuge / to saue vs from all smerte And specyally / one thynge ye aduerte That no disceyte / fraude nor treasowne Compassyd be behynde / to the towne Of our foon / thorugh our reklesnesse Whyles that we do / our besynesse Agaynste them / in the felde to fyght In all wyse / therto hath a syght That no thynge tourne / vnto our damage Thoughe our engyne / but worke as the sage With victorye / that we may conclude So that grekes / with fraude vs nat delude By no engyne / of vn ware vyolence Hopynge alway / that it is none offence To your hyghnes / that I haue here sayde And with that worde / Pryamus in abrayde Benyngnely of chere / and countenaunce And sayde Ector / my sothfast suffysaunce My fynall truste / and supportacion In thy wyse / disposycion Hoolly I putte / as thou lyste ordayne For next god / if I shall nat fayne My fayth my hope / and all my sykernesse And my welfare / in very sothfastnesse Cōmytted behole / into thy hande And gouernaunce / playnely of my lande As thou ordaynest / it must nedes be And this prayer / I make now for the To the goddes / aboue celestyall The to preserue / in partye and in all From eche myschefe / and aduersyte That thou mayste home / to this Cyte Repayre in honour / with laude and victorye So that the prayse / renowne and memorye Of thy name be put / in remembraunce Perpetuelly / thyne honour to auaunce And fare now well / myn owne sone dere And Ector tho / with full humble chere His leue toke / and forthe he rode anone Amonge his lordes / and knyghtes euerychone As he that was rote / of all noblesse Of knyghthod groūde / of strength & hardynesse The very stocke / and therto inuyncyble For asmoche / as it was possyble That nature myght hym graunte / or kynde Touchynge manhode / in bokes as I fynde He hadde in hym / soueraygne excellence And gouernaunce / medlyd with prudence That nought a sterte hȳ / he was so wyse & ware And in his shelde / I fynde that he bare Vpon his breste / this Troyan champyon The chief of golde / of Gowlys alyon Depeynt therm / and in his baner bete The selfe same / and so amydde the strete He toke the waye / to Dardanydes That to beholde / huge was the prees Noyse of trumpettes / and of claryons Baners vnrolled / and longe fresshe penons Of rede and whyte / grene blewe and blake And in this wyse / Ector hath I take The felde without / w^t herte and hole entent As Mars hymselfe / hadde be present And they that he / as Guydo maketh mynde Rode with the warde / that lafte was behynde Of his manhode / he wolde nat abyde But smote his stede / sherpely in the syde Of fell courage / he hath his hors so payned The firste warde / that he hath attayned By vale and hylle / to fore in the frounteres Nat astoned / of the fell cheres Of the grekes / nor platly nat aferde But lyke a knyght / euen afore theyr berde He gan prease in / as theyr foo mortall And in this whyle / vpon Troye wall In sondry place / on the hye toures As fresshe besene as May / is with his floures The ladyes be ascended / of the towne So fayre so yonge / stondynge enuyrowne The quene Eleyne / passynge fayre to sene The kynges doughtres / and goodly Polycene And many other / whiche of womanhede In herte were / full of besy drede Inly a gaste / and of fere a frayde Whan they behelde / in the felde displayde The brode baners / that some of tendernesse Some of loue / and some of kyndenesse

Pale and dredefull / for theyr lordes were And some theyr faces / hydde eke for fere That were nat bolde / to lyfte vp theyr syght To beholde the armure / clere and bryght So glyterynge / agayne the sonne shene Theyr hertes tendre / myght nat sustene And in theyr drede / thus I ••ette them dwelle

ANd of grekes / forth I shall you telle If so be / ye lyste / abyoe a whyle For now must I / my fordulled style Agayne direct / to Agamenon Well may I make / an exclamacyon On ignoraunce / that standeth so in my lyght Whiche causeth me / with a full clowdy syght In my makynge / to speke of the werre For lacke of termes / I must nedes erre Connyngely / my wardes for sette Cruell Allector / is besy me to lette The nyghtes doughter / blynded by derkenesse By crafte of armes / the trouthe to expresse In ordre dewe / a felde to descryue And Chauncer now / alas is nat alyue Me to refourme / or to be my rede For lacke of whom / slower is my spede The noble Rethor / that all dyde excelle For in makynge / he dranke of the welle Vnder Pernaso / that the muses kepe On whiche hylle / I myght neuer slepe Vnneth slombre / for whiche alas I playne But for all this / there is no more to sayne Thoughe my wede / be nat Polymyte Coloures forth / I wyll endyte As it cometh / euen to my thought Playnely to wryte / how y^• kynghath wrought The manly knyght / great Agamenon Lyke as the Latyn / maketh mencyou. ¶What troweye / that he in his entent Was founde slowe / outher neclygent On grekes halfe / his wardes for to make Nay nay nat so / for hym lyste to wake That tyme more / sothly than to slepe For lyke a kynge / that day the felde to kepe No neclygence / myght his herte fade For in that daye / I fynde that he made Sixe and twenty wardes / by and by So well deuysed / and so prudently That no man myght / amende his ordynaunce And of the firste / he gaue gouernaunce. To the manfull / noble Patroclus That w^t hym ladde / myn Auctour telleth thus Myrundones / so myghty and so stronge With all the folke / that to Achylles longe Besyde thylke / that were of his meyne Whiche that he brought / out of his countre At his cōmynge / to the sege of Troye And he rode forth / with them on his waye Into the felde / and made no delay Now fyll it so / on the same day That Achylles kepte hym / in his tente And for sykenesse / that daye out ne wente For his lechesse / made hym to abstene For his woundes / fresshe were and grene That he caught / on the day tofore Whiche for to hele / of theyr akynge sore He by counsayle / kepte hymselfe close And from his bed / that day nat ne rose In hope oonly / the bettre to endure Whan that he was / restored vnto cure But all his men / he toke to Patroclus Whiche was marmes / passyngely famous And be descent / come of great kynrede And was also / of hym as I rede Haboundaunt of golde / and of rychesse And ferre cōmended / for his gentyllesse And hadde a name / of hye discresyon Now were they aye / of suche affeccyon Of entyer loue / trouthe and faythfulnesse So great desyre / and inwarde kyndenesse Besy thenkynge / and so great feruence So moche frenshyp / & thoughtfull aduertence So huge brennynge / passynge amerous Betwyxe Achylles / and this Patroclus That theyr hertes were / locked in a chayne And what so euer / if I shall nat fayne The ton hath wrought / as broder vnto brother In herte it was / confermed of the tother For wyll and goodes / bothe were comune And to the deth / they euer so contune Without chaunge / theyr loue so abode ¶And Patroclus / forth anone hym tode Into the felde / with Myrundones And in his tente / abyteth Achylles The seconde warde / to kynge Meryon Assygned was / by Agamenon. And to the worthy kynge / Ydumenee And to a Duke / that hyght Menestee Thre thousande knyghtes / in stele armed clene With all the folke / that came from Athene Assygned were / with them for to go

The thyrde warde / to kynge Astalapho And to his sone / that hyght Phylymene With the knyghtes that came / for cu••ene The fourthe warde / without more lettynge To Archelaus / the noble worthy kynge To Prothenor / and to Securydan Whiche in his dayes / was so stronge a man Assygned was / hoolly to this thre And all the knyghtes / with them for to be Of Boece / the great lande famous The fyfte warde / to kynge Menelaus With all the folke / of the regyowne Called Spertence / of full hye renowne And of Iles / that were adiacent All thyse / with the baner went Of Menelay / fresshe and couragyous The .vi. warde / to kynge Epystrophus Was assygned / and to the kynge Elyde With many worthy / rydynge by his syde Of the prouynce / and the famous Yle That called is / in Guydo Fordesyle. The .vii. warde / to Thelamonyus Called Ayax / the great kynge famous Was assygned / s••or••ely to termyne With the to••kes / that fro Salamyne He with hym brought / and many another mo And foure Erles / with hym went also Theseus / and eke Amphymacus And the thyrde / called Daryus And the fourthe / named Polysarye The .viij. warde / if I shall nat tarye By good aduyse / that daye assygned was Vnto the kynge / that called was Thoas. Ayar Cyleus the .ix. warde ladde And the .x. kynge / of Phylyk hadde And to the kynge / the .xi. he dyde assygne That sothely was / bothe of berthe and lyne So renowmed / and of so great encrease The myghty kynge / called Pallamydes Kynge Nawlus sone / hyest borne of blode And duke Nestor / full famous in knyghthode The .xij. warde / ladde on Grekes syde Melancolyke / and surquedous of pryde. And kynge Honux / sone of one Mabente Into the felde / playnely whan he wente In ordre hadde / of wardes the thyrtene Proudely mustrynge endelonge the grene Agayne Troyans / redy for to fyght And eke the kynge / that Vlyxes hyght Ladde with hym / the fourtene as I ••ede And Humerus the kynge / eke dyde lede The fy••••eneth / myne Auctour wryteth thus And a Duke / called Curybulus The syxteneth / ladde / vpon that daye In whiche the kynght / of kyng Prothesylaye Assygned were / by great ordynaunce To enforce them / for to do vengaunce Vpon the deth of theyr worthy kynge By Ector slayne / at grekes arryuynge. And kynge Roydo / ladde the seuentene And he that was kynge / of Occymene. The .xviij. warde / hadde at his ledynge And zantipus / that was of lyde kynge Hadde to kepe / cōmytted to his garde On grekes syde / the .xix. warde. And the .xx. myn Auctour / lerneth vs Hadde the kynge / called Amphymacus Lyke a knyght / to guyde them and to wysse And Phylocetes / that was kynge of larysse The one and twenty / ladde eke as I rede The two and twenty / hadde Dyomede And Heneus / kynge of Cyparye That was whylom / so noble and so worthy The thre and twenty / hadde in gouernayle And the Troyans / proudely for to assayle The xxiiij. with swerde / spere and shelde Bynge Prothaylus / ladde into the felde And Carpenor / of Carpedye kynge In werre expert / and right wyse in workynge The fyue and twenty / ryche and well besayne On grekes syde / brought into the playne The sixe and twenty / sothely and the laste As he that coudese afore / and caste Euery thynge / by good inspeccyon The wyse kynge / the great Agamenon Hadde with hym / this prudent werryour As he that was / ordayned Emperour Of grekes hoost / as wysest of echone And in this wyse / forthe the grekes gone In the felde / with pompe full royall With the ensygnes / and tokens marcyall Haue take theyr grounde / passyngely arrayed And on theyr standardes / rychely displayed Brode banerys / and many fresshe penowne Agayne the wynde / y^t made an hydous sowne And right dredefull / playnely for to here And theremen sawe / many crestys clere And many tufte of golde / and syluer shene Meynt with fetheres / redde whyte and grene And deuyse / wonder incruaylous

And of folkes / that were amerous The tokens borne / to shewe openly How they in loue / brente inwardly Some hye empryse / that day to fulfylle And there were herde / the loude noyses shrylle Ferre in the felde / and the dredefull souns Bothe of trumpettes / and of claryouns That the kalendes / of shedynge out of blode And with the noyse / almoste for rage wode The fomy brydelles / and the mouthes blede And furyous neyhyng / of many bastarde stede Praunsynge of hors / vpon eyther syde With all the ensygnes / that myght be of pryde On grekes partye / and on troye also In knyghtly wyse / for to haue a do Euery warde / standynge in his place The firste a sonder / but a lytell space Began to a reproche / with all their full entent And Ector tho / full vnpacyent Formest of all / on the syde of Torye The Ire of whome / no man myght accoye But lyke a Lyon / in his hungry rage Yssued out / furyous of vysage Towarde grekes / on his myghty stede That with his spores / made his sydes blede His knyghtly herte / so inly was to torne Of mortall Ire / and as he rode toforne Brennynge full hote / in his melancolye The whiche thynge / whan grekes gan espye. Patroclus / without more abode Of surquedye / afore the wardes rode Out all toforne / in bothe hoostes syght For to encountre / playnely if he myght With worthy Ector / whan he hym sawe a ferre And as right lyne / as is Dyameterre Rode vnto hym / in his hatefull tene And with a spere / sherpe grounde and kene Thorughout his shelde / of enuyous rage He smote Ector / without more damage Excepte oonly / that the hede of stele That was afore forged / and whet full wele Thorugh plate & mayle / myghtely gan glace But to the skynne / for no thyng myght it trace Albe it came / of passynge vyolence Yet to Ector / it dyde none offence Out of his sadell / ones hym to flytte For though that he / sturdely hym hytte He myght nat bakwarde / bowe his chyne Nor on no partye / make hym to enclyne But fatally / to his confusyon This myghty man / this troyan champyon In his Ire / aye brennynge more and more Vpon hym / the hate frat so sore Left his spere / myne Auctor wryteth thus And with a swerde / rode to Patroclus Auysed fully / that he shalbe dede And furyously / gan ayme at his hede And rofe hym downe / theyr was no maner let Into the breste / thorugh his basenet As sayth Guydo / with so great a payne That with his stroke / he parted hym it wayne His mortall swerde / whetted was so kene That Patroclus / myght nat sustene Vpon his hors / but fyll downe to grounde As he that caught / his laste fatall wounde Beynge present / his knyghtes euerychone And delyuerly / vpon hym anone Worthy Ector / from his stede a downe Descendyd is / lyke a wode lyowne Of hatefull Ire / brennynge as the fyre Hauynge in herte / inly great desyre To spoyle hym / of his armure anone In whiche there was / full many ryche stone Bothe of rubyes / and Saphyres ynde For that dayes / playnely as I fynde Kynges lordes / and knyghtes this no naye To batayle went / in theyr beste araye And sothly Ector / whan he firste gan se The multytude of stones / and pe••re On Patro••lus / so oryent and sheyne Vpon his arme / he hynge his hors reyne The meane whyle / whyle he of hole entent To catche his praye / was so dylygent Of couetyse / in theyr alder syghtes Tyll Meryon / with thre thousāde knyghtes Armed in stele / rounde aboute hym alle Is sodaynely / vpon Ector falle The dede corps / of Patroclus to saue That his purpose / Ector may nat haue At lyberte / the ryche kynge to spoyle Whiche caused hym / in angre for to boyle To whom the kynge / called Meryon Irous and wode / sayde amonge echon O gredy Lyon / O wolfe moste tauynous O hatefull Tygre / passynge enuyous Of Auaryce / O beste in saturable And of desyre / sothly vnstaunchable. Vpon this praye / thou shalt y^• nat now fede Go elles where / to sewe for thy mede For truste well / in conclusyon

Fyfty thousande / to thy destruccyon Of one entent / playnely wyll nat fayle Thyne hatefull pry••e / attones for to assayle And sodaynely with speres / sharpe whette On euery halfe / they gan hym besette Maugre his force / his myght & his manhode Enforcynge them to a refte hym his stede That soth fastely / of great vyolence He constrayned / for all his stronge defence As sayth Guydo to falle vpon his kne But thorugh his myght / and magnanymyte He of manhode / hath his horse recured And maugre grekes / is so moche assured In his strengthe / and in his great myght That he recured / lyke a worthy knyght His stede agayne / amyddes of his foon And right as syne / he rode to Meryon Full desyrous / on hym auenged be In his furye of hasty cruelte For therupon / was sette all his delyte That in his mortall / ••lody appety••e In very sothe / he had hym slayne anoon Saue y^• the kynge / whiche called was Glacon Came to rescue hym / with kynge Theseus And his sone that hyght Archylogus As I haue tolde / Meryon to reskewe And th••e thousande knyghtes / gan hym sewe Full al••••••ted attones / in batayle For lyfe or d••th Ector to assayle In awayte / vnware on hym to sette But al this whyle / with whom y^• euer he mette With his swerde / he kylled and bare downe That fynally / there gayneth no raunsowne For any greke / that durste with hym mete At departynge felte full vnswete. He made a waye / aboute hym euery where That they fledde hym / as the deth for fere For where he rode / he made a patthe ful playne And as I rede / to Patroclus agayne He is repeyred / to spoyle hym if he myght Amyd the felde / in the grekes syght As he wolde his praye nat lyghtly lete Tyll I dumee the myghty kynge of Crete With two thousande / cladde in plate & mayle Worthy kynghtes / Ector to assayle Whyles that he was / so desyrous As I haue tolde / to spoyle Patroclusi And newe agayne / to his confusyon Lyke as I fynde / came kynge Meryon And or Ector myght take hede They of force / refte hym his stede That sothely he / there was none other boote Compelled was / for to fyght on foote And of knyghode / his herte he resumeth And w^t his swerde / aboute hym he consumeth All that withstande / bothe hors and man And furyously / this troyan knyght began Armes legges shuldres / by the boon To hewe of amydde / his mortall foon That grekes myght / afore hym nat sustene And as I rede / that he slewe fyftene Of them that were / besy hym to take And such a slaughter / he gan amōge thē make That they ne durste / abyde afore his face And Meryon / in the selfe place This meane whyle / toke vp Patroclus With heuy chere / and face full pyruous And on his ••tede / he layde it hym beforne And to his tente / anone he hath it borne Alwaye grekes / in theyr cruell mode Aboute Ector / furyous and wode Felly a••ode / fyghtynge vpon fote Of whiche / some felte vnlote That presumed / vpon hym to presse But of manhode / they ne wolde cesse To besette hym / on euery syde Hauynge a truste / in theyr great pryde Fynally at myschefe / hym to take For they dempte / he myght nat escape Theyr handes shortly / by none aduenture Nor his stede / by lyklyhede recure For of force / they caste hym to lette And all attones / gan on hym to sette And specyally / amonge them euerychone I fynde in sothe / howe that there was one A grekysshe knyght / of right worthy fame And Caryon / playnely was his name That hym aforced / Ector to oppresse Whan he was moste / in myschefe and distresse Besette with grekes / hym enuyrownynge Tyll of fortune / on hym awaytynge The longe daye / in that felle fyght To his rescuse / there came atroyan knyght Mydde of grekes / whan he was besette And toke .ij. dartes / sharpe and kene whette And furyously / firste he shoke the toon And thorugh the herte / he smote this Caryon That the darte / into the felde gan glyde By plate and mayle / thorughout outher syde That fatally / of that dedely wounde

This Caryon / glode anone to grounde Amonge an hondred / knyghtes of his ferys Afore conspyred / with theyr felle cherys To a slayne Ector / by some maner waye But eft agayne / this yonge knyght of troye Full delyuerly / raughte a nother spere And caste at one / that he sawe afere Auaunce hymselfe / on Ector in the felde And thorugh his platys / playnely & his shelde Lyne right / that he ne shulde asterte Of very myght / roofe hym thorughe the herte And after that / in all the haste he coude Vpon Troyans / he gan to crye loude To enhaste them / knyghtly to socoure Whorthy Ector / that stode in aduentoure Amonge Grekes / hauynge no refute Sool he hymselfe / of helpe destytute At whiche crye / on grekes all vnware Firste of all / came worthy Cyncybare That brother was / to Ector in baste borne And hymselfe rydynge / all toforne And the knyghtes / of whiche he was guyde Wonder proudely / pryckynge by his syde Sodaynely / bothe one and alle In a frosshe / be on the grekes falle That hadde Ector / rounde beset aboute And thorugh manhode / of this great route That be enbosshed / on them at the backe Threhondred knyghtes / of whiche y^t I spacke For astoned / gan them to withdrawe But thurty firste / cruelly were slawe And maugre them / Ector of manhede Amyd the felde / taken hath his stede And entred is / in amonge the prees And he that daye / of knyghthode pereles Whyle he helde / his blody swerde in honde All tho / that agayne hym stonde There was no helpe / playnely nor no rede But that he brake / and karfe a two the threde And the knotte / of cruell Antropos Onely for he was / let of his purpose At good leyser / to spoyle Patroclus Therfore in Ire / wode and Furyous Full cruelly grekes / quytte theyr mede Whiche from his face / faste gan them spede Whose sharpe swerde / bathed in theyr blode Was dyed rede / for it dyde hym gode Vpon them / auenged for to be For that daye / a lyon played he Vpon grekes / his manhode for to haunte For he theyr pryde / so mortally gan daunte That they hym fledde / where that he rode Makynge all hote / the streyntes of theyr blode Endelonge to renne / vpon the grene Tyll the tyme / the Duke of great Athene That called was / whylom Menesteus With thre thousande / knyghtes full famous Of whiche he was / bothe lorde and guyde The felde hath take / vpon the lefte syde For a deceyte / in full secrete wyse ¶Where Troylus was / with the folke of Fryse Whiche hath that daye / who so lyste to seke By his knyghthode / kylled many greke Lyke a Tygre / gredy on his pray Troylus bare hym / all the longe day Sleynge of grekes / many worthy knyght And whyle that he was / besyest in fyght. Agayne his foon / with kynge Antipus And the kynge / that hyght Alchanus Vpon grekes Ylyche / fresshe and newe Makynge theyr sydes / all of blody hewe By one assent this thre / thorugh theyr māhede And specyally / vpon his bay stede Where so euer / that this Troylus rode Euery greke / that his swerde abode Sodaynely / he made for to sterue Thorugh theyr plates / so depe he gan kerue. And this contynued / tyll duke Meneste Of Troylus sawe / the great cruelte And the slaughtre / that he of grekes made Of hasty Ire / with face pale and fade Hent a spere / and threwe it in the rest And Troylus smette / euen amyd the brest So sternely / that maugre his renowne To the erthe / anone he bare hym downe In the myddes / of his mortall foon That cruelly / hym besette anoon And hym to treyne / layde out oke and lase Rounde aboute / in maner of compase With spere & darte / and swerdes forged bryght But he hymselfe / diffendeth lyke a knyght With great manhode / his honour to auaunce Albe his lyfe / was hanged in balaunce Where he stode / and felte full vnswete In poynt of deth / amonge the horse fete With great awayte / of Duke Meneste Howe this Troylus / myght haue take be Of mortall hate / castynge in his thought At myschefe take / that he escape nought On euery halfe / he was so besette

With swerdes rounde / kene grounde & whette Alone alas / mortally bestadde They seased hym / & forth they haue hym ladde Tyll Myseres / a worthy knyght of troye Gan to crye / as he stode in the waye Sore abasshed / in right furyous wyse O ye noble / worthy men of Fryse Manly knyghtes / aye preuyd in the felde Moste renowmed / bothe with spere and shelde Consyder nowe / vnto your hye fame And aduerte / the glorye of your name How this daye / thorugh your neclygence By the power / and myghty vyolence Of the grekes / Troylus is ytake Sool in the felde / for ye haue hym forsake That shall rebounde / to your alder shame For ye in sothe / greatly are to blame If he that is / of worthynesse floure Be take of grekes / for lacke of socoure That but if ye take / hasty wreche Shamefull reporte / your honour shall apeche Perpetuelly / and sayde therof amys In your defaute / that Troylus taken is Whiche named be / so worthy and famous And with that worde / the kynge Alkamous Of melancolye / felte his herte ryue And in his Ire / hente a spere blyue And pryckynge after / enhateth what he myght Tyll he of them / playnely had a syght That besy were Troylus / for to ••ede And he full knyghtly / syttynge on his stede Ran one thorugh / that he fell downe dede And efte agayne / pale and no thynge rede In his rancoure / no lenger wolde lette But a greke / the firste that he mette Thorugh the body / smet he with a spere That men myght se / the poynt a fere By breste and plate / thorugh the shulder bone That to the grounde / he fell downe dede anone And therwithall / the worthy Fryses alle Came flokmele downe / and on grekes falle So myghtely / that maugre theyr diffence They sette vpon / with so great vyolence That Troylus / is from all daunger fre And thorugh theyr knyghtly / magnanymyte They made hym / to recure his stede And specyally helpynge / in this nede Was zantipus / the stronge manly kynge Whiche of disdayne / at his in cōmynge Ou Meneste / gan his spere grate And thorugh his shelde / mayle & thycke plate So sore he smote / that this Meneste Hadde be dede / ne hadde his armour be Whiche for Ire / gan to tremble and shake That Troylus was / from his hondes take And escaped / to be prysoner Despyte his berde / and maugre his power Wherfore he gan / of hasty hote enuye On his knyghtes / furyously to crye That were so myghty / renowmed and stronge To payne them / for to venge his wronge Vpon Troyans / to mete them in the face And they in hast / gan myghtely enbrace Theyr sharpe speres / grounde for to byte And felly foyne / and togydre smyte For tho began / the great mortall werre The fyre brast out / shene as any sterre On basenertes / and theyr plates bryght That thorugh y^• felde / flaumeth y^e fereful lyght To lyfe nor deth / they toke tho no hede And downe the playne / both in lengthe & brede The wardes gan / proudely to auale And with lokes / of enuye pale They aproche / and assemble yfere In hate brennynge / that no man may stere And gan hurte / with spere swerde and darte And mortally / vpon euery parte The slaughter gan / greatly for to rewe And Ylyche alwaye / newe and newe Ector grekes / thorugh his worthynesse Where he rode / manly dyde oppresse And mercylesse / slowe them and bare downe Now here now there / without excepcyowne So furyously / that routhe was to se And than of newe / the duke Meneste Repayred is / with enuyous herte From his hondes / that Troylus so a sterte And for the slaughter / eke of his meynee That where he rode / he besy was to s••ee The troyan people / whan he myght them mete For to auenge hym / for nothynge wolde he lete Tyll casuelly / amonges all the prees A knyght he mette / that hyght Miserees Whiche in despyte / of this Meneste Hadde at the reskus / of worthy Troylus be And maugre hym / put hym from his pray And so befelle / on the selfe day As they mete / agayne of aduenture That Meneste / by his cote armure Marked hym / by armes that he bare

And sodaynely / or that he was ware Or that he / myght take any hede Furyously / on his sterne stede And with a spere / amyd the renges alle Bare hym ouer / and made hym for to falle Maugre his myght / to the erthe downe And than I fynde / how the kynge Hupowne Descended is / the storye lyste nat lye Two thousande knyghtes / in his companye Whiche on grekes / felly gan to sette And in y^• berde / kynge Prothenor them mette And Archelaus / the noble werryour Of Boece / lorde and gouernour With helpe oonly / of this Prothenor Lyke a tygre / or a wood boor Gan troyans / assayle to the deth And many one / that daye he sleeth But kynge Hupon / thorugh his chyualrye That tyme / in his melancolye Full many greke / gaue his dethes wounde And thus they gan / eche other to confounde Suche mortall hate / amonges them there was Tyll of Fortune / a knyght Pollydamas On troye syde / sone of Anthenor With his knyghtes / and hymselfe tofor Is on grekes / of enuyous pryde Myd theyr wardes / falle in a syde And gan breke them / & knyghtly to disseuer Agayne whose swerde / they myght nat {per}seuer He was on them / so inly furyous And hym to helpe / came the kynge Remus With a wynge / on that other parte Brekynge in / with many spere and darte Agayne grekes / with thre thousande knyghtes That to beholde / how felly that he fyghtes It was in sothe / vnto them of troye A very luste / and a heuenly ioye To se now grekes / brake asondre That the noyse / loude as any thondre In the felde / of strokes gan aryse And whyle Remus / as ye haue herde deuyse Vpon grekes / was so enuyous Into the felde / came Menelaus With his worthy knyghtes / of Spartense Agayne Remus / to make resystence And full proudely / makynge no delaye This worthy Remus / and kynge Menelaye On hors backe / with sharpe speres whette Myd the felde / of enuye mette And thorugh / their manly prowesse & renowne From hors backe / eche bare other downe For none the stroke / of other myght shone And in that whyle / of Anthenor the sone Pollydamas / lusty fresshe and lyght As he that was / in his delyuer myght And desyrous / to honour to atteyne Mette in the felde / the neuewe of Eleyne The myghty duke / called Mereus Flourynge in youthe / and right vertuous Fresshe armed newe / and lusty of courage And was in sothe / but twenty yere of age Whiche of so yonge / was a noble knyght Right renowmed / bothe of herte and myght But of Fortune / it befell alas The troyan knyght / daūz Pollydamas With a spere / thorugh shelde mayle and plate Hytte hym so / that by cruell fate Amonge grekes / that he felle downe dede Of whiche thynge / whan Menelay toke hede And sawe hym lye / slayne on the grene In his herte / remembrynge on the quene The quene Eleyne / whose neuewe he was For dole of whiche / a full delyuer pas To Remus rode / in his cruelte Also ferre / as he myght hym se And full knyghtly / mette hym in the berde And smette at hym / with his sharpe swerde Vpon the hede / in his hatefull tene That of his stede / he myght nat sustene His wounde was / so passyngely mortall That with the stroke / and the pryllous fall His knyghtes wende / dede he hadde be And hent hym vp / and began to fle To troye warde / with hym a great paas But it befell / that Pollydamas The maner of them / whan that he behelde Made them repayre / knyghtly into felde Excepte that some / as they in byddynge hadde Worthy Remus / home to troye ladde Pale and dede / with his woundes wyde And tho came in / on the grekes syde. Celydys / the lusty fresshe kynge Of whom Dares / sayth in his wrytynge And for a sothe / in his boke lyste telle How Celydys / all other dyde excelle Bothe in beaute / and in semelyhede Of shape of porte / and of goodlyhede Surmountynge all / as Dares lyste descryue As in fayrenesse / all tho alyue All his lymmes / compact were so clene

And as I rede / the yonge fresshe quene Of Fumynye / whiche was of beaute floure Kynge Celydys / loued Paramoure That vpon hym / was hooly hir pleasaunce He was so prynted / in hir remembraunce For chefe resorte / sothely of hir herte Was vpon hym / euery houre to aduerte For fynally / he departed nought Day nor nyght / nor houre out of hir thought For he was fully / all hir owne knyght But of Fortune / he lusty fresshe and lyght Smote his stede / sharply in the syde Of surquedye / and proudely gan to ryde Of mortall hate / a full Furyous paas Right as lyne / to Pollydamas And with a spere / made hym for to flytte From his sadell / in whiche he dyde sytte He marked hym / with so great a myght But agaynewarde / this manly troyan knyght Pollydamas / with a despytous face Or Celydys / departed fro the place With aswerde / so smet hym on the hede From his stede / that he fylle downe dede Whiche to grekes / was great confusyon And all this tyme / fyerser than lyon Ector grekes / knyghtly gan enchace And ofte made them / for to lese theyr place Where euer he rode / of necessyte Afore his swerde / he made them for to fle Suche vengeaunce / he hath on them take That they the felde / were fayne to forsake And to pursewe / wolde he neuer fyne Tyll amonge the people / of Salomyne Ector mette / the worthy kynge famous That was theyr lorde / and hyght Thesalus That many Troyan / that day hadde slawe And as Ector / towarde hym gan drawe Kynge Tenter / that was of grece also A manly knyght / and prudent bothe two Raught a spere / in all the haste he can And vnwarely / vnto Ector ran And thorughe his shelde / plate & mayle of stele The sperehede / forged was so wele So sharpe and square / and so kene grounde That he gaue Ector / full peryllous wounde But as Ector / reyne gan his stede Proude Tenter / to aquyte his mede He full wysely / in all the haste he myght Was right ferre seuered / from his syght Wherof Ector / melancolyous And of herte / wood and furyous For the akynge / of his wounde grene In haste to auenge / the constreynte of his ten•• What greke after / shortly that he mette That was so bolde / his waye to with sette Without mercy / he was his deth anone And as I rede / he encountred one Whiche of pryde / wolde hym dyuerte Whom with his swerde / he rose to the herte Thorugh his harneys / of melancolye The whiche stroke / whan grekes gan espye They astoned / of one entencyon Peryllously / besette hym enuyron And suche assaute / gan aboute hym make Thorugh theyr māhode / if they myght hȳ take And of accorde / with great multytude Cruelly / they gan hym to include By lyklyhede / in that mortall stryfe He myght nat escape / with the lyfe On hym they were / so fell and enuyous Tyll that a kynge / whiche hyght Theseus On grekes syde / oonly of gentyllesse Suche routhe caughe / vpon his distresse To se hym stande / so nye vpon the wrake Thus vnto hym / of manly pytespake.

O Flour of knyghthode / rote of hardynes Welle of manhode / stok of worthynes Why lyst y^• nat / to haue none aduertēce Thy lyf to saue / of knyghtly prouydēce But wylfully / where moste is to drede Thy lyfe Iupardest / and take lyste no hede In mortall peryll / how thou arte besette Amonge so many / closed and yshette Alone alas / deuoyde of all socoure And to thy selfe / wylt do no fauoure But as Fortune / lyketh to ordayne That euery wyght / ought to complayne To beholde / that so noble a knyght Whiche thorugh the world / cast so clere a lyght In worthynesse / and wyll hym nat withdrawe Reklesly / this day to be slawe So pyteously / thy persone for to lese Withdrawe thy hande / yet syth y^u mayst chese Thy hye prowesse / compelleth me to preye At suche myschefe / that thou nat ne deye And whan Ector / of hym gan take hede He thanked hym / of his goodlyhede And maugre sothly / the power & the myght

Of the grekes / lyke a worthy knyght He scapyd is / myd of all his foon And went his waye / thorugh them euerychon His blody swerde / alway in his honde And in his waye / Pollydamas he fonde Full lyke a man / with all his besy payne Diffende hymself / agayne the kynges twayne Menelay / and Thelamonyus Whiche vpon hym / were full Furyous And w^t a spere / this greke this Thelamowne Pollydamas / smote to the erthe downe Compellynge hym / there was none other vote Agayne them two / for to fyghte on fote Assentyd fully / on hym to be wroke And firste they haue / he wen and to broke The myghty charnelle / of his basenet And whan his vyser / after was smet And his face naked / was and bare They felle on hym / in that mortall snare And toke hym / the storye can deuyse And sent hym forth / in full cruell wyse Towarde grekes / with many worthy knyght But whan Ector / therof had a syght And sawethe myschefe / of Pollydamas He caste fully / to socoure in this caas And prycked after / wooder than lyon And where he rode / aboute hym enuyron With his swerde / he made a large space Tyll he came / to the same place Amonges greke / furyous and wode Pollydamas / the selfe tyme stode Socourles / from all remedye Tyll that he / on Ector caste his Eye That grekes made / hastely withdrawe And thurty firste of them he hath slawe And seuered them / maugre all theyr pryde Tofore his swerde / they durste nat abyde Agaynst hym / nor make none obstacle But of knyghthode / by very hye myracle Pollydamas / in myschefe firste awhaped From grekes honde / frely is escaped But fresshely tho / the kynge Epystrophns Menelay / and Thelamonyus With all theyr knyghtes / togydre hole & cloos Agayne Troyans / to gette them aloos Be of newe entred / in batayle With great strengthe / and passynge apparayle That myghtely / troyans they compelle In theyr waye / that they dare nat dwelle Natwithstandynge / theyr great worthynesse Nor of Ector / the knyghtly hye prowesse That fought so manly / that tyme as I rede But cowardely / they haue slayne his stede That he constrayned was / to fyght on fote That many greke / felte full vnsote For there was none / that aboute hym stode With his swerde / that he ne shadde his blode Though he so thycke / aboute was be layne He voyded them / and made aspace playne In compasse rounde / behynde and eke afore And on his fete / so well he hath hym bore That day / that greke was none certayne That harby was / hande on hym to layne He was so stronge / and sturdy as a wall And whan his brethren / called naturall Sawe hym a fote / amyd of all his foon On a frusshe / they felle in euerychon And founde hym / the storye maketh mynde Diffende hymselfe / lyke a Tygre in ynde And hym to helpe / thorugh theyr hye renowne They felle firste / on kynge Thelamowne For he on Ector / was so cruell founde They gaue to hym / many blody wounde Tyll one of them / named Dyndaron Hath so ferre / amonge the rengys gon And bore hym so / oonly of manhede That he hath wonne / a passynge myghty stede And brought to Ector / sothly there he stode Amonge grekes / all bathed in theyr blode The whiche in haste / full knyghtly he be strode And amōge them lyke / Mars hymself he rode Full many greke / makynge for to sterue And with his swerde / whetted for to kerue He daunted hath / theyr enuyous pryde Tyll Dephebus / entrede in a syde Into the felde / with a knyghtly chere And with hym brought / many good Archere Of Poeme / whiche with theyr arrowes kene And with fethers of pecok / fresshe and shene Vpon grekes / haue the felde recured In they shotte / they were so moche assured That thorugh mayle / and thycke plate of stele They perced haue / theyr harneys euerydele And Dephebus / full lyke a manly man To kynge Tentran / on hors backe tho ran And furyously / gan his swerde enbrace And wounded hym / euen amyd the face Thorughe the vyser / in his felle tene On hors backe / he myght nat sustene And thus Troyans / on grekes are yronne

That they agayne / haue the felde ywonne They were on them / so yrous and so wode But Theseus / full knyghtly them withstode With the knyghtes / that he with hym ladde And as I rede / Ectora brother hadde The storye sayth / that hyght Quyntylene yonge fresshe and lusty / armed bryght & shene Whiche with the kynge / called Modernus Is proudely falle / vpon Theseus And these twayne / togydre of assent Be falle on hym / with great aduysement That fynally / to his vnhappy chaunce w^t theyr knyghthode / brought hȳ to outtraūce And caste shortly / that he shalbe dede Of whose purpose / as Ector gan take hede He vnto them / of very gentery With all his myght / loude gan to crye Besechynge them / for no thynge that he deye And lowely they / his byddynge dyde obeye And them withdrewe / for to do vengeaunce For Ector hadde / fully remembraunce How Theseus / the same daye tofore Towarde hym / so goodly hadde hym bore Whan he hym sawe / in myschefe and distresse And knyghtly thought / quyte his gentylnesse Lyke as it logeth / to euery gentylman And Theseus / full lowely tho began To thanke Ector / that he was escaped But kynge Thoas / tho hath faste raped Into the felde / with other knyghtes manye And specyally / with them of Calydonye Came Phyloteas / the myghty kynge also Agayne Troyans / for to haue ado And firste Thoas / with a spere ran Furyously / to Cassybelan One of the sones / of kynge Pryamus And gaue hym tho / a wounde so greuous Without recure / that he fell downe dede Of whiche stroke / whan Ector gan take hede In his herte / gan his deth complayne And in all haste / dyde his besy payne On his brother / auenge hym if he myght And many one / he made to a lyght Thorugh his knyghthode / from his hors bake That sothefastly / all went vnto wrake On grekes syde / what came in his way So worthely / he bare hym all that day Tyll duke Nestor / is entrede into fyght With fyue thousande / in stele armed bryght Agayne Troyans / grekes to socoure And with hym mette / of very auenture The kynge Esdras / so myghty and so bolde And kynge Phyon / in his chare of golde With all the worthy / noble chyualrye That from Argesta / came with Ieconye The kynges sone / of the same lande Full renowmed / and worthy of his hande And as they semble / and togydre ran The same tyme / many worthy man Hath loste his lyfe / vpon eyther syde And of slaughtre / with large woundes wyde All the soyle of bodyes / that laye dede Lyke a ryuer / ran with stremys rede With theyr cherys / grysely pale and fade That in the blode / men myght go and wade To the ancle / the slaughtre / was so huge And kynge Phyon / socour and refuge Vnto Troyans / so bare hym in that stryfe That many greke / he made lese his lyfe The same day / so well his swerde was whette But he vnwarely / so sore was besette With multytude / of grekes rounde aboute That of his lyfe / he playnely stode in doute For lykely was / he myght nat escape And of grekes / he shulde anone be take Ne hadde he be holpe / of worthy Ieconye That to Esdras / loude gan to crye Alas quod he / of routhe and pyte ¶Worthy Phyon / the kynge shall take be Amonge grekes / thorugh your neclygence But in all haste / ye do your dylygence For to reskewe / this noble worthy kynge And all attones / without more tariynge Maugre all tho / that made resystence From grekes swerde / by myghty vyolence They haue reskewed / the noble kynge Phyon And at his large / with them he is goon Of his escape / wonder gladde and lyght And Ector than / with many lusty knyght Retourned is / and Dephebus also Pollydamas / and many another to Of Troyan knyghtes / that desyre newe Grekes to make / sore for to rewe For of assent / they fully them purpose In suche myschefe / grekes to enclose That if they myght / fewe shulde escape And therupon / knyghtly they them shape And them began / fresshely / for to assayle That in the felde / grekes gan to fayle Of theyr power / and to lese theyr lande

That fynally / thorugh the myghty hande And the force / of Troianysshe knyghtes The grekes hadde / maugre all theyr myghtes Be brought that day / to confusyowne But Menelay / and kynge Thelamowne Whan they them sawe / febly and apeyre They of knyghthode / made them to repeyre And so lyke men / they haue themself diffendyd Tyll Eneas / from Troye is discendyd With Ewfremus / the Duke / the manly man And with theyr knyghtes / of newe they began Efte agayne / grekes to oppresse And Ector aye / thorugh his worthynesse Lyke a lyon / with a sterne face Euer in one / so gan them to enchace That compellyd / of necessyte They were echone / afore his swerde to fle And constrayned / ryght of very nede Of whiche thynge / whan Ayax gan take hede Hadde in herte / great compassyon To se the slaughter / and confusyon On grekes syde / Guydo maketh mynde And gan to loke / at his backe behynde And sawe where many / warde stode abrode And many baner / and penowne that abode Amyd the felde hole / and nat for broke That redy were / attones to be wroke If nede were / on them of Troye towne In whiche wardes / without excepcyowne Was hole the floure / of grekes chyualtye To whom anone / Ayax gan hym hye As he that was / sore in herte agreued And with his crye / he hath them so cōmeued That they in haste / them to come to reskuse Amonges whom / was there no refuse And as faste / as they gan assemble Of noyse of hors / the erthe gan to tremble Furyously / as they togydre flynge There myght men / the strokys here rynge Of sperys sharpe / thorugh the harneys borne And thorugh sheldes / wrought of stele & horne Into the breste / sturdy square and brode And there I fynde / how that Ayax rode To Eneas / and he to hym also So great enuye / was atwyxe them two That nat but deth / myght theyr yre apese For in herte / nouther myght haue ese Tyll with sperys / sharpe / grounde and whette On hors backe / they haue togydre mette And at Coupynge / so sore they haue hytte That eueryche other / to the erth smytte That to beholde / was a knyghtly syght And after / they bothe / on fote fyght By lyklyhede / in theyr wode rage Outher to falle / in full great damage Amonge the horse / because that they stode Vpon the soyle / a louer sparde with blode But Phyloteas / is to Ayar come And hath hym vp / amonge the horse ynome That knyghtly faught / as made is memorye For sothely ellys / Troyans with victorye Hadde had the felde / playnely for to sayne Tyll Phyloteas / with his wardes twayne Euen in the face / manly them withstode And with a spere / he firste to Ector rode And vpon hym / the shafte I fynde he brake But sothly he / vpon his horse bake Kept hym so well / for all that felle stroke Remeuynge nat / but sturdy as an oke Sat in his sadell / vpryght with his chyne And with a spere / right as any lyne Into body depe / thorugh the shelde Phyloteas / he smote into the felde That of his lyfe / his knyghtes were in doute But tho came in / with so great a route Bynge Humerus / and vlixes eke And with them / brought many worthy greke Ten thousande knyghtes / manly men echone That gan Troyans / for to assoyle anone And cruelly / on euery halfe certayne With multytude / they haue them so be layne That dispayred / and disconsolate And of longe fyght / awaped and a mate Gan withdrawe / faynted in batayle And eke theyr hors / sothly gan fayle That on theyr syde / all went vp so downe But Parys / tho with them of Troye towne Is entrede in / in full manly wyse And firste he mette / with the kynge of Fryse That to Vlixes / was nye of allye Whom Parys / smote with so great enuye That he hym slewe / wherof grekes were Sore abasshed / and after with a spere Vlixes to de to auenge hym / if he myght And firste whan he / of Parys hadde a syght Into the reste / he gan his spere throwe That fynally / for he bare to lowe Faylynge of Parys / sothly as I rede Vnder hym he slewe / his myghty stede That maugre hym / he to grounde is gone

And he on hym / wolde haue falle anone But Troylus tho / mette hym in the berde And furyously / with his sharpe swerde He smote Vlixes / thorugh out his vyser That lyke a condyte / or a small ryuer Downe by his face / of blode the stremys ran But vlixes / lyke a manly man Of that stroke / astoned nat at all But on his stede / styffe as any wall With his swerde / so myghtely gan race Thorughe the vmbrer / into Troylus face That he hym gaue / a large mortall wounde Of whiche stroke / passyngly iocounde The grekes were / supposyng in theyr thought How Troyans / fynally were brought Vnto out traunce / and sothely so they hadde Saue that Ector / w^t kynghtes whiche he ladde And with hym eke / Parys and Dephebus And all his brethren / i knyghthod most famous Troylus also / for all his laste wounde That was alway / so noble knyght y^• founde All attones / Ioyned into one Vpon grekes / sodaynely be gone And worthy Ector / alder firste began Grekes to enchace / that afore hym ran Lyke as bestes / that fledde fro the deth And euer in one / with his swerde he sleth Whom he mette / or durste his stroke abyde And on his soon / with fresshe woundes wyde The slaughter he made / alway to renewe And thylke daye / in blody rosen hewe He hath theyr platys / & theyr harneyse steyned And though it hadde / blode fro heuen reyned The soyle redder / myght nat a ben And aye ylyche / as a swarme of been The grekes flockmele / fledde out of his way And Guydo sayth / that all that ylke day Actor / hadde formest on the playne In the frounter / of the grekes layne That behynde / the knyghtes of his Garde For lacke of hym / were all out of warde Wherfore whan he / hadde sought longe And grekes sawe / of newe wexe stronge To his knyghtes / he is agayne repayred Whiche in themselfe / greatly were dispayred For his absence / but tho whan they hym se Full inwardely / recomforted be And with glad herte / haue their lorde receyued And theyr gladnesse / whan he hath parceyued Spake vnto them / full affectuously And prayed them / full benyngnely To remembre / knyghtly in theyr herte And consyder wysely and / aduerte Firste the wronges / that grekes haue them do Of yore agoo / and ouermore also If grekes hadde / that day victorye Farewell for aye / the honour and the glorye Of Troyan blode / in conclusiowne For fynally / we and eke our towne Shall mortally / turne to ruyne And our honour / that was wont to shyne Thorugh out the worlde / and our worthynesse Eclypse shall / and turne to derkenesse But ye this day / lyke as men you quyte Wherfore I praye / that no man atwyte Your hye renowne / of any cowardyse To sette vpon / in full manly wyse And nat to spare / for drede of deth I praye And they echone / full lowely gan obaye To his desyre / without lenger tale And entrynge in / by a certayne vale Vpon grekes / this worthy knyghtes all Folowynge Ector / sodaynely be fall Full mortally / or that they were ware And Ector tho / no greke wolde spare But euery where / to theyr confusyon He kylled and slewe / aboute hym enuyron And his knyghtes / rydynge by his syde Made theyr ••omen / maugre all theyr pryde To lese theyr londe / & flewe out of theyr syght Tyll that the kynge / whiche Toas hyght On grekes syde / in warde gan hym dresse And of newe / full knyghtly gan oppresse Them of Troye / this kynge this manly man That hadde / afore slayne Cassybelan One of the sones / of kynge Pryamus But as he rode / of fortune it felle thus That all the bretherne / on a frusshe he mette Whiche of assent / enuyron hym be sette And from his sadell / that many greke behelde Amonge the hors / smethym into the felde And of they rente / firste his basenet And cruelly / they hadde his hede of smet For he vnarmed / all at myschefe stode Saue that the Duke / furyous and wode Of Athenys / rydynge a great pace Reskued hym / in this mortall cace With is knyghtes / that aboute hym rode And hym to helpe / without more abode With aspere / sharpe whette and kene

Firste of all / he felle on Quyntylene That besy was / Thoas to haue slawe And the bretherne / he made also withdrawe Whan Quyntylene / of his hors was throwe But Parys tho / drewe vp his myghty bowe And to this duke / lette an arowe glyde And thorugh his plates / hyt hym in the syde Vpon a ryb / that made hym sore blede Of whiche stroke / he ne toke no hede Bycause oonly / that he so feruent was Amyd his foon / to helpe kynge Thoas Amonge the hors / that was bore to grounde In poynt of deth / with many mortall wounde Oonly for he / was naked on the hede But this Duke / fully deuoyde of drede Of his knyghode / in this pecyllous caas Amyd his foon / hath holpe kynge Thoas And with his lyfe / made hym scape free And Ector aye / of cruell enmytee Ilyche fresshe / for no thynge wolde leue Vpon grekes / his manhode for to preue Enforsynge hym / to theyr destruccy wone And as he rode / amonge them vp & downe Kynge Humerus / hath a bowe take And to shote / gan hym redy make And hatefully / therin sette an arowe And to Ector / he marked hath so narowe That he smote hym / euen amyd the face But or he myght / any fertherpase Ector smet hym / with so great a payne That w^t his swerde / he rose his hede at wayne The deth of whom / whan the grekes knowe Myn Auctor sayth / they haue an horne yblowe That vnwarly / with that dredefull sowne Seuen thousāde knyght{is} / came attones downe Aboute Ector / without more abode But he of force / thorugh them all he rode Maugre theyr myght / that hym tho with sette And slowe all tho / that his waye lette And stynte nat / playnely tyll he cam To his Fader / the worthy kynge Pryam With many worthy / full famous of renowne That with his knyghtes / faste by the towne Lay all the daye / with men on hors and foote As he that was / of knyghode croppe and roote And kept hym close / of full hye prudence Tyll Ector came / vnto his presence And hym besoughte / in this great nede With thre thousande / that he wolde hym spede Vpon grekes / in theyr felle rage To falle on them / at moost auauntage.

ANd than i hast / this worthy Pryamus With his knyghtes / fresshe & desyrous Towarde grekes / hath the waye take And suche a mordre / gan vpon them make That many grekes / lay dede on the playne For Pryamus / so sore hath them be layne On euery halfe / thorugh his great myght That they full faste / fledde out of his syght So sore of newe / he vpon them sette And as I fynde / they togydre mette Actor and Ayax / of very auenture And on theyr stedes / stronge and wonder sure The storye sayth / in all the haste they konne Lyke wood lyons / they togydre ronne With so great myght / y^• were they lefe or lothe Vpon the playne / they were vnhorsed bothe And in this whyle / Menelay the kynge Sodaynely / as he came rydynge He slewe of Troye / a worthy Amyrall And thus the slaughtre / passyngly mortall Benewed aye / for Celydonas The neue we slewe / of kynge Thoas And Madan met / myn Auctor wryteth thus A grekysshe kynge / called Cedyus Whiche w^t his swerde / suche a stroke hym sette That thorughe y^• vmbrer / out his eye he smette And Sardellus / that was of Troye eke The same whyle / slewe a worthy greke A lorde of name / and of hye prowesse All though Guydo / his name nat expresse And than also / came Margaryton On troye syde / agayne Thelamon And bothe two / inly sette a fyre Of hye disdayne / and of hatefull yre And they mette / on hors backe yfere Kynge Thelamon / sothly as I lere Gaue vnto hym / a woundefull cruell But tho came in / the troyan Phanuell And Prothenor / smote downe of his stede And thus the sones / playnely as I rede Of Pryamus / no thynge disamayde The grekes haue / on euery part outrayed And so knyghtly / all the daye them borne That many greke / fatally hath lorne His lyfe in sothe / of hate and enmyte And kynge Duglas / is falle on Meneste Of Athenys Duke / and gouernoure And with aspere / of Ire and olde rancoure

He ran at hym / & smet hym amyd the shelde But for all that / his sadell yet he helde. And for the duke / spere hadde none He with a swerde / to Duglas rode anone And thorugh the owmbrer / rofe of nye his nase That he astoned / stode as in a mase Whan that he sawe / the condyte of his blode So streme out / but for all that he rode Out asyde / fully deuoyde of fere Vnto tyme / that he staunched were But Deamor / his owne brother dere Whan he behelde / his mortall blody chere Of hye disdayne / he rode to Meneste And hym vnhorseth / but vp anone sterte he And or he myght / fully vp aryse Another brother / in full cruell wyse Is falle on hym / so that of them thre Attones were / vpon Meneste Fully in purpose / he shall lese his lyfe But he so knyghtly / bare hym in that stryfe Agaynst them / that wonder was to se And vpon hym / moste cruell of them thre Was one Thoras / eldest of echone Whiche hym to a slayne / was besy euer in one For all to broke / they haue his basenet But whan that Tenter / sawe hym so beset A grekysshe kynge / as made is mencyon Hadde in his herte / great compassyon And thought playnly / of manhode hym releue And if he myght / his foomen for to greue But all for nought / was his besy payne For Ector the / e••le on bothe twayne Vpon Tenter / and on Meneste And hadde them slayne / ne hadde Ayaxbe Whiche vnto Ector / faste gan hym hye A thousande knyghtes / in his companye To withstande hym / and Meneste to saue From his handes / if he myght hym haue But Parys tho / and the kynge of Perce With fyue thousande / as I can reherce Of worthy knyghtes / and many troyan mo Be vnto Ector / all attones go In thryfty wyse / rydynge on a rowe For Parys made / a trumpet to be blowe At whiche there came / knyghtly enbataylled Many Troyan / full well apparaylled Whiche in the felde / of Ector were conueyed For of one herte / they fully haue obeyed Vnto the byddynge / of this Troyan knyght All fresshe and newe / tobegynne a fyght Vpon grekes / as ferforth as they can Of whom was slayne many manly man And aye the slaughter / pyteously reneweth That many greke / sore in herte reweth Theyr great losse / and destruccyowne Wrought vpon them / by them of troye towne And specially / of Ector as I fynde Whiche on that day / as Dares maketh mynde With his hande / a thousande knyghtes slowe That neuer were / a dawed of theyr sowe For greke dare none / in his waye dwelle For w^t his swerde / he coude them so compelle To lese theyr grounde / of necessyte And lyke as shepe / afore the wolfe to fle And as I rede / amyd of this victorye Ector mette / vnder a Tentorye. Amonge grekes / Meryon the kynge To whom he spake / without more taryenge O thou traytoure / thy houre aprocheth faste For thou arte come / sothely to thy laste Thy fatall day / hath his course yronne For truste well / or westrynge of the sonne I caste platly / to quyte the thy mede And w^t my swerde / in haste thy blode to shede For thou so bolde were / on me to day To lette me / of my ryche pray At the spoylynge / of kynge Patroclus That for cause / thou were presumptuous Me to disturbe / thou shalt anone be dede And downe he sterte / and smote of first his hede And hym to spoyle / also gan hym haste But Meneste / came on hym as faste Whan he behelde / trauerse at his backe And with aspere / in whiche was no lacke Smote hym in / with great vyolence Without syght / or any aduertence Of worthy Ector / or any takynge hede The wounde of whom / sore gan to blede But out he went / and made it faste bynde And Meneste / stale away behynde Nat in purpose / sothly if he may To mete Ector / of all that ylke day. But whan that he / was ybounde sore His wombe staunche / that it blede no more More furyous / than euer he was tofore Repayred is / with anger all to tore So aye the yre / on his herte fret That he bare downe / all that euer he met Sleeth and kylleth / he was so mercyles All tho / that put themselfe in prees

Of hardy were / with hym for to mete For in his boke / lyke as wryte Darete For very sothe / and in the storye sayth If it be so / that men may gyue fayth And credence / of possybylyte As in Guydo / clerely ye mayse After that he / caughte his latter wounde Fynally grekes / to confounde So as it is / affermyd in certayne A thousande knyght{is} / w^t his hande were slayne Without them tho / that I spake of rathe And newe alway / he gan his swerde to bathe In grekes blode / that sodaynely they be So ouerlayne / thorugh his cruelte That greke was none / of hye nor lowe estate That he ne was / awhaped and amate Of his knyghthode / and manly excellence For there was none / to make resystence Nor vtterly / that durste take on honde Of all that daye / Ector to withstonde. And as it is made / also mensyon Thylke daye / kynge Agamenon As sayth Guydo / came nat into felde For causes great / his presence he with helde On grekes syde / that all goth vp so downe Ector on them / so playeth the lyowne That to theyr tentes / they fledde for socours And they of troye / proudely as victours Sewed after / by traces of theyr blode And there they wan / treasoure and great gode And spoyled them / in full great distresse Of theyr armure / and of theyr rychesse And felle on them / or that they were ware And home to troye / all that good they bare For fynally / that day with myschaunce Grekes hadde be / brought vnto out traunce Without recure / in sothe for euermore On euery part / they were be layde so sore Thorugh the manhode / of Ector & the myght With helpe / of many other worthy knyght That so felly / agayne grekes wrought For to such myschefe / playnly they thē brought That ne hadde be / theyr owne pyteous slouthe Of pryde oonly / and of folye routhe They hadde of them / at theyr volunte That day for euer / hadde the soueraygnete And recured / thorugh theyr hye renowne Lordshyppe of them / and domynacy owne Whiche shulde haue laste / and be contynuell Victoryously / and perpetuell Haue endured / saue cruell fate Is redy aye with fortune / to debate Agayne thynges / that gynne in wylfulnesse To make them fyne / aye in wretchednesse Thorughe theyr enuyous / disposicyon Of sodayne chaunge / and reuolucyon And vnware tournynge / of hir false whele That wyll nat byde / whan a thynge is wele Alas frele / deuoyde of sykernesse The cause was / dymmed with derkenesse That hath troyans / thorugh false oppynyon Yblynded so / in theyr discrecyon And specyally / for dyrked so the syght Of worthy Ector / the prudent manly knyght To se afore / what shulde after sewe By good aduyse / the myschefe to eschewe That folowed them / at the backe behynde Alas they were / wylfully made blynde The same day / whan they sete softe By victorye / on the hylle a lofte That they nat coude / of neclygence se The after falle / of theyr Felycyte So put a backe / was theyr aduertence For lacke of reason / and of hye prudence For they theyr hap / haue voyded & theyr grace That presently / were sette afore theyr face. For in a man / is nat cōmendable If Fortune / be to hym fauourable And blaundysshynge / with a forhede clere To smyle on hym / with a splesaunte chere Oonly of Famour / for to helpe hym oute Whan he in myschefe / is beset aboute If he refuse / his hap of wylfulnesse Fortune auoydynge / thorugh vnkyndenesse Whan she mynystreth to hym / of hir grace Another tyme / he shall hir nat enbrace Whan he hath nede / to hir helpe at all To socoure hym / or he catche a fall But rather than / for his ingratytude Frowardly / with mowes hym delude Whan he beste weneth / stonde in sykernesse Fortune is aye / so full of brotylnesse Remouable / and redy for to flytte Hyr welfull houre / that who lyste nat amytte With hir fauour / for to be allyed Another tyme / it shalbe denyed Whan he were leuest / fynde hir sauourable For in some houre / sothly this nofable Vnto some man / she graunteth his desyres That wyll nat after / in a thousande yeres

Parauenture / ones condescende Vnto his wyll / nor his luste hym sende As it hath falle / this daye vnhappely To worthy Ector / that so wyllfully Wrought of hede / grekes for to spare Fatally whan they / were in the snare For he of them / lyke a conquerour With victorye / Tryumphe and honour Myght haue brought / thurgh his hye renowne The palme of conquest / into troye towne Whiche he hath that day / refused folylye For as he rode / this Ector cruellye Amonge grekes / slowe and bare all downe Ca••uelly / he mette Thelamowne I mene Ayax / nye of his allye That of hate / and cruell hote enuye To Ector rode / lyke as he were woode Albe to hym / he was full nye of bloode Yet for all that / this yonge lusty knyght Dyde his power / and his full myght Without faynynge / to haue borne hym downe Whose Fader hyght / also Thelamowne That hym begat / the storye telleth thus Of Exyon̄ suster / to Pryamus And this Ayax / flourynge in yonge age Fresshe and delyuer / and of great courage Sette on Ector / of knyghtly hye prowesse And as they mette / bothe in theyr woodnesse On theyr stedes / these manly champyownes Eueryche on other / lyke Tygres or lyownes Began to falle / and proudely to assayle And furyously / seuere / plate and mayle Firste with speres / longe large and rounde And afterwarde / with swerdes kene grounde And fyghtynge thus / longe they contune Tyll it befylle of case / or of Fortune Token or sygne / or some apparence Or by nature is / kyndely influence Whiche into hertes / doth full depe myne Namely of them / that borne be of one lyne Whiche cause was / paraunter of these twanye Naturally / theyr rancoure to restrayne And theyr yre / for to modefye Onely for they / so nye were of allye Vnwyst of outher / and therof vnsure Tyll they were taught / oonly of nature For naturally / blode wyll aye of kynde Drawe vnto blode / where he may it fynde Whiche made Ector / kyndely to aduerte To be meuyd / and steryd in his herte Bothe of knyghthode / and of gentyllesse Whan he of Ayax / sawe the worthynesse ¶Spake vnto hym / full benyngnely And sayde Cosyn / I saye the trewely If thou lyste / grekes here forsake And come to troye / I dare vndertake To thyne allyes / and to thy kynrede Thou shalte be there / without any drede Full well receyued / in partye and in all Of them that be / of the blode royall Sothely descended / and hyest of degre That it of right / shall suffyse vnto the And kyndelye / be to the pleasaunce For to repayre / to thyne allyaunce To gentyll herte / sythe no thynge is so gode As be confedryd / with his owne blode For I conceyue / by the worthynesse Whiche nature / dothe in the impresse Of troyan blode / that thou arte descended Whiche of grekes / longe hath be offended Wherfore I rede / to leue them vtterly And he answered agayne / full humbly That sythen he / of berthe was a greke And was of youthe / amonge them fostryde eke From the tyme / of his natyuyte And taken hadde / the ordre and degre Of knyghthode eke / amonges them aforne And ouer this / bounde was and sworne To be trewe / to theyr nacyon Makynge of blode / none excepcyon He swore he wolde / conserue his beheste And to Ector / he made this requeste That if that he / of manfull gentyllesse Wolde of knyghthode / and of worthynesse Shewe vnto hym / so great affeccyowne To make them / that were of Troye towne Oonly withdrawe / grekes to pursewe And for theyr tentes / make them to remewe And resorte agayne / vnto the towne Of knyghthode routhe / and compassy owne Without assayllynge / or any more affraye Made on grekes / for that ylke daye Sythe vnto them / ought Inoughe suffyse That of the felde / in so knyghtly wyse They were of manhode / fully possessours And of theyr foomen / fynally victours Lyke as tofore / fully is diffyned To whose requeste / Ector is enclyned Alas the whyle / of hasty wylfulnesse And made anone / without auysenesse

Mydde the felde / a trumpet for to blowe Wherby Troyans / fully myght knowe That he his wyll / they shulde them withdrawe After custome / playnely and the lawe And the vsaunce / bothe nye and ferre Amonges them / that be expert in werre Whan they were moste / feruent for to fyght Vpon grekes / for to preue theyr myght And hadde them chacyd / lowe to the stronde That they were weyk / of power to withstonde For they of Troye / all of one desyre Gan sette on / with shotte of wylde fyre To brenne theyr shyppes / & of hye myschaunce Fynally to put them / at outtraunce. And so they hadde / this the very trouthe ••e hadde Ector / had vpon them routhe Makynge Troyans / repayre to the towne Vngracyously / to theyr confusyowne As the storye / shall after specyfye For tho he putte / alas in Iupardye Lyfe and deth / whiche myght haue be sure The whiche agayne / they neuer shall recure.

¶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.

¶Howe the Troyans toke kynge Thoas pry∣soner / and ledde hym into Troye. Ca. xxiiij.

[illustration]

WHan Aurora / w^t syluer droppes shene Hitterys shadde / vpon y^• fresshe grene Cōplaynȳge ay / in wepyng & i sorowe Hir childrens deth / euery somer morowe This to saye / whan the dewe so soote Enbawmed hath / the floure and eke the roote With lusty lycoure / in Apryll and in May Whan the larke / messager of day

Of custome aye / Aurora doth salue With sondry notes / hir sorowe to transmue Or Phebus ryse / to ioye and gladnesse Thorugh Armonye / to leue hir heuynesse Takynge hir leue / with seynt Iohn̄ to borowe The same tyme / Grekes by the morowe With lusty herte / erely dyde aryse And armed them / in all theyr beste wyse For they them caste / that daye for to goon Into the felde / to mete with theyr foon And Ector hath / the same morowe also I caste hym fully / with grekes haue ado And yssued is knyghtly / out of troye In herte he hath / so great desyre and ioye The same day / with grekes for to fyght And with hym ladde / many lusty knyght Of suche as were / of the Cyte borne And forth he rode / hymselfe all aforne And Eneas / with many a worthy Folowed after / wonder faste by And Parys than / and next hym Dephebus And sythe Troylus / that was couragyous With all the wardes / made of troye towne In wiche as Dares / maketh mencyowne Within his boke / there were on troye syde Of fyghtynge men / that went and dyde ryde An hondred thousande / armed for to go Into the felde / and fyfty thousande mo Whiche haue them caste / that day or at eue Of one entent / Grekes for to greue And so they mette / strongly on outher syde And gan assemble / and togydre ryde Full cruelly / and with great hatrede And with them tho / that Parys dyde lede He entrede in / full myghty stronge Archeres Of Perce londe / and many Arbalasteres that w^t theyr arrowes / fyled sharpe & rounde And with quarelles / square whette & grounde Full many greke / hath reuyd of his lyfe And amyddes / of this mortall stryfe Agamenon / into the felde is come Towardes whom / Ector hath ynome The right way / and threwe hym of his stede Amonge his knyghtes / that he dyde lede He spared nought / for all the great prees And therwithall / anone came Achylles That in awayte / of Ector hadde layne And sodaynely / with all his myght and payne ¶Ector he smote / on the hede so sore That w^t y^e stroke / myn Auctour sayth no more His basenet / was bowed and ycrased Of whiche stroke / Ector nat amased On Achylles / shulde anone yfalle Ne hadde Eneas / with his knynghtes alle And worthy troylous / come and go betwene The whiche twayne / with their swerdes kene Gan Achylles / felly for to assayle To hewe his plates / and to perce his mayle And tho began / the slaughter / on euery syde Of men of foote / and of them that ryde Lyke a condyte / their woundes gan blede And in this whyle / cruell Dyomede Were it by hap / aduenture or caas So as he rode / hath mette with Eneas And right anone / as he hadde hym founde He smet at hym / and gaue hym such a wounde That lykely was / he shulde nat recure But if therto / be do the better cure And therupon / full despyteously This Dyomede / in his melancoly Repreuyd hath / this troyan knyght Enee And sayd to hym / all heyle for thou art he That whylom gaue / to Pryamus the kynge A felle counsayle / hasty and bytynge Me for to a slayne / by sodayne vyolence Whan I was laste / at troye in his presence That truste me well / and haue it wel in mynde Amyd the felde / if I the efte fynde Thou shalt thy counsayle / mortally repente If that Fortune / here after wyll assente To brynge the / a right vnto my hande At good leyser / here in thyne owne lande I am full sette / thy labour for to quyte & here my trouth / this swerde shal kerue & byte So kenely / thy troyan blode to shede That fynally / deth shalbe thy mede The which I bere / atwene my handes twayne And w^t that worde / he myght hȳ nat restrayne This Dyomede / but rode all sodaynely Vpon Enee / and so furyously He smote at hym / this hardy cruell knyght With suche a payne / and so great a myght That from his hors / he made hym for to falle Maugre the myght / of his knyghtes alle The whiche stroke / he lyked full ylle And in this whyle / Ector hath Achylle Assayled so / that thorugh his basenet He perced hath / & with his swerde hym smet And so narowe / brought hym to the poynt Of hye myschefe / and in such disioynt

Constrayned hym / that of necessyte He hadde hym take / ne had oonly be Sodayne reskues / of his chyualrous That called is / the sone of Tydeus I meane the felle / fyerse Dyomede Whiche Achylles / hath holpen in this nede For he thorugh force / of his armes twayne Smote Ector tho / with so great a payne That he hym gaue / a wounde full greuous But he no thȳge / myn Auctour wryteth thus Astoned was / this knyght this manly man But with his swerd / in all the haste he can Smote Dyomede / so furyous and wrothe That from his hors / to the erth he gothe For all his pryde / and his surquedrye The whiche anone / as Troylous dyde espye Without abode / downe of his stede a lyght With Dyomede / a fote for to fyghte And eche of them / in sothfastnesse than Aquyte hymselfe / lyke a manly man That nouther was / in moche nor lyte In no degree / of manhode for to wyte And whyle they faught / Ector and Achylles Togydre mette / agayne amonge the prees And ran yfere / fyersly in theyr rage As woode lyons / whan they be ramage Right so in sothe / they fared in theyr fyghtyng And in that tyme / Menelay the kyng Full proudely shope hym / troyans for to mete Vlixes eke / and also Polymete And after hym came / Neptolonyus Pallamydes / and eke Scelemus Duke Menestee / Nestor and Thoas Currynulus / and Phylotheas Aud Theseus / as it is made mynde With his knyghtes / proudely came behynde And on the partye / of them of the towne Came all the kynges / without excepcyowne That were assembled / into theyr diffence Agayne Grekes / to make resystence Except the knyghtes / whiche Ector ladde And the wardes / that he made hadde The same daye / as sayth the Latyn boke In knyghtly wyse / the felde whan y^t he toke And tho began / the felle mortall fyght In whiche that day / ful many worthy knyght In Fatyshondes / fynally are falle And of Fortune / amonge the wardes alle Agamenon / the noble myghty kynge All sodaynely / as he came rydynge Pantysylaus / in his waye mette Agaynst whom / anone his hors he sette And he to hym / full knyghtly rode agayne And as they mette / there is no more to sayne On horsbacke / whyles they were wrothe Of vyolence / they were vnhorsed bothe And Menelay / Parys mette of newe The whiche two / well togydre knewe Full desyrous / eche other for to dere But Menelay / caught firste a spere And hytte Parys / with all his inwarde cure But for surenesse / of his stronge armure And myghty plat{is} / his wounde was but small Whiche in effect / greued nat at all But with that stroke / vnto grounde he gothe Of whiche fall / Parys wexed right wrothe Wonder confuse / and also rede for shame Lest the reporte / in hyndrynge of his name Came to the erys / of the Quene Eleyne How he that daye / myght nat atteyne With Menely / to holde chaumpartye Lykely to sowne / into his vylonye The whiche at herte / greued hym full sore And Adrastus / the kynge without more So as he rode / the kynge Vlixes fonde & knyghtly both / they foughte honde to honde And as they faughte / downe to the erthe lowe From his hors / Vlixes hath hym throwe And full proudely / in signe of this victorye He sent his hors / home to his Tentorye And in that tyme / amonges all the prees Full sodaynely / kynge Pallamydes Is falle on Hupon / with his lockes hore And in his Ire / wounded hym so sore That he felle dede / and grouelyng to y^e groūde His mortall swerde / was so kene grounde Besyde whom / Neptolonyus Assayled hath / kynge Archylogus The whiche hymselfe / manly gan diffende But as they faught / and many strokes spende In their diffence / it wolde be none other Eueryche of them / hath vnhorsed other And tho came in / rydynge on his stede Pollydamas / and gan to take hede Amonge the renges / a lytell hym besyde Where as the kynge / Pallamydes doth ryde And cruelly / so lyke a manly man He smote his stede / and to hym he ran And maugre his myght / and his worthynesse As the storye playnely / bereth wytnesse

Oonly to venge / the deth of kynge Hupowne From his stede / he proudely bare hym downe And in his rancoure / and his cruell hete Of that despyte / gan hym to rehete And tho besyde / the kynge Scelenus Of dedely hate / and herte full Irous With kynge Carras / by aduenture hath met And furyously / from his stede smet And than also / the kynge Phylymene Is on the Duke / falle of Athene That maugre / both his manhod / & his myght He hath his hors / berafte hym in this fyght And ladde with hym / proudely by his syde Where as hym lyste / that it shulde abyde And Phyloteas / the worthy kynge also The selue tyme / with Remus had ado And euery other / sothly as I rede His felawe hath made / to voyde his stede And Theseus / the kynge / y^t was so stronge Amyd the felde / so as he rode amonge In the great prese / hath met Curyalus The worthy kȳg / of knyghthod right famous And bothe two / in armes wonder stronge By themselfe / faught at leyser longe Tyll eche other / with woundes fresshe & grene Fro horsbak / his felawe threwe endlōg y^e grene And afterwarde / I fynde how they two Vpon foote / knyghtly hadde ado They were in armes / somly desyrous And of manhode / passyngly famous And all this whyle / the sones naturell Of Pryamus / bare them wonder well Amonge grekes / vp and downe rydynge And prudently / togydre abydynge Made a slaughter / of grekes full pytous Of kynges / dukes / and lordes right famous And as I rede / how worthy Thelamowne That tyme met / with kynge Sapedowne And with theyr speres / squared full sharpely Eueryche hath other / wounded mortally Thorugh shelde & plate / & haberion of mayle That as the storye / maketh rehersayle How theyr harneys / wexed of blode all rede And how they fylle / almoste bothe dede At great myschefe / amonge the hors feet Of whose bledynge / the soyle gan wexe weet Thorugh theyr harneys / as it can distylle Whyles kynge Thoas / and the fyerse Achylle As they that were / of kynne and allyed Amyd the felde / Ector haue espyed Where as he faught / beset amyd his foon And vpon hym / of one accorde they goon And mortally / if it wolde auayle On euery halfe / they gan hym newe assayle And of hate / in herte borne of yore They haue beset / this Troyan knyght so sore That they alas / from his hede hath smet By vyolence / his ryche basenet And wounded hym / felly on the hede But for all that / he ne toke no hede This worthy man / floure of Chyualrye But hym diffendynge / tho so myghtely Kynge Thoas smet hym / in the face so That with a stroke / he rafte his nose a two And shorted it / by the halfe dele To whiche stroke / the brother naturele Of manly Ector / faste gan them hye To socoure hym / whan they firste espye His great myschefe / and at theyr in cōmynge They so manly / bare them in fyghtynge Agayne grekes / that Thoas they haue take And The••amon / so they made awake With newe assaute / of sharpe woundes kene That he was take / and lefte vpon the grene And of his men / borne home to his tent And kynge Thoas / home to troye is went Maugre grekes / whiche helpe hȳ may no more For Dephebus / and also Anthenore Haue sente hym / forth to Troye the cyte And Menelay / tho began to se So as he rode / Parys stonde a syde And shope hym shortly / of hate & cruell pryde If it wolde falle / on his chaunce Sodaynely / to ymen hym myschaunce But he was ware / & kept hymselfe so narowe That Menelay / he marked with an arowe The hede of whiche / w^t venym was enoynt Intoxycate / at the square poynt That the kynge / of that dredefull wounde All dispayred / of his men was founde Whiche in great haste / bare hym to his tent And he anone / for Surgyens hath sent Whiche firste the hede / toke out of his wounde Albe it was / yperced full profounde Thorugh his harneys / full depe into the bone But cunnyngely / they dyde theyr crafte echone To drawe it out / with theyr Instrumentes And subtylly / with certayne oyntementes They serched haue / the wounde enuyron To make it clene / from corrupcyon

And prudently / firste they toke hede That the venym / further nat procede Rounde in compasse / clensyd it aboute And after that / bounde it sure withoute And defensyues / made on euery syde And Menelay / no lenger wolde abyde But bad in haste / brynge forth his stede In purpose full / Parys to quyte his mede If he hym fynde / the selfe same daye Hym lyste no lenger / put it in delaye What euer falle / of his grene wounde And forth he rode / tyll he hath hym founde By aduenture / vnarmed in the felde Without swerde / pollex / spere or shelde Or bowe in honde / were it of reklesnesse Or to refresshe hym / after werynesse. And Menelay / anone a spere hath take And in his yre / ••elly gan it shake Towarde Parys / by great auysenesse And shulde haue slayne hym / as by lyklynesse Ne had Eneas / whiche all this thynge behelde Bore of the stocke / with his stronge shelde To diffende hym / in this auenture Destytute / and naked / of armure. Parys that tyme / in suche peryll was Wherfore in haste / hath this Eneas Ordayned knyghtes / armed bryght in stele Aboute Parys / for to kepe hym wele From all myschefe / and confusyowne Hym to conuey / vnto Troye towne Right in despyte / of kynge Menelay Whiche in awayte / so for Parys lay ¶Whom Ector / hadde ytaken sodaynely And vnto Troye / ladde hym vtterly Ne hadde Grekes come / in his diffence Agaynst hym / to make resystence. Of whiche Ector / as they came in his weye Full many Greke / made for to deye And the remenaunt / put vnto the flyghte That thorugh his māhod / y^• day & his myghte Troyans made / the grekes for to flee Vnto theyr tentes / of necessytee And them to sewe / ne wolde neuer leue But slee and kyll / tyll it drewe to eue That Phebus gan / faste for to weste To drawe them home / they thought for y^e beste For Tytan was / at his goynge downe Whan they gan entre / into troye towne Theyr gat{is} shet / they to theyr lodgynge wende And of this day / thus they made an ende Tyll on the morowe / that the rowes rede Of Phebus carte / gonne for to sprede Afore his vpryste / in the Oryent At whiche tyme / kynge Pryamus hath sent For suche as were / with hym moste pryue And of his counsayle / inwardely secre And specially / he sent for by name For worthy Ector / that grettest was of fame For Parys eke / and for Dephebus And for Troylus / fresshe and desyrous For Anthenor / and Pollydamas And for the Troyan / called Eneas For he that daye / caste hym nat to goon Into the felde / to mete with his foon And whan they were / to his Paleys come These lordes haue / the right waye nome Vnto the kynge / within his closet And whan the hussher / hath the dore shet And eueryche hadde / lyke to his degree His place take / and his dewe see This worthy kynge / as made is mencyon Gan to declare / his hertes mocyon And his menynge / afore them specifye And sayde syres / in whom I moste affye To you is knowen / how kynge Thoas is here In this cyte / taken prysonere And is as yet / belocked in prysowne Whiche euer hath be / vnto Troye towne An enemy great / vnto his power And vs offendyd / bothe ferre and ner In many wyse / all be we lytell retche As ferre as he / his force / myght stretche And now with Grek{is} / came to sege our towne As he that wyll not / our destruccyowne And therupon / hath do his besynesse Wherfore of dome / and of rightwysnesse Both of reason / and of equyte I saye playnely / as semeth vnto me So that it be / to you acceptable And that ye thynke / my coūsayle cōmendable Lyke as he hath / caste our deth and shape I holde rightfull / that he nat escape But that of deth / he receyue his guerdon For right requereth / and also good reason that deth for deth / is skylfull guerdonnynge Vnto my wytte / and right well syttynge Saye your aduyse / now playnely in this caas And firste of all / tho spake Eneas And sayde lorde / so it be none offence To your hyghnesse / to gyue me audyence

Thorugh supporte here / of them y^t be full wyse I shall reherce playnely / my deuyse What is to werke / as in this matere Me semeth firste / my lyege lorde so dere That your noble / royall excellence Consydre shulde / with full hye prudence In euery werke / and operasyon To caste afore / in conclusyon To caste afore / in conclusyon The fynall ende / that may after sewe For to a wyse man / oonly is nat dewe To se the gynnynge / and the ende nought But bothe attones / peyse in his thought And weye them / ••o iustly in balaunce That of the fyne / folowe no repentaunce Why I say this / and platly why I mene Is for that ye / ought for to sene How kynge Thoas / is one of the pryncypall Amonge Grekes / and of the blode royall If ye consydre / descended as by lyne Wherfore if he / haue this foule a fyne To be slayne / whyle he is in pryson It myght happen / in conclusyon That ye and youres / that therto assente Here afterwarde / sore to repente I preue it thus / that if by aduenture Of Fortune / that no man may assure Some of your lordes / were a nother day Of grekes take / as it happe may Or of your sones / so worthy of renowne Or of kynges / that be in this towne Truste me well / that suche gentyllesse As ye shewe to them / in theyr distresse They wyl you quyte / whan in case semblable Fortune to them / they fynde fauourable The whiche no man / cōstrayne may nor bynde Wherfore my lorde / haue this thyng in mynde For if Thoas / of shorte auysement Shall now be deed / thorugh hasty iugement Another day / Grekes wyll vs quyte And for rygour / make theyr malys byte On some of youres / who euer that it be And nouther spare / hye nor lowe degre Though he were / paraunter of your blode The whiche thynge / for all this worldes gode It myght falle / that ye ne wolde se Wherfore I rede / let kynge Thoas be Honestely kepe / in prysowne Lyke his estate / stylle here in this towne Lyste as I sayde / that another day Some lorde of youres / as it happe may Casuelly / were take of auenture By eschaunge of hym / ye myght beste recure Without stryfe / youre owne man agayne In this mater / I can no more sayne But fynally / this my full rede To whiche counsayle / Ector toke good hede And for it was / accordynge to reason He it cōmendeth / in his oppynyon But Pryam euer / of one entencyon Stode alway fyx / to this conclusyon Playnely affermynge / if Grekes may espye That we this kynge / spare of gentrye They wyll arrecte / it cowardyse anone That we dare nat / venge vs on our foone For very drede / hauynge no hardynesse Nor herte nouther / to do rightwysenesse Yet neuerthelesse / after your assent That he shall lyue / I wyll in myn entent To your desyre / fully condescende And of this counsayle / so they made an ende Without more / saue Eneas is go And Trylous eke / and Anthenor also Into an halle / excellynge of beaute The quene Eleyne / of purpose for to se With whom was eke / Eccuba the quene And other ladyes / goodly on to sene And many mayde / that yonge & lusty was And worthy Troylus / with this Eneas Dyde theyr laboure / and theyr besy payne For to comforte / the fayre quene Eleyne As she that stode / for the werre in drede But for all that / of very womanhede Thylke tyme / with all hir herte entere As she well coude / make them good chere Hauynge of connynge / inly suffysaunce Bothe of chere / and of dalyaunce. And Eccuba beynge / in this halle Very example / vnto women alle Of bounte hauynge / soueraygne excellencce In wysedome eke / and in eloquence Besought them / tho wonder womanly And counsayled eke / full prudently For any haste / bothe nye and ferre Auysely / to kepe them in the werre And nat Iuparte / theyr bodyes folylye But to aduerte / and caste prudently In diffence / knyghtly of the towne Them to gouerne / by discrecyowne She spake of fayth / & coude no thynge feyne And than of hir / and after of Eleyne

They toke leue and no lenger dwelle But went theyr way / & forth I wyll you telle How the Grekes / on the same morowe Amonge them selfe / complayne & make sorowe Theyr harmes great / in Murmur and in rage The losse / the costes / and the great damage That they haue / enduryd folylye Lastynge the werre / and wyste neuer whye The deth the slaughtre / of many worthy man Syth the tyme / that the werre began Hunger and thurste / watche and colde also Full great vnreste / sorowe thought and wo And all togydre / for a thynge of nought In sothfastnesse / if the grounde be sought This was the noyse / and rumour eke that ran Thorugh out the hoost / y^t day fro man to man And moste amonge / the pore souldy oures Whiche bare the bronte / euer of suche shoures And the myschefe / of werre comenlye And though they playne / they haue no remedy Of thynges whiche sytte / them full vnsofte And thus grekes / complayned haue full ofte Of many myschefe / that hath on them falle The whiche they myght / haue eschewed alle If they ne hadde / of foly gonne a werre Out of Grece / nat come halfe so ferre To theyr myschefe / and confusyon This was that daye / their lamentacyon. ¶Whiche to encrease / the same next nyght So derked was / without sterre lyght So cloudy blacke / and so thycke of ayre Dymmyd with skyes / foule & no thynge fayre So wyndy eke / with tempest all be layne Almoste fordrenchyd / with the smoky rayne And in the felde / astoned here and yonder With sodayne stroke / of the dredefull thonder And with openynge / of the hydous leuene That it sempte / in the hye heuene The Cataractys / hadde be vndo For the cloudes / and skyes bothe two Sodaynely wexen / were so blake Lyke as the goddes / wolde haue taken wrake And hadde of newe / assentyd be in oon The lande to drenche / of Deucalyon And all this worlde / without more refuge To ouerflowe / with a fresshe deluge The wynde also / so sternely gan blowe That theyr tentes / stondynge on a rowe For possyd were / and ybete downe And furyously / to theyr confusyowne The flood{is} raughte / thē fro theyr stādyng place And bare them forth / a full large space Wherof in myschefe / and in great distresse In great laboure / and hertely heuynesse The grekes bydde / all the same nyght What for the tempest / and for lacke of lyght Tyll the floode / gan agayne withdrawe The wynde to appese / and the day gan dawe And the heuen / gan agayne to clere Without cloudes / fresshely to appere And Phebus eke / with a feruent hete Hadde on the soyle / dryed vp the wete And the moysture / enuyrowne on the playne And grekes hadde / theyr tentes set agayne And were adawed / of theyr nyghtes sorowe Thorugh the aperynge / of the galde morowe They them arrayed / nothynge for the pees And into the felde / firste went Achylles As ye shall here / of entencyowne That day to fyght / w^t them of Troye towne.

WHan dryed was / the lusty large playne w^t pheb{us} bemys / as ye haue herd me saȳe The troyan knyghtes / full worthy of renowne Descendyd be / and ycome downe And in the felde / toke theyr fyghtynge place But Achylles / to mete them in the face Tofore went out / lyke as I you tolde With his lordes / and his knyghtes bolde And firste I fynde / without more abode Vnto Hupon / furyously he rode I mene Hupon / that was of his stature Lyke a Geaunt / as bokes vs assure Whom Achylles / with his sharpe spere Thorugh the body / percyd hym so fere That he fylle dede / his wounde was so kene And after this / the kynge Octamene As he fyersly / on Ector wolde haue gone Without abode / Ector hym siewe anone And cruelly / quytte hym his fatall mede And sodaynely / agaynst Dyomede. As zantipus / the worthy kynge gan drawe Full pyteously / he of hym was slawe And right anone / the kynge Epyscrophus And eke the kynge / that hyght Cedyus Of one assent / proudely in batayle Begonne Ector / mortally to assayle And with a spere / firste Epyscrophus Ran at hym / with herte despytous And as Guydo / also doth deuyse

Rebukyd hym / in vngoodly wyse To hym so sore / in herte he was a meued Wherof Ector / furyously agreued Hath mortally / his wounde made so large That hym ne geyneth / plate / shelde / nor targe For he fyll dede / amonge his men echone To whom Ector / bad he shulde gone To the Furyes / depe downe in helle Suche wordes / amonges them to telle For here quod he / men take of them no hede And thus whan he / was waged for his mede Anone his brother / called Cedyus Suche sorowe made / for Epyscrophus So hertely dole / and so wofull chere That pyte was / for to se and here So inwardly / on his deth he thought And with a thousande knyght{is} / y^t he brought To be auenged / by manhode of them alle Despyteously / on Ertor / he is falle Where he hym founde / fyghtynge w^t his foon That thorugh the force / of them euerychoon So sore enuyrowne / they haue hym beset That from his stede / downe they haue hȳ smet ¶Whom Cedyus / aye in his cruell rage Whan that he sawe / to his auauntage Ector vnhorsed / and he on his stede His swerde he lefte / of inwardely hatrede Markynge at hym / with so great a payne With all the force / of his armes twayne Fully in purpose / without more delay To slee Ector / playnely if he may But or his stroke / descende myght downe Ector of hate / and indignacyowne With his swerde / that was full sharpe whet From his shuldre / hath his arme of smet And after that / he reuyd hym his lyfe Than Eneas / amyddes all this stryfe Came rydynge in / woode and furyous And as he mette / the kynge / Amphymacus He fell on hym / and slewe hym in his rage And from grekes / holdynge theyr passage There came downe / firste Menelaus And after hym / kynge Thelamonyus The great Duke / also of Athene In whom there was / so moche manhode sene Vlixes eke / and cruell Dyomede And eke also / to helpe them in theyr nede There came with them / the kynge Machaon And alderlaste / the great Agamenon With all theyr wardes / and fyll in sodaynly Vpon Troyans / and they full manfully Diffende them selfe / agayne the Grekes proude And put them of / full knyghtly as they coude And eche on other / sothly as they mette With spere and swerde / enuyously they sette So mortall hate / there was them betwene And whan the sonne / was in merydyen In myd day angell / passynge hote and shene The grekes / gan felly in theyr tene So myghtely / to falle on them of Troye That they them made / for to gyue weye Of very force / and necessyte And Achylles / so full of cruelte Amonge the renges / as he gan hym drawe The kynge Phylem / enuyously hath slawe And amyd of grekes / the same tyme Ector Maugre them all / slewe kynge Alphenor And eke the kynge / called Dorous On them he was / so cruell and yrous That thorugh vertue / of his knyghtly honde Troyans haue wonne / agayne theyr londe Vpon grekes / and made them for to flee And thylke houre / from Torye the Cytee Epyscrophus / full of manlynesse The felde hath take / thorugh his worthynesse And on grekes / proudely for the nones With his knyghtes / he falleth all attones And seuered them / & made them for to twynne And gan the felde / faste vpon them wynne Hauynge that tyme / in his companye Amonges other / that he dyde guye Acertayne Archer / the whiche as I fynde Was monstruous / and wonderfull of kynde For from the myddell / vp vnto the crowne He was a man / and the remenaunt downe Bare of an horse / lyknesse and fygure And horses heer / this monstre in nature Hadde on his skyn / growynge enuyrowne Full rough / and thycke / & of his voyce y^e sowne Was lyke the neyhynge / of an horse I rede And though his face / both in lengthe & brede Of shape were mannysshe / yet in suthfastnesse His coloure was / semblable in lyknesse Vnto the Fery hoote / breynnynge glede Whose Eyen eke / flawmynge also rede As the blase / of an ouen mouthe And for he was / in syghte so vnkouthe Where so euer / he was met in the berde Bothe man and hors / sore were a ferde His face was / so hatefull and so odyble

And his loke / so hydous / and horryble And aye he hadde / in custome and vsaunce As in bokes / is made remembraunce For to go / vnarmed into felde Without swerde / spere / axe / or shelde For he no thynge / coude of that myster But as I fynde / he was a good archer And bare a bowe / styffe and wonder stronge And for he was / also of tyller longe His arrowes were lyke / to his tyller In a busshement / trussed wonder ner By his syde / aye redy to his hande Where so he were / outher on see or lande And as I fynde / how that none armure Agayne his shot / playnely myght endure And there was hors / stede nor courser That durste abyde / nouther fer nor ner But fledde anone / with all theyr full myght As faste as they / of hym hadde a syght To them he was / so passynge odyous So lyke a deuyll / and so monstruous And there was foūde / none so hardy a knyght On hors backe / that hadde force or myght To holde his hors / whan they myght hym se But that anone / a backe he wolde fle And of this Archer / I fynde wryten eke That he that day / slewe full many greke And wounded them / with his arrowes kene Thorugh out y^e plates / forged bryght & shene For there was none / afore hym that abode But to theyr Tentes / faste awaye they rode They myght nat / his hydous loke endure Tyll there befell / a wonder aduerture Whyle they of Troye / by helpe of this Archer Sewe on the chase / to theyr lodgynge ner And slewe of them / in myschefe and in drede Besyde a Tent / mette Dyomede With this Archer / of necessyte For it stode so / that he ne myght hym fle No maner way / nor a backe remewe For lyfe nor deth / he myght hym nat eschewe So many Troyan / was tho at his backe In his flyinge / he hadde go to wracke. ¶Wherfore anone / this worthy Dyomede With cruell herte / faste gan hym spede And towarde hym / proudely for to dresse But this Archer / by great aduysenesse Firste with an arrowe / smette Dyomede Thorugh his harneys / that he made hym blede Of whiche stroke / he wexed so wood & wrothe That to this monstre / so hydous and so lothe He went a pase / and hym vnarmed fonde And with y^e swerde / that he helde in his honde He gaue to hym / his laste fatall wounde That he fylle dede / grouelynge vnto y^e grounde The deth of whom / grekes reioysynge and in all haste / theyr hertes resumynge Began them selfe / for to recomforte And into Felde / proudely they resorte By conueyinge / of Polixenare The worthy Duke / that so well hym bare Vpon Troyans / that day in the felde But whan Ector / the slaughtre of hym behelde Vpon this Duke / anone he gan to sette And on theyr stedes / fyersly as they mette Ector hym slewe / of full great hatrede And after that / on Gallathe his stede So as he rode / forth amonge the prees Or he was ware / he mette Achylles And with theyr speres / longe large and rounde In purpose fully / eche other to confounde They ran yfere / Irous and right wrothe That with y^e stroke / they were vnhorsed bothe But Achylles / wth a despytous herte Firste as I rede / into his sadell sterte And besy was / with all his inwarde peyne Gallathe / to take by the reyne Therof for euer / Ector to depryue And bad his men / to lede it home as blyue So that Ector / there was none other bote Full lyke a man / faught stondynge on fote Amonge grekes / and his fomen alle And to his knyghtes / loude he gan to calle For his stede / that they shulde sewe And they in haste / his hors to reskewe Ben attones / fallen on Achylle And maugre hym / of force agayne his wylle They haue from hym / berafte it on the playne And to Ector / restored it agayne Which in knyghthode / somoche hȳ self assureth Despyte of them / his sadell he recureth Whiche afterwarde / full dere they aboughte For lyke a lyon / all that day he wroughte Amonges them / rydynge here and there And as the deth / they fled his swerde for fere Thorugh whose manhode / troyans eft begyn Vpon grekes / the felde agayne to wyn But it befell / amyd theyr great fyght That Anthenor / a certayne Troyan knyght Amonge the prese / is so fer in gone

That of Grekes / he was take anone And to theyr tentes / sent in haste he was Albe his sone / called Pollydamas To reskue hym / dyde his dylygence So manfully / that no neclygence Was founde in hym / who so lyste to seke And that full dere / a boughte many greke The same day / thorugh his worthynesse But for cause / oonly of derkenesse And for that it / gan drawe towarde nyght They made an ende / oonly for lacke of lyght And grekes went / home to theyr lodgynge And eke Troyans / tyll on the mornynge That Phebus / gan his bryght bemys shewe And Aurora / newe gan to dewe The Erbys sote / and the grene leuys Both on hayes / and in fresshe greuys Syluer bryght / with rounde perlys fyne That so clerely / agayne the sonne shyne And shewe them selfe / so Oryent and shene On hylle and vale / and on euery grene The rody morowe / tyll the hote bemys Of bryght Phebus / with his fyrye stemys Vapoureth vp / theyr moysture into ayre The weder clere / agreable and fayre And attempre / also of his heete Whan the Troyans / caste them for to mete With theyr fomen / platly if they may And out they went / in theyr beste array With theyr wardes / into felde by rowe Agaynst whom / grekes were nat slowe But shope them forth / Without lenger lette Tyll they togydre / manfully haue mette And with theyr speres / and theyr swerdes clere They ran togydre / with a despytous chere Tyll shyuered was / a sondre many spere On sheldes stronge / them selfe for to were And ryuen was / on pecys many targe And with hexys / rounde brode and large On basenettes / as they smyte and shrede Full many knyght / mortally gan blede In sothfastnesse / and as I tell can The same day / was slayne many a man On outher parte / but most of Troye towne Albe Guydo / maketh no mencyowne Of no persone / as in specyall On nouther syde / but in generall Saue he concludeth / playnely that this fyght Laste fro morowe / tyll that it was nyght The whiche Troyans / haue full dere bought For that day / Fortune holpe them nought But tourned hole / to theyr confusyowne And so they be / repeyred to the towne And to theyr tentes / grekes faste them spede Tyll on the morowe / they sent Dyomede ¶Whith Vlixes / to Troye the cyte For a trewes / oonly for monthes thre If kynge Pryam / therto wolde assente And as they two / on this message wente A certayne knyght / borne of Troye towne That hyght Dolon / of great discrecyowne And also was / ryght famous of rychesse Of curtely / and of gentyllesse His deuer dyde / and his dylygence Them to conueye / vnto the presence Of Pryamus / in his paleys royall And in his see / most chefe / and pryncypall Where as he sat / his lordes enuyrowne With many knyght / full worthy of renowne They gan to hym / firste to specefye Hoolly the substaunce / of theyr embassatrye And of the trewes / theyr entent they tolde If it so were / he assente wolde And the kynge / benyngnely them herde And by auyse / prudently answerde That therupon / his honour for to saue At good leyser / he wolde a counsayle haue With his lordes / and fully hym gouerne In this mater / lyke as they discerne And to conclude / shortly euerychone Assentyd be / except Ector alone Vnto the trewes / and ne wolde it nat denye But Ector sayde / that of trecherye Oonly of slaughter / and false Treson Theyr axynge was / vnder occason Firste to berye Grekes / that were dede And vnder coloure / therof out of drede Afterwarde / them selfe to vytayle For he well knewe / that theyr stuf gan fayle And enfamyned / leste they shulde dye They soughte a space / them selfe to purueye By outwarde sygnes / that he dyde espye Wherfore quod he / me lyketh nat to lye By apparence / as I dare presume Whyles that we / waste and consume Oure stuf within / as it is to drede They wyll prouyde / of what y^t they haue nede For all that is / to them auauntage Myght be to vs / hyndrynge and damage And whyles / they encrease and amende

We shall our store / discrease and dispende Yet neuertheles / how euer that it be Touchynge this trewes / as for monthes thre Sythen ye all / assente and accorde Fro your sentence / I wyll nat discorde In no wyse / to be varyaunt And thus the trewes / confermyd was by graūt On outher syde / them thought for the beste Bycause they shulde / in quyete and in reste The mene whyle / ease them and releue And they that felte / theyr woundes sore greue Myght haue leyser / them selfe to recure And whyle the trewes / dyde thus endure They fylle in Tretee / and in comunynge Of Athenor / and Thoas the kynge That Anthenor / delyuered shulde be For kynge Thoas / to Troye the cyte And so Thoas shuld / to grekes home agayne Oonly by eschaunge / as ye haue herde me sayne One for a nother / as it accorded was And in this whyle / y^e bysshop hight Calchas Remembred hym / vpon his doughter dere Called Cryseyde / with hir Eyen clere Whom in Troye / he had lefte behynde Whan he wente / as the boke maketh mynde For whom he felte / passyngly great smerte So tenderly / she was set at his herte And enprented / both at eue and morowe And chefe cause / and grounde of all his sorowe Was that she lefte / behynde hym in the towne Without comforte / or consolacyowne As he caste / sothly in his absence And specyally / for his great offence That he hath wrought / agaynst them of troye And as hym thought / he shuld neuer haue ioye Tyll he his doughter / recured hath agayne ¶Wherfore / Calchas / the storye sayth certayne In his wyttes / many wayes caste How he myght / whyle the trewes doth laste Recure his doughter / by some maner way And as I fynde / vpon a certayne day In his porte / wonder humbly With wepynge eye / wente pyteously In complaynynge / of terys albe reyned Whose inwarde wo / sothly was nat feyned And on his knees / anone he falleth downe Tofore / the great kynge / Agamenowne Besechynge hym / with all humylyte Of very mercy / and of hye pyte With other kynges / syttynge in the place To haue routhe / and for to do hym grace And on his woo / to haue compassyon That he may haue / restytucyon Of his doughter / whom he loued so Prayinge them all / theyr deuer for to do That thorugh theyr prudent / medyacyon For Anthenor / that was in theyr pryson ¶With kyng Thoas / she myght eschaūged be If that them lyst / of theyr benygnyte To his requeste / goodly to assente And they hym graūt / & forth anone they sente To kynge Pryamus / for to haue Cryseyde For Calchas sake / and therwith all they leyde The charge for hir / wonder specyally On them that went / for this Embassatry To Troye towne / and to kynge Pryamus To whom Calchas / was so odyus So hatefull eke / thorugh out all the towne That this reporte / was of hym vp and downe That he a Traytour / was and also false Worthy to be / enhonged by the halfe For his Treson / and his doubylnesse And ouer more / they sayde eke expresse That he disserued hath / by right of lawe Shamefully / firste for to be drawe And afterwarde / the most horryble deth That he may haue / to yelde vp the breth Lyke a Traytour / in as despytous wyse As any herte / can thynke or deuyse Eueryche affermynge / as by Iugement That deth was none / fully equypollent To his deserte / nor to his falsnesse As yonge and olde / playnely bare wytnesse Concludynge eke / for his iniquyte That they wolde assent / in no degre Vnto no thynge / that myght his herte please Nor of Cryseyde / for to do hym ease They caste nat / to make delyueraunce Leuer they hadde / to gyue hym myschaunce If they hym myght / haue at good large But fynally the effect / of all this charge Is so ferforth dryuen / to an ende That Pryamus / hath graūted she shall wende With kynge Thoas / shortly there is no more Vnto hir Fader / for daūz Anthenore Who euer grutche / the kynge in Parlement Hath therupon / gyuen Iugement So vtterly / it may nat be repelyd For with his worde / the sentence was asselyd That she must parte / with hir eyen glade

And of the sorowe / playnely that she made At hir partynge / hereafter ye shall here Whan it agayne / cometh to my matere.

¶Howe durynge a Trewes of thre Monthes Ector walked into the Grekes hooste / And of y^e cōmunycacyon of Achylles & hym. Ca. xxv.

[illustration]

∴ ∴ ∴ tHe trewes affermyd / as ye haue herd deuyse On outher syde / of them y^t were full wyse And full assentyd / of them euerychone Tyll thre monthes / come be and gone Lyke as I rede / on a certayne daye Whan agreable was / the morowe graye Blandysshynge / and pleasaunt of delyte Ector in herte / caught an appetyte Lyke as Guydo / lyketh for to wryte The same day / Grekes to vysyte Full well besene / and wonder rychely With many worthy / in his company Of suche as he / for the nones ches And to the tent / firste of Achylles I fynde in sothe / this Troyan knyght Vpon his stede / toke the waye ryght Full lyke a man / as made is mencyon Nowe hadde Achylles / great affeccyon In his herte / bothe day and nyght Of worthy Ector / for to haue a syght For neuer his lyfe / by none occasyon He myght of hym / haue none inspeccyon Nor hym beholde / at good lyberte For vnarmed / he myght hym neuer se But wonder knyghtly / as well in porte & chere They had them both / as they mette in fere And right manly / in theyr countenaunce And at the laste / they felle in Dalyaunce But Achylles / firste began abreyde And vnto hym / euen thus he seyde Ector quod he / full pleasynge is to me That I at leyser / naked may these Syth I of the / neuer myght haue syght But whan thou were / armed as a knyght And now to me / it shalbe full greuous Whiche am to the / so inly enuyous But thou of me / there is no more to sayne Be slayne anone / with my handes twayne For this in sothe / were hoolly my pleasaunce By cruell deth / to take on the vengeaunce For I full ofte / in werre and eke in fyght Haue felte the vertue / and the great myght Of thy force / thorugh many woundes kene That vpon me / be full fresshe and grene In many place / byshedynge of my blode

Thou wre on me / so furyous and wode Aye com••assynge / to my destruccyowne For many•• mayle / of myn haber••owne Thy shar••e swerde / racyd hath a sonder And cruell•• seuered / here and yonder And mortally as / I can sygnes shewe My plates stronge / percyd and yhewe And my ha••eys / forged bryght of stele Myght neu••r / assured be so wele In thyne Yr•• / whan thou lyste to smyte That thy sw••rde / wolde kerue and byte Into my flesshe / full depe and full profounde As sheweth ye•• / by many mortall wounde On my body large / longe and wyde That yet appere / vpon euery syde And day by day full sore / ake and smerte For whiche thynge / me semeth that my herte Enbolleth newe / nowe whan I these Of hye despyte / auenged for to be So am I fret / of enuyous rage That it may neuer / in my breste aswage Tyll the vengeaunce / and the fatall sute Of cruell deth / be on the execute And of one thynge / moost is my greuaunce Whan I haue / fully remembraunce And in my mynde / consyderyd vp and downe Howe thou madest / a dyuysyowne Of me alas / and of Patroclus So yonge so manly / and so vertuous Whom I loued / as it was skylle and ryght Ryght as my selfe / with all my full myght With as hole herte / and inly kyndenesse As an tunge / may telle or expresse Now haste thou made / a departysyon Of vs that were / by hole affeccyon Yknet in one / of hertely allyaunce Without partynge / or disseueraunce So entyerly / our faythfull hertes twayne Ylaced were / and locked in a chayne Whiche myght nat / for none aduersyte Of lyfe nor deth / a sonder twynned be Tyll cruelly / thou madest vs departe Which thurgh my herte / so īwardly doth darte That it wyll neuer / in soth out of my thoughte And truste well / full dere shalbe boughte The deth of hym / and be no thynge in were Parauenture / or endyd be this yere For vpon the / oonly for his sake Of cruell deth / vengeaunce shalbe take I the ensure / without other bonde If I may lyue / with myn owne honde I shall of deth / do execucyon Without abode / or longe delacyon For right requyreth / without any drede Deth for deth / for his fynall mede For I my selfe / theron shalbe wroke That thorugh y^e worlde / hereafter shalbe spoke How Achylles / was venged on his foo For Patroclus / that he loued soo And though that I be / to the enuyous And of thy deth / inly desyrous Ne wyte me nat / nor put on me no blame For well I wotte / thou arte to me the same And hast my dethe / many day desyred And therupon / inwardely conspyred And thus shortely / as atwene vs two There is but deth / without wordes mo Whan Fortune hath / the tyme shape I hope fully / thou shalt nat escape Truste none other / I say the vtterly To whom Ector / nat to hastely Answerde agayne / with sobre countenaunce Auysed well / in all his dalyaunce As he that was / in nothynge rekles And euen thus / he spake to Achylles Syr Achylles / without any fayle Thou oughtest nat / in herte to meruayle Though with my power / and my full myght With herte and wyll / of very dewe ryght Day by day / I thy deth conspyre And euer in one / compasse it and desyre And do my laboure / erely and eke late To pursue it / by full cruell hate Thou oughtest nat / to wonder in no wyse But fully knowe / by sentence of the wyse In no maner / who so taketh hede Of rightwysnesse / it may nat procede That outher I / or any other wyght Shulde hym loue / that with all his myght My deth pursueth / and destruccyon And ouer this / to more confusyon Hath layde a sege / aboute this Cyte On my kynred / and also vpon me And therupon / felly doth presume With mortall hate / of werre to consume Vs euerychone / I wysse I can nat fynde In my herte / as by lawe of kynde Suche one to loue / of right nor equyte Nor haue hym chere / sothly in no degre For of werre / may no frendlyhede

Nor of debate / loue / a right procede For sothly loue / moste in specyall Of faythfulnesse / hath his Orygenall In hertes ioyned / by conuenyence Of one accorde / whom no difference Of doubylnesse / may in no degre Nouther in ioye / nor aduersyte For lyfe nor deth / a sondre nor disseuer For where loue is / it contynueth euer. But of hate / all is the contrarye Of whiche sothly / from hertes whan they varye Procedeth rancour at eye / as men may se Debate / enuye / stryfe / and Enmyte Mortall slaunghtre / bothe nye and ferre Moder of whiche / in sothfastnesse is werre The fyn wherof / longe or it be do Seuereth hertes / and frendeshyp kut a two And causeth loue / to be layde full lowe But for all this / I wyll well that thou knowe Thy proude wordes / in herte nor in thought In very sothe / agaste me right nought And if I shall / ferther more out breke Without auaunt / the trouthe for to speke I say the playnely / hense or two yere If I may lyue / in this werres here And my swerde of knyghthode / forth acheue I hope in sothe / so mortally to grene The grekes all / whan I with them mete That they and thou / shall fele full vnswete If ye contynue / and the werres haunte I shall your pryde / and surquedye adaunte In suche a wyse / with my handes two That or the werre / fully be a do Full many greke / sore shall it rewe For well I wote / of olde and nat of newe That the Grekes / gaderyd here in one Of surquedye / are founde euerychone Oonly for lacke / of discrecyon To vndertake / of presumpcyon So hye a thynge / a sege for to layne And your selfe / to ouer charge in vayne With Empryses / withoute fable Be of weyght / to you importable And the peys / of so great heuynesse That fynally / wyll you all oppresse And your pryde / auale and enclyne The berthone eke / enbowe backe and chyne And vnwarely / cause you to falle Or ye haue done / I say to one and alle And ouer more / be full in suerte Thou Achylles I speke / vnto the That fatall deth / firste shall the assay•• Tofore thy swerde / in any thynge auiyle Agaynst me / for all thy worthynesse And if so be / that so great hardynese Courage of wyll / vygour force or m••ght Meue thy herte / by manhode as a kiyght To take on the / as in derrynge do For to darreyne / here betwene vs two Thylke quarell / how so that befalle For the whiche / that we stryue all I wyll assente / playnely to Iupa••te Tyll that the deth / one of vs departe There is no more / that these lordes here Kynges / prynces / wyll accorde yfere That it be do / fully by one assent And holde stable / of herte and of entent Whiche in a felde / oonly that we tweyne As I haue sayde / this quarell may darreyne And it fynysshe / by this condycyowne That if it happe / thorugh thy hye renowne Me to venquysshe / or put at outtraunce I wyll you make / fully assuraunce That firste my lorde / Pryamus the kynge Shall vnto grekes / in all maner thynge With sceptre & crowne / hoolly hym submytte And in a poynt / varye nouther flytte Fully to yelde / to your subieccyowne All his lordshyp / within Troye towne And his lyges / in captyuyte Shall go theyr way / out of this cyte And leue it quyte / in your gouernaunce Without stryfe / or any varyaunce And therupon / to make suerte To deuoyde / all ambygnyte Tofore the goddes / by othe and sacrament We shall be swore / in full good entent And ouer more / our fayth also to saue To assure you / in pledge / ye shall haue The mene whyle / and kepe them on your syde At your choyse / hostages to abyde From Troye towne / of the worthyeste That ye lyste chese / and also of the beste So that ye shall / of no thynge be in were Of all that euer / that I saye you here And Achylles / without wordes mo If that thou lyste / accorde full therto That I haue sayde / thy honour to encrease To make this werre / sodaynely to cease That lykly is / for to laste longe

Betwene Troyans / and the Grekes stronge Thou shalt nat oonly / w^t honour & with fame Thorugh out the worlde / gette the a name But therwith all / and that is nat a lyte Thorugh thy knyghthod / to many man {pro}fyte That fro the deth / shall escape a lyue And to his countre / hole and sounde aryue That lykly are / by cruell aduenture For to be dede / if the werre endure Come of therfore / and let nat be prolongued But let the day / at wene vs two be ioyned As I haue sayde / in condycyowne If in diffence / oonly of this towne I haue victorye / by fortune on the I axe nat / but anone that ye Breke vp sege / and the werre lete And suffre vs / to lyue in quyete Into Grece / home whan ye are gone To whiche thynge / Achylles anone Hote in his Ire / and furyous also Brennynge full hote / for anger and for wo Assentydis / with a despytous chere And gan anone / to Ector dresse hym nere And sayde he wolde / delyuer hym vtterly Fro poynt to poynt / his axynge by and by And there in made / none excepcyon But of hole herte / and entencyon His requeste / accepted euerydell And as it semed / lyked it right well And for his parte / he caste a gloue downe In sygne and token / of confirmacyowne For lyfe or deth / that he wyll holde his day Agayne Ector / happe / what happe may Vnto the whiche / Ector lyfly sterte And toke it vp / with as glad an herte As euer yet dyde / man or knyght That quarell toke / with his foo to fyght There can no man / in sothe a ryght deuyse How gald he was / of this hye Empryse. Of whiche the noyse / and the great sowne Ran to the Erys / of Agamenowne And he anone / came downe to theyr tent With all the lordes / of his Parlyament ¶Where Achylles and Ector / were yfere To wytte theyr wyll / as in this matere Were they wolde / assente fynally To put the quarell / full in Iupardy Of outher part / atwene these knyghtes tweyne As ye haue herde / it fully to dareyne And with one voyce / grekes it denye And sayde they ne wolde / of suche a companye Of kynges / dukes / and lordes eke also Both lyfe and deth / Iuparte atwene two Nor to the course / of Fortune them submytte That can hir face / all day chaunge and flytte And some of Troye / in conclusyowne Iuparte ne wold / theyr lyues nor theyr towne In the handes / oonly of a knyght To put all / in auenture of fyght Pryam except / whiche sothly in this caas Within hym selfe / fully assentyd was Playnely to a put / and set in Iupardye Hoolly the honour / of his regallye Supposynge aye / as made is memorye That Ector shulde / haue hadde the victorye Of this Empryse / if he it toke on honde But for Pryam / myght natwithstonde Agayne so many / of one entencyon That were contrarye / to his oppynyon Bothe of Grekes / and on Troye syde He helde his peas / and let it ouer slyde And so the Grekes / parted be echone And Ector / is from Achylles gone Home to Troye / where I hym leue a whyle Whyles that I / directe shall my style To telle of Troylus / the lamentable wo Whiche that he made / to parte his lady fro.

ALas Fortune / Gery and vnstable And redy aye / for to be chaungeable Whā folk most trust / ī thy stormy face Lyke theyr desyre / y^e fully to embrace Than is thy ioye / away to tourne and wrythe Vpon wretches / thy power for to kythe Recorde on Troylus / y^t fro the whele so lowe By false enuye / thou hast ouer throwe Out of the ioye / whiche that he was Inne From his lady / to make hym for to twynne Whan he best wende / for to haue be suryd And of the woo / that he hath enduryd I must nowe / helpe hym to complayne Whiche as his herte / felte so great payne So inwarde wo / and so great distresse More than I haue / cunnynge to expresse Whan he knewe / the partynge of Cryseyde Almost for woo / and for payne / he deyde And fully wyste / she departe shall By sentence / and Iugement fynall Of his fader / gyuen in Parlyament For whiche / with wo and tourment all to rent

He was in poynt / to haue fallen in rage That no man myght / a pease nor a swage The hyd paynes / whiche in his breste gan dare For lyke a man / in furye / he gan fare And suche sorowe / day and nyght to make In complaynynge / oonly for hir sake For whan he sawe / that she shulde aweye He leuer hadde / playnely for to deye Than to lyue behynde / in hir absence For hym thought / without hir presence He was but dede / there is no more to sayne And intoterys / he began to rayne With whiche his eyen / gan for to bolie And in his breste / the syghes vp to swolle And the sobbynge / of his sorowes depe That he ne can / but rore and wepe So sore loue / his herte gan constrayne And she ne felte / nat a lytell payne But wepte also / and pyteously gan crye Desyrynge aye / that she myght dye Rather than parte fro hym out of Troye Hir owne knyght / hir lust hir lyues ioye That by hir chekes / the terys downe distylle And fro hir eyen / the rounde droppes trylle And all for dewed / haue hir blacke wede And eke vntrussed / hir heer a brodegan sprede Lyke to golde wyre / for rent and all to torne Yplucked of / and nat with sherys shorne And ouer this / hir fresshe rosen hewe Whylom ymeynt / with whyte lylyes newe With wofull wepynge / pyteously disteyned And lyke Erbys / in Apryll all be reyned Or floures fresshe / with the dewes swete Right so hir chekes / moyste were and wete With crystall water / vp ascendynge hye Out of hir breste / into hir heuenly eye And aye amonge / hir lamentaeyowne Ofte sythe / she fyll in a swowne downe Dedely pale / for dymmed in hir syght And ofte sayde / alas myn owne knyght Myn owne Troylous / alas why shall we {per}te Rather let deth / with his spere darte Thorugh my herte / and the vaynes kerue And with his rage / do me for to stryue Rather alas / than fro my knyght to twynne And of this wo / O deth that I am inne Why ne wylt thou come / & helpe make an ende For how shulde I out of Troye wende He abyde / and I to grekes goon There to dwelle / amonge my cruell foon Alas alas / I wofull creature How shulde I there / in the werre endure I wretched woman / but my selfe alone Amonge the men / of armes euerychone Thus gan she crye / all the longe day This was hir complaynte / w^t full great afray Hir pyteous noyse / tyll it drewe to nyght That vnto hir / hir owne trewe knyght Full tryste and heuy / came agaynes eue If he myght / hir comforte or leue But he in sothe / hath Cryseyde founde All in a swowne / lyinge on the grounde And pyteously / vnto hir he went With wofull chere / and hir in armes hent And toke hir vp / and than atwene them two Began of newe / suche a dedely wo That it was routhe / and pyte for to sene For she of chere / pale was and grene And he of coloure / lyke to asshes dede And fro hir face / was gone all the rede And in his chekes / deuoyded was the blode So wofully / atwene them two it stode For she ne myght / nat a worde Yspeke And he was redy / with deth to be wreke Vpon hym selfe / his naked swerde besyde And she full ofte / gan to grounde glyde Out of his armes / as she fylle a swowne And he hym selfe / gan in terys drowne She was as stylle / and dumbe as any stone He had a mouthe / but wordes had he none The wery spyryte / flyckered in hir breste And of deth / stode vnder a reste Withoute menprys / sothely as of lyfe And thus there was / as it semed a stryfe Whiche of them two / shulde firste ypasse For deth portrayed / in herte outher face With suche coloure / as men go to theyr graue And thus in wo / they gan togydre raue Disconsolate / all the longe nyght That in good fayth / if I shulde a ryght The processe hole / of theyr bothe sorowe That they made / tyll the next morowe Fro poynt to poynt / it to specefye It wolde me / full longe occupye Of euery thynge / to make mencyon And tarye me / in my translacyon If I shulde / in hir wo procede But me semeth / that it is no nede Syth my mayster / Chaucer here afore In this mater / hath so well hym bore

In his boke / of Troylus and Cryseyde Whiche he made / longe or that he deyde Rehersynge first / how Troylus was contrayre For to ascende / vp on loues stayre And how that he / for all his surquedye After became / one of the companye Of loues folke / for all his olde game Whan Cupyde / made hym full tame And brought hym lowe / to his subieccyowne In a temple / as he walked vp and downe Whan he his gynnes / and his hookes leyde Amyd the Eyen / cerclyd of Cryseyde Whiche on that day / he myght nat asterte For thorugh his breste / percyd and his herte He wente hym home / pale syke / and wan And in this wyse / Troylus firste began To be a seruaunt / my mayster telleth thus Tyll he was holpe / after of Pandarus Thorugh whose comforte / and medyacyon As in his boke / is made mencyon With great laboure / firste he came to grace And so contynueth / by certayne yeres space Tyll fortune gan / vpon hym frowne That she fro hym / must go out of towne All sodaynely / and neuer hym after se Lo here the ende / of false Felycyte Lo here the ende / of wordely brotylnesse Of flesshely luste / lo here the vnstablenesse Lo here the double / varyacyon Of worldly blysse / and transmutacyon This daye in myrthe / and in wo to morowe For aye the fyne / alas of ioye is sorowe For now Cryseyde / with the kynge Thoas For Anthenor / shall go forth alas Vnto Grekes / and euer with them dwelle The hole storye / Chaūcer can you telle If that ye lyste / no man better a lyue Nor the processe / halfe so well descryue For he our englysshe / gylte with his sayes Rude and boystous / firste by olde dayes That was full fer / from all parfeccyon And but of lytell / reputacyon Tyll that he came / and thorugh his poetrye Gan our tunge / firste to magnefye And adourne it / with his eloquence To whom honoure / laude and reuerence Thorugh out this lande / gyuen be and songe So that the laurer / of our englysshe tonge Be to hym gyuen / for his excellence Right as whylom / by full hye sentence Perpetuelly / for a memoryall Of Columpna / by the Cardynall To Petrark Fraunceyse / was gyuen in Ytayle That the reporte / neuer after fayle Nor the honour / dyrked of his name To be regystred / in the hous of fame Amonge other / in the hyest sete My mayster Galfryde / as for chefe Poete That euer was / yet in our langage The name of whom / shall pallen in none age But euer ylyche / without eclypsynge shyne And for my parte / I wyll neuer fyne So as I can / hym to magnefye In my wrytynge / playnely tyll I dye And god I praye / his soule brynge in ioye And where I lefte / I wyll agayne of troye The storye telle / and firste how that Guydo Within his boke / speketh Troylus to Rebukynge hym / full vncurteysly That he so sette / his herte folyly Vpon Cryseyde / full of doubylnesse For in his boke / as Guydolyste expresse That hir terys / and hir complaynynge Hir wordes whyte / softe and blandysshynge Were meynt with faynynge / & with flaterye And outwarde farsed / with many a false lye For vnderhyd was / all the varyaunce Curyd aboue / with fayned countenaunce As women can / falsely terys borowe In theyr herte / though there be no sorowe Lyke as they wolde / of very trouthe deye They can thynke on / and a nother seye As a serpent / vnder floures fayre His venym hydeth / where he doth repayre The sugre afore / the galle hydde behynde As appropryd is / vnto theyr kynde To be dyuerse / and double of nature Rathest deceyuynge / whan men moste assure For vnder coloure / euery thynge they werke The fayre aboue / the foule in the derke They hydde so / that no man may espye And though so be / that with a wofull Eye They can outwarde / wepe pyteously The tother eye / can laffe couertly Whose sorowes all / are tempryd with allyes And theyr coloure / euer is meynt with rayes For vpon chaunge / and mutabylyte Stande hole theyr truste / and theyr suerte So that they be / sure in doubylnesse And alway double / in theyr sykernesse

Semynge one / whan they beste can varye Lykest to a corde / whan they be contrarye And thus they be / varyaunt in accorde And holest seme / whan there is discorde And Guydo sayth / how there are fewe or none That in hir herte / apayed is with one And yet they can / be it to one or twayne To thre or foure / in theyr speche fayne Lyke as they were / to one and to no mo Hole in theyr loue / for well and eke for wo That eueryche shall / of hym selfe deme That he be next / lyke as it doth seme And thus in hope / standeth eche of them alle The trewest aye / redyest to falle Who serueth beste / next to be apayred And thus in chaunge / all theyr loue is fayred Let no man truste / but catche whan he may Farewell to morowe / though it be sure to day The fayre of chaunge / lasteth ouer yere But it is folye / for to bye to dere Thylke treasoure / whiche harde is to possede But flyeth away / whan men therof mostenede And if it happe / that no chapman be As sayth Guydo / yet all day men may se It sheweth out / at large fenestralles On chaumbres / hye and lowe downe in halles And in wyndowes / eke in euery strete And also eke / men may with them mete At Pylgrymages / and oblacyownes At spectacles / in Cytes and in townes As sayth Guydo / and all is for to selle But after hym / I can no ferther telle And eke he sayth / in his sentement There is no fraude / fully equypolent To the fraude / and sleyghty compassynge Of a woman / nor lyke in workynge For who that set / all his faythfulnesse Wenynge in them / to fynde stabylnesse He shall them fynde / stedfast as the mone That is in poynt / for to chaunge soone If he be yonge / they caste hym in rage If he be olde / he falleth in dotage Wherfore my counsayle is / to bothe two Caste of the brydell / and lyghtly let them go. This techeth Guydo / god wot and nat I That hath delyte / to speke cursedly Alway of women / thorugh out all his boke As men may se / who so lyste to loke To them he hadde / enuye in specyall That in good fayth / I am right wroth w^t all That he with them / lyste so to debate For Yre of whiche / the Latyn to translate Inwardely / my herte / I felte blede Of hye despyte / his clauses for to rede That resowned / in conclusyon Oonly of malys / to accusacyowne Of these women / full euyll mote he thryue So generally / their secte / to descryue Whiche made nat / thorugh in discrecyon Of good / nor badde / none excepcyon He was to blame / foule mote he falle For cause of one / for to hynder alle For I dare well / afferme by the rode Agayne one badde / be an hondred gode And though some one / bouble be and newe It hyndreth nat / to them that be trewe And by example / also though he shewe That some one / whylom was a shrewe They that be good / take shall no hede For it / no hyndrynge / is to womanhede Though twayne or thre / can be double & fayne For there agayne / lothely at Colayne Of virgyns / inly full of grace A leuen thousande / in that holy place A man may fynde / and in our kalender Full many mayde / parfyte and Enter Whiche to the deth / stable were and trewe For some of them / with the rosen hewe Of Marterdome / the blysse of heuen wonne And some also / as bokes tell konne With the lylye / of virgynyte And vyolettes / of parfyte chastyte Ascended be / aboue the sterrys clere And the sercle / of the nynthe spere Wherfore ioye is euer / and gladnesse eterne Wherfore in sothe / as I can discerne Though some clerk{is} / of shrewes haue myssayde Let no good woman / therof be myspayde For lacke of one / all are nat to blame And eke of men / may be sayde the same For to the trewe / it is no reprefe Though it so be / a nother be a thefe For what is he / the worse in his degree Though the tother / be hanged on a tree Nor vnto women / hyndrynge is it none Amonge an hondred / though that there be one Of gouernaunce / that be vycyous For there agayne / a thousande vertuous If that ye lyste / lyghtely ye may fynde And though Guydo wryte / they haue of kȳde

To be double / men shulde it goodly take And there agayne / no maner grutchyng make Nature in werkynge / hath full great powere And it were harde / for any that is here The course of hir / to holde or restreyne For she wyll nat be gyded / by no reyne To be coarted / of hir dewe ryght Therfore eche man / with all his full myght Shulde thanke god / and take pacyently For if women / be double naturelly Why shulde men / ley on them the blame For though myn Auctor / hyndre so their name In his wrytynge / oonly of Cryseyde And vpon hir / suche a blame leyde My counsayle is / lyghtly ouer passe Where he myssayth / of hir in any place To hyndre women / outher eue or morowe Take no hede / but let them be with sorowe And skyppe ouer / where ye lyste nat rede Tyll ye come / where that Dyomede For hir was sent / into Troye towne Where ceryously / is made mencyowne Firste how that she / to hym delyuered was For Anthenor / and for the kynge Thoas And how Troylus / gan hir to conueye With many other / to brynge hir on the weye And after this / how that Dyomede By the waye / gan hir brydell lede Tyll he hir broughte / to hir faders tent And how Calchas / in fall good entent Receyued hir / lodgyd there he lay And of hir speche / durynge all that day And all the maner / hole and euerydele All is rehersed / ceryously and wele In Troylus boke / as ye haue herde me sayne To wryte it ofte / I holde it were but vayne But Guydo sayth / longe or it was nyght How Cryseyde / forsoke hir owne knyght And gaue hir herte / vnto Dyomede Of tendernesse / and of womanhede That Troylus / wexe in hir herte as colde Without fyre / as ben these asshys olde I can none other / excusacyon But oonly / kyndes transmutacyon That is appropryd / vnto hir nature Selde or neuer / stable to endure By experyence / as men may ofte lere But nowe agayne / to my matere I must resorte / though that I be ferre As I began / to wryte of the werre.

¶How whan y^e trewes was endyd they wente to batayle agayne / where as were many a man slayne on both partyes / And of y^e Discrypcyon of y^e Palays of Ylyon / And also how there dy∣ed so many grekes of the pestylence / that they de¦maunded trewes for .xxx. dayes whiche they ob¦teyned. Capitulo. xxvi.

[illustration]

THe tyme passed / of the trewes Ytake the next morowe / whā tytā hath forsake The vnder partye / of our Emysperye Where all y nyght / he had be full merye With Aurora / lyinge by his syde But in his bed / hym lyste no lenger byde But shope hym vp / & caste his stremes shene On Troye walle / whan Ector armed clene Into the felde / faste gan hym hye Fyftene thousande / in his companye Of worthy knyghtes / and of manly men And as I fynde / Troylus hadde ten Of knyghtes eke / that his baner sewe And in hast / Parys gan remewe Out of the towne / with them of Perce longe And eche of them / a bowe in his honde And arrowes sharpe / trussed by theyr syde And of knyghtes / that aboute hym ryde He hadde also / thre thousande as I fynde And Dephebus / next hym came behynde With thre thousande / knyghtes armed clene On whose plates / the sonne shone full shene And next hym came / the Troyan Eneas And as I rede / sothly that there was Thesame day / with them of Troye towne An hondred thousande / knyghtes of renowne Lyke as recordeth / Dares Frygius And in his boke / Guydo wryteth thus And with the Grekes / all tofore that day With seuen thousande / went Menelay Knyghtes echone / whiche he dyde lede And with as many / went Dyomede And next them / foloweth the hardy Achylles With his mayne / called Myrundynes And zanptipu•• / the worthy kynge eke hadde Thre thousande knyght{is} / whiche that he ladde Into the felde / agayne them of the towne And alderlaste / came Agamenowne With suche a nombre / of the Grekes felle That wonder is / for to here telle And whan the wardes / in the felde abrode Hadde theyr place / without more abode Agrekysshe kynge / whiche y^t Phyllys hyghte Anone as he of Ector / hadde a syghte Towardes hym / syttynge on his stede With his spere / he gan hym faste spede But whan Ector / his cōmynge sayne He hente a spere / and rode to hym agayne And thorugh his shelde / and his plates rounde He gaue to hym / his laste fat all wounde Vpon whose deth / auenged for to be Full many Greke / gan on Ector for to flee And firste of all / the worthy kynge Famous That of Grekes / was called zantipus Of hye disdayne / oonly for Phyllys sake Towarde Ector / hath his course ytake And with a spere / ran at hym full ryght But Ector firste / hyt hym with suche a myght Thorugh his harneys / with his speres hede That zantipus / fylle to grounde dede The deth of whom / Greke sore playne And dyde theyr myght / and theyr besy payne On euery halfe / furyous and wode To auenge them / on Troyans blode And thorugh he passynge / cruell hardynesse They began Troyans / so to oppresse That many one / that day ne myght asterte Thoruh the breste / yperced and the herte For to be dede / and slayne amonge the prees Amonges whiche / cruell Achylles Slewe Lychaon / and Eufrobyus Noble knyghtes / right worthy and famous That were ycome / out of theyr countre Agayne Grekes / to helpe the Cyte And whyle troyans / cōstrayned were so narowe Were it with spere / quarell / darte / or arowe Ector was wounded / thorugh out the vyser Into the face / that lyke a ryuer The reed blode / downe began to rayle But his harneys / thorugh his auentayle Wherof astoned / whan they hadde a syght Full many Troyan / toke hym to the flyght And to the Cyte / faste gan them drawe And at the chase / full many one was slawe Or they myght / out of the felde remewe And euer in one / grekes after sewe Vnto the walles / almost of the towne Tyll that Ector / the troyan champyowne Of his knyght hode / gan to take hede Albe his wounde / sore gan to blede Yet of manhode / he gan them recomforte And maugre them / into the felde resorte Namely whan he / hadde inspeccyowne On the walles / and toures of the towne How that Eleyne / and Eccuba the quene And his suster / fayre Polycene With many other lady / gan beholde Hym thought anone / his herte gan to colde Of very shame / his knyghtes shulde fle And lyke a Lyon / in his cruelte

He made them tourne / manly euerychone And in his waye / he mette Meryon Agrekysshe kynge / that was nye allye To Achylles / as bokes specefye And with his swerde / Ector smote hym so That he hym rofe / on pecys two And whan Achylles / sawe hym dede Parted a two / euen fro the hede He hent a spere / and thought he ne wolde fayle Tohyt Ector / thorugh shelde plate & mayle And rode to hym / full Enuyously And amyd the shelde / he smet hym cruelly But with the stroke / Ector neuer adell Remeueth nat / he sat so faste and well But with his swerde anone / & taryeth nought Ran to Achylles / with an enuyous thought He knyghtly ran / vpon his coursere And on his creste / that shone so bryght & clere With suche a myght / Ector hath hym smet That he percyd / thorughe his basenet And racede eke / from his auentayle With that stroke / many pece of mayle That Achylles / constrayned was of nede Maugre his myght / to stagre on his stede To enclyne / and to bowe his backe At whiche tyme / Ector to hym spake. And sayde Achylles / I do well aduerte The great enuye / of thy cruell herte And specyally / that thou haste to me But yet beware / I counsayle the Thy selfe to put / so in aduenture For of one thynge / I playnely the ensure As I desyre / at my laste some day Here in the felde / if I the mete may Truste me right well / there gayneth no socour That I shall so / acquyte thy labour So mortally / I do the vnderstande With this swerde / that I holde in honde That with thy lyfe / thou shalt nat escape So cruelly / the vengeaunce shalbe take Efte whan we met / euen vpon thy hede Of whiche thynge / whan Achylles toke hede Aduertynge all / that he herde hym sayne Right as he wolde / haue answere agayne ¶Worthy Troylus / knyghtly entrede inne And made them / a sondre for to twynne And thorugh the manhode / of his companye Of worthy knyghtes / that he dyde guye And hye prowesse / of his owne myght He hath the grekes / put agayne to flyght And slayne of them / that day out of drede Sixe hondred knyghtes / sothely as I rede For losse of whiche / the Grekes faste fle To theyr tentes / of necessyte Tyll Menelay / dyde his besy cure To make them / the felde agayne recure Thorugh whose manhode / y^t day out of doute And worthy knyghtes / that were hym aboute The felde of grekes / recured was anone But tho fro Troye / came kynge Odemon And in all haste / possyble / that he may He came enbusshed / vpon Menelay And hym vnhorseth / in the selfe place And suche a wounde / gaue hym in the face That fro the deth / he wende nat escape And doutles anone / he hadde hym take With helpe of Troylus / and lad vnto y^e towne But of Grekes / suche a prese came downe To reskewe hym / in this great nede That Odemon / no ferther myght lede Kynge Menelay / towarde the Cyte Whan Dyomede / came with his meyne And many worthy / rydynge hym aboute And Troylus mette / amonges all the route All sodaynely / of hap or aduenture And hym vnhorseth / as it was his eure And after that / anone he hent his stede And bad a squyer / that he shulde it lede Vnto Cryseyde / oonly for his sake Besechynge hir / that she wolde it take As for a gyfte / of hir owne man Syth he that day / for hir loue it wan Amyd the felde / thorugh his great myght Of hym that was / whylom hir owne knyght And he in haste / on his waye is went And therof made / vnto hir present Prayinge hir / in full humble wyse This lytell gyfte / that she nat despyse But it receyue / for a remembraunce And with all this / that it be pleasaunce Of very pyte / and of womanhede On hir seruaunt / called Dyomede To remembre / that was be come hir knyght And she anone / with herte glad and lyght Full womanly / bad hym repayre agayne Vnto his lorde / and playnely to hym sayne That shene myght / of very kyndenesse Of womanhede / nor of gentyllesse Refuse hym platly / from hir grace That was to hir / there in straunge place

So kynde founde / and so comfortable In euery thynge / and so seruyable That it may nat / lyghtly out of mynde To thynke on hym / that was so trewe & kynde. ¶With whiche answere / the messager is gone Vnto his lorde / and tolde it hym anone Worde by worde / lyke as she hath sayde And he therof / was full well apayde That hym thought / playnely in his herte He was recured / of his paynes smerte And forth he had hym / in armes as a knyght But that day / durynge the stronge fyght They of Troye / so manly haue them borne That grekes myght / nat stonde them aforne For to theyr tent{is} / they haue thē chased downe That ne hadde be / kynge Agamenowne Grekes hadde / be dryuen out of the felde The whiche thynge / anone as he behelde He came vpon / with many worthy man And tho of newe / the slaughtre agayne began On euery halfe / vpon the large playne That Grekes / haue Troyans so be layne That efte agayne / they haue the felde ywonne So that Troyans / constrayned tho begonne To lese theyr londe / tyll Pollydamas Whiche with his knyghtes / there besyde was Gan falle vpon / endelonge the grene Them of Troye / full manly to sustene And the Grekes / he gan so to enchace Whan he came in / that they loste theyr place And to the stronde / euen vpon the see Thurgh his knyghthod / he made thē for to fle Of theyr lyfe / that they were in drede The whiche myschefe / whan that Dyomede Behelde / and sawe / how Pollydamas Mortally / pursued on the chas On hors backe / in the felde a fere With cruell herte / hent anone a spere And spryngynge out / rode to hym full ryght And he agayne / to acquyte hym lyke a knyght As he that lyste / on no partye feyne Of his stede / helde agayne the reyne And raughte a spere / & threwe it in the reste And Dyomede / he smote so on the breste That mortally / lyke as it is founde He vnhorsed hym / with a greuous wounde And ryght anone / with a knyghtly herte Pollydamas / all attones sterte Vnto the hors / of this Dyomede And by the reyne / proudely gan it lede Vnto Troylus / where he on foot stode All for bathed / in the Grekes blode On euery halfe / whiche that he shadde Amonges them / so knyghtly he hym hadde That they ne myght / endure nor sustene His sharpe swerde / grounde was so kene And delyuerly / maugre all his foon Into the sadell / vp he sterte anoon Of very force / armed as he was And vnwarely / by aduenture or cas With sharpe swerdes / for the nones whette As Achylles / and he togydre mette Worthy Troylus / of rancour and of pryde Achylles smote / that he felle asyde Downe of his hors / lowe to the grounde And natw^tstandynge / his grene mortal woūde He rose agayne / and faste gan hym spede If that he myght / to recure his stede But all for nought / it wolde nat auayle For sodaynely / with a fresshe batayle They of Troye / as made is mencyon In compasse wyse / beset hym enuyron Eueryche of them / armed bryght and clene And Ector tho / in his furyous tene As Dares telleth / all the maner howe The same day / a thousande knyghtes slowe Whiche them withstode / oonly in diffence For Achylles / to make resystence That tyme of deth / stondynge in Iupardye That certaynely / but if bokes lye By lyklyhede / he myght nat escape In that myschefe / to be dede or take Ector on hym / was so furyous But as I rede / Thelamonyus Reskued hym / in this great nede And caused hym / to recure his stede Natwithstandynge / all the great prees For the Duke / and lorde of Athenes Was in this case / of herte and hole entent To helpe Achylles / wonder dylygent That with hym ladde / many noble knyght But for bycause / that it drewe to nyght As the storye / maketh rehersayle They made an ende / as of that batayle And they of Troye / entred be the towne And after that / as made is mencyowne By and by / hauynge delayes Mortally they foughte / thurty dayes Withoute / any interrupcyon On outher parte / to great destruccyon

But aldermost / for all theyr great pryde They lost moste / on the Grekes syde Saue Pryamus / loste in specyall Sixe of his sones / called naturall For whom he hadde / full great heuynesse And as the storye / lyketh to expresse This mene whyle / Ector in certayne In his face / wounded was agayne And thus they haue / in this cruell rage On euery parte / receyued great damage Tyll kynge Pryam / from Troye sent downe For a trewes / vnto Agamenowne For sixe monthes / if he assente wolde And therupon / he hath a counsayle holde With his lordes / what were beste to do And they echone / accorded be therto And graunte his axynge / in conclusyon And all this whyle / within ylyon Durynge the peas / on outher parte assured Of his woundes / fully to be cured. Lay worthy Ector / protector of the towne But of this ryche / royall chefe doungeowne That Ylyon / in Troye bare the name Whiche of byldynge / hadde suche a fame If that I shulde / cōmende it vp so downe As Dares doth / in his descripcyowne I wante cunnynge / my termys to aplye For in his boke / as he doth specefye In all this wrolde / was there none so ryche Of hye deuyse / nor of byldynge lyche The whiche stode / the more to delyte As he recordeth / on twelue stones whyte Of Alabastre / shortly to conclude And twenty pase / was the latytude That grounde ypaued / thorugh out w^t crystall And vp on hyghte / parformed euery wall Of all stones / that any man can fynde Of Dyamountes / and saphyres ynde The royall rubye / so oryent and lyght That the derkenesse / of the dymme nyght Enchaced was / with his bemes shene And euer amonge / were emeraudes grene With stones all / that any maner man In this worlde / deuyse or reken can That were of pryse / value or rychesse Ther were wrought / of large & gret roūdenesse As sayth Dares / Yuory pyllers And therupon / set at the corners Of pured golde / all aboue on hyghte There were ymages / wonder huge of weyghte With many perle / and many ryche stone And euery pyller / in the halle hadde one Of massyfe golde / borned clere and bryght And wonderfull / to any mannes syght For of this werke / the meruaylous fasyon Was more lyke / by estymacyon A thynge ymade / and founded by fayrye Than any werke / wrought by fantasye Thorugh wytte of man / as by lyklynesse For in his boke / Dares bereth wytnesse That it was lyke / to reken syght and all In apparaunce / a thynge celestyall Syth in this boke / ye get no more of me For but in wrytynge / I myght neuer it se Albe all other / that it dyde excelle No more therof / I thynke nowe to telle But retourne agayne / to Pryamus Whiche all this whyle / was inly coryous With all his myght / and his besy cure To ordayne / for the sepulture Of his sones / that afore were dede And all that tyme / syke lay Dyomede With loues darte / wounded to the herte As he that felte / inwardly smerte Of wofull syghes / whiche in his breste abreyde Full ofte a daye / for loue of Cryseyde For he was shake / with a feuer newe That caused hym / to be full pale of hewe And to wexe / bothe megre and lene For pyteously / he gan hym to abstene Fro mete and drynke / and from all solace As it was sene / in his dedely face And ofte a day / to hir he wolde playne Of his dissease / and his mortall payne Prayinge of grace / that she wolde se Vpon his woo / for to haue pyte And of mercy / for to take hede Of hir seruaunt / oonly of womanhede Or planely ellys / there is no more to seye For hir sake / he sayde he wolde deye. But cunnyngly / and in full sleyghty wyse To kepe hym lowe / vnder hir seruyse With delayes / she helde hym forth on honde And made hym / in a weer to stonde Full vnsure / betwene hope and dispayre And whan that grace / shulde haue had repayre To put hym out / of all heuynesse Daunger of newe / brought hym in distresse And with a disdayne / to encrease his payne Of double weer / she brought hȳ in a trayne

As women can holde / a man full narowe Whan he is hurte / with Cupydes arowe To sette on hym / many felle assayes Day by day / to put hym in delayes To stonde vnsure / betwyxe hope and drede Right as Cryseyde / left Dyomede Of entent to sette / hym more a fyre As this women / kyndely desyre Whan they a man / haue brought in a traunce Vneuenly / to hange hym in balaunce Of hope and drede / to lynke hym in a chayne And of the fyne / vnsure of both twayne To dryue hym forth / yeres them to serue And do no force / where he lyue or sterue This is the fyne / of loues fyry rage And for she wolde / haue hym inseruage She locked hym / vnder suche a keye That he wote nat / where to lyue or deye And in doute thus / I lette hym dwelle And forth I wyll / of the storye telle And to my matere / eke resorte agayne And as myn Auctour / recordeth in certayne After the trewes / were wered out and gone Twelue dayes / suynge all in one The grekes faught / w^t them of the towne To great damage / and confusyowne Of outher partye / and aduersyte And in this whyle / a great mortalyte Bothe of swerde / and of pestylence Amonge grekes / by fatall influence Of noyous hete / and of corrupt eyre Engendryd was / that in great dispeyre Of theyr lyfe / in the felde they leye For day by day / sodaynely they deye And theyr nombre / faste gan discrece And whan they sawe / that it ne wolde sece By theyr aduyse / the kynge Agamenowne For a trewes / sent to the towne For thurty dayes / and Pryamus the kynge Without more / graunted his axynge.

¶Howe Andronomecha Ectors wyfe hadde a vysyon in hir slepe / that & hir housbonde fought on the morowe that he shuld be slayne / the whi∣che wold not byleue hir / nouther Fader nor mo¦der / And how Achylles slewe hym. Ca. xxvij.

[illustration]

WHan the moreyne / and the wofull rage Of Pestylence / began for to aswage And the trewes / were wered out & goon The grekes caste / to mete with theyr foon Vpon a day / in plates armed clene Whan Phebus rose / with his bemys shene Full plesauntly / and gan to shede his lyght But as I fynde / tofore the selfe nyght Andronomecha / the faythfull trewe wyfe Of worthy Ector / hym louynge as hir lyfe By whom he hadde / gete children two Wonder semely / and inly fayre also And Lamedoute / called was the tone So yonge the tother / that it ne myght gone And Astronanta / I rede that he hyghte Fetured well / and passynge fayre of syghte And as Guydo / lysteth to endyte Of his moder / at the pappes whyte For very yonge / that tyme was soukynge And with his arme / hir brestys embrasynge And she that nyght / as made is mencyon Hadde in hir slepe / a wonder vysyon I note in sothe what / I may it neuene Outher a dreme / or veryly a sweuene Or fro aboue / a reuelacyon As whylom hadde / the kynge Scipyon Or a shewynge / outher an Oracle Or of goddes / a warnynge by myracle For in sothenesse / slepynge as she lay Hir thoughte playnely / if the next day. Ector went / his fomen for to assayle As he was wonte / armed in batayle That hene shulde / escape vtterly In fatys hondes / to falle fynally

And ouer more / Antropos shall fyne For euermore / his lyues threde to twyne And shewe the force / of hir fell myght Whan the Parodye / of this worthy knyght A proche shall / without wordes mo Into the felde / playnely if he go Of whiche astonyd / streyght and short of breth Where as she lay / abrayde vp on the deth And with a syghe / stynte for to slepe And pyteously / braste out for to wepe For the constraynte / of hir hertely sorowe And specyally / on the wofull morowe Whan that she sawe / this stocke of worthynesse As he was wonte / manfully hym dresse To arme hym / in stele borned bryght This troyan wall / Ector this worthy knyght She can no more / but at his fete felle downe Lowly declarynge / hir a vysyowne With quakynge herte / of very womanhede Wherof god wote / he toke lytell hede But therof hadde / indygnacyon Platly affermynge / that no discrecyon Was to truste / in suche fantasyes In dremes shewed / gladly meynt with lyes Full of Iapes / and illusyons Of whiche playnely / the conclusyons Benat ellys / but folkes to delude Albe it so / that these people rude Therin some whyle / haue affeccyon To iuge and deme / in theyr oppynyon Dyuersly / what they may pretende And ofte falle / and happen as they wende And foloweth lyke / in conclusyon For drede of whiche / the Lamentacyon Encrease gan / of Andronomecha And in hir swowne / firste she cryed A Sayeng alas / myn owne lorde so dere Your trewe wyfe / alas why ne wyll ye here Whiche of so faythfull / hoole affeccyon Desyreth aye / your sauacyon And vp she rose / dedely of vysage And lyke a woman / caught with sodayne rage To kynge Pryam / and Eccuba / the quene In haste she wente / hir selfe to be mene And of hir wyfely herte / trewe as stele Ceryously / declared euery dele Hir pyteous dreme / whiche thorugh myracle To hir oonly / by deuyne oracle I shewed was / thorugh goddes purueaunce And tolde them eke / the fynall ordynaunce Of Fortunes false / disposycyon Fully purueyed / to destruccyon Of hir lorde / without more delay Into the felde / if he go that day ¶Wherfore she prayeth / with a dedely hewe Vnto the kynge / of meccy for to rewe Vpon hir wo / to haue compassyon For to ordayne / by discrecyon Of his lordshyp / and of soueraynte That hir lorde / nat destroyed be Of reckeleshede / nor of wylfulnesse And with that worde / of very kyndenesse In whom was aye / somoche loue founde Tofore the quene / in a swowne fell to grounde And sayde alas / with a full pale chere Helpe in this case / myn owne moder dere Of womanhede and routhe / do me grace That my lorde / into the felde ne pace And do your deuer / of moderly pyte Benyngnely / and goodly for to se To his knyghthode / and his hye prowesse For to restrayne / his renowmed noblesse Thylke day / to handle / spere / or shelde Nor that he go / armed into felde And bothe twayne / assent for the beste And condescende / vnto hir requeste Fynally accordynge / into one That whan the wardes / were redy euerychone On yssuynge out / and Troylus firste of alle And Parys next / on grekes for to falle And after hym / the Troyan Eneas Kynge Sarpedon / and Pollydamas Kynge Eroys / and kynge Epystrophus And eke the kynge / ycalled Forcyus In plate and mayle / eueryche armed clene And alderlaste / came kyng Phylymene With all the kynges / and lordes of renowne That in diffence / come of the towne With the grekes / knyghtly to debate And Pryamus / sothly to the gate Conueyed them / at their out goynge And set their wardes / this noble worthy kynge Full prudently / thoruhe his sapyence And after gaue them / congee and lycence Vpon Greke / for to proue their myght Agaynst whom / full redy for to fyght Their fomen were / with royall apparayle Amyd the felde / abydynge the batayle But Pryamus / in this mene whyle Lyke as Guydo / remembreth in his style

For thylke fyne / that ye haue herde me sayne To worthy Ector / repayred is agayne Hym contermaūdynge / that he ne shuld gone Thylke day to fyght / agayne theyr foon For whiche thynge / of hye despyte he brent Whan that he sawe / other lordes went Out at the gate / and he alone abode For whiche he wexed / furyous and wode Hoolly the cause / arettynge to his wyfe That was of cherte / so tender of his lyfe Puttynge on his / fully the occasyowne Of his abydynge / that day in the towne In preiudyce / of hir worthynesse And disencrease / of his hye prowesse And lyfte thorugh tunges / to his hye estate Thorugh false reporte / it were derogate He caste anone / of a full knyghtly herte For lyfe nor deth / it shulde hym nat asterte Within the felde / that day to be founde Though it so were / w^t many mortall wounde He shulde on pecys / he wen be a sondre Vpon the playne / dismembryd here & yondre So hole in manhode / was his herte sette That he anone / without lenger lette Agayne to arme hym / was full dylygent Agayne the precept / and cōmaundement Of his Fader / and rode forth on his weye For fere of whiche / as she wolde deye His wyfe of newe / crye gan and shoute And with hir pappes / also hangynge oute Hir lytell childe / in hir armes twayne Afore hir lorde / gan to wepe and playne Besechynge hym / of routhe and pyte If he wolde / vnto hir sorowese At the leste / for hir wyfely trouthe That he of manhode / haue in herte routhe Vpon hir childe / and on hir also Whiche that she bare / in hir armes two And nat myght / hym from cryinge kepe Whan he sawe / his wofull moder wepe And knelynge downe / vnto hym she sayde In hir sobbynge / as she myght abrayde Myne owne lorde / haue mercy nowe on me And on this lytell childe / whiche that ye se So pyteously / afore you wepe and crye Haue mercy lorde on vs / or we dye Haue mercy eke / vpon this cyte Myn owne lorde / haue mercy or that we By cruell deth / passe shall echone For lacke of helpe / alas whan ye are gone This was the crye / of Andromecha With whom was eke / hir suster Cassandra Eccuba / and fayre Polycene And Eleyne / the lusty fresshe quene Whiche all attones / felle hym beforne With heer vntressyd / and wepynge all to torne And loude gan to crye / in the place Besechynge hym / of mercy and of grace For thylke day / to abyde in the towne And in his herte / to haue compassyowne On hir complaynte / and hir wofull mone Syth all the truste / of the twone alone In hym abode / and all the resystence For agayne deth / he was there chefe diffence And in hym hoolly / was theyr affyaunce Theyr suerte / and theyr suffysaunce In eche thynge / that them myght greue And yet all this / ne myght his herte meue For to abyde / yet of goodlyhede They hym besought / to theyr womanhede He wolde enclyne / his herded herte of stele That they myght / a lytell droppe fele Oonly of pyte / on theyr woto rewe That lykly was / to morne and renewe Fynally / to theyr distruccyowne For of the Cyte / sothly and the towne His vnhap / were endelesse ruyne But yet all this / myght hym nat enclyne That he ne wolde out / in conclusyon So indurate / and herted as a lyon He was alway / contynuynge in his rage Whose herte myght / a softe nor a swage Nouther prayer / nor waymentacyon Hym to restrayne / from his oppynyon For euery perell / he layde so a syde And on his way / gan anone to ryde Where thorugh his wyfe / none other bote can But in hir rage / to the kynge she ran So a mased / in hir mortall wo That she vnneth / myght speke hym to So diffacyd / and rewefull of hir syght That by hir hewe / knoweth hir no wyght For loste she hadde / bothe myght & strengthe And plat she fyll / to the grounde a lengthe Tofore the kynge / that routhe was to sene Besechynge hym / of entent full clene Of his grace / to consydre hir wo For but he helpe / Ector was a go And he seynge / hir faythfull womanhede At hir request / raughte anone his stede

And prycked after / oonly for hir sake In so great haste / that he hath ouer take Worthy Ector / within the cyte And hent his reyne / with great diffyculte And maugre hym / made hym tourne agayne In suche wyse / he durste it nat with sayne Albe that he / was full lothe therto So that by force / and prayer also From his stede / he made hym a lyghte The a reste of whom / eschewe he ne myghte For he ne wolde / agayne his fader stryue Albe that he / felte his herte ryue Of melancolye / and of hertely Ire And of disdayne / newe set a fyre So inwardely / steryd was his blode That lyke a Tygre / or a lyon wode That were depryued / newly of hir pray Right so he fared / all that ylke day Or lyke a bore / that his tuskes whette Whyle the Grekes / and they of Troye mette Furyously walkynge / vp and downe And in diffence / sothly of the towne. Troylus firste / on his bay stede Of aduenture / mette Dyomede And eche at other / surquedous of pryde With sharpe speres / gan togydre ryde And Guydo sayth / without any drede One or bothe / hadde anone be dede. Ne had Menelay / knyghtly go bytwene And after that / in a furyous tene He smette his hors / in full k••yghtly wyse And Meryem / the myghty kynge of Fryse Menelaus / marked hath full wele And with his swerde / full sharpe groūde of stele Vnhorsed hym / and threwe hym on the grene For he the stroke / myght nat sustene This Menelay / was on hym so wode That it was lykly / euen there he stode With the lyfe / he shuld nat escape For the grekes / full hastely them shape This Meryem / as ye haue herde me sayne For to be sette / rounde vpon the playne And to sesse hym / by the auentayle On euery part / and cruelly to assayle All destytute / in this dredefull caas But hym to helpe / came Pollydamas With his knyghtes / and gan to nyghe nere Whan he hym sawe / taken prysonere And maugre all / vpon hym sette From theyr handes / Pollydamas hym fette At whose reskues / there was so great a stryfe That many one / therfore loste his lyfe For grekes rather / than he shulde escape From theyr handes / in that hasty rape Caste them playnely / that he shalbe dede Fully in purpose / to haue hadde his hede He stode of myschefe / in so great disioynt But hym to helpe / euen vpon the poynt Came Troylus in / moste knyghtly of array And of his manhode / made suche affray Amonges them / in reskues of this kynge That maugre them / at his in cōmynge Delyuered was / this myghty lorde of Fryse From cruell deth / as ye haue herde deuyse But therupon / came Thelamonyus Proude in armes / and euer surquedous With thre thousande / full worthy euerychone And he vnhorseth / Pollydamas anone Amonge his knyght{is} / & proudly bare hȳ downe But troylus / hath thorugh his hye renowne Myd of his foon / gete hym his hors agayne But they of Troye / so sore were be layne On euery halfe / thorughe the grekes pryde That they myght / afore them nat abyde For newe and newe / the hardy Achylles Assayled them / with his Myrundones That they compelled / of necessyte In myschefe were / made for to flee Home to the walles / and gates of the towne To great damage / and confusyowne Of theyr partye / that a backe so gon The whiche thynge / whan Margaryton Behelde and sawe / how the game goth In his herte / he gan to wexe wroth And passyngly / for to haue disdayne And as the storye / recordeth in certayne That he was / bothe hardy and famous And sone also / to kynge Pryamus A noble knyght / and of great worthynesse And whan he sawe / the myschefe and distresse Of them of Troye / and how they gan to fle He caste anone / auenged for to be Vpon Achylles / for all his great myght And ran to hym / full lyke a manly knyght On hors backe / for the townes sake And hym enforseth / Achylles to take Amyd the felde / amonge his knyghtes alle But Achylles / alas it shulde falle That day hym slewe / by cruell aduenture Where thorugh Troyans / myght nat endure

The felde to holde / but homewarde gan thē hye And mortally / to make noyse and crye Firste for the deth / of Margaryton And for the pursuyte / that kynge Thelamon Made on the chase / thorugh his cruelte Home to the Gates / of Troye the Cyte That slewe and kylled / alway as he rode Albe that Parys / manly hym withstode With his brethre / that in baste were borne But for all that / theyr grounde they haue lorne Lefte and forsake / vtterly the felde And home they went / & broughte on a shelde The dede corps / of Margaryron And after that / theyr gates shette anone The whiche myschefe / as Ector gan beholde Of very Ire / his herte gan to colde And sayde platly / without more delay He wolde auenge / his deth the same day And made in haste / his stede to be fet And vp he sterte / and on his basenet Vn wyste the kynge / or who be lefe or lothe There was no gayne / forth anone he goth Tyll he was passyd / the gates of the towne More Furyous / than Tygre or lyowne At whose cōmynge / thycke as swarme of been Tofore his swerde / Grekes gan to fleen They thought it was / tyme to withdrawe And firste I fynde / how that he hath slawe Two worthy Dukes / as he with them mette That besy were / his waye for to lette The tone ycalled / was Eurypalus And the tother / hyghte Hascydyus And so Troyans / the felde agayne haue wonne And of newe / manfully begonne Grekes to sewe / and folowe on the tras And yet at myschefe / daūz Pollydamas The same tyme / was of grekes take But Ector / hath so borne hym for his sake Where as that he / sorest was be layne And thorugh his knyghthod / reskued hȳ agaȳe And put the grekes / in so great distresse Thorugh his manhode / and his worthynesse That where so euer / thylke day he rode His sharpe swerde / he bathed in theyr blode He was so cruell / and so mercyles But than a knyght / callyd Leothydes Shope hym anone / with Ector for to mete Whyle he was moste / Irous in his hete And sette on hym / full presumptuously But Ector tho / deuoyde / of all mercy Anone hym slewe / and threwe hym in the felde The whiche thynge / whan Achylles behelde The great slaughtre / and the woundes wyde That Ector made / vpon euery syde He gan anone / compasse in his herte And vp and downe / caste / and aduerte How the grekes / neuer may be sure Agayne theyr foon / to fyght nor endure Nor kepe a felde / with them for to stryue All the whyle / that Ector were a lyue Wherfore he caste / and shope many weye By what engyne / Ector myght deye At auauntage / if he myght hym fynde And therto eke / Polycenes of ynde A worthy Duke / was also of assent Oonly for he / of herte and hole entent In hope stode / his suster wyue For loue of whom / he felte his herte ryue And in hir grace / better for to stonde He caste fully / for to take on honde This hye empryse / as I haue you tolde But whyle that he / was on hym moste bolde Ector hym slewe / there was none other geyne The whiche anone / as Achylles hath seyne For Ire he wexed / in his herte as wode As bore or Tygre / in theyr cruell mode Vpon Ector / auenged for to be And furyously / on hym he gan fle But Ector caughte / a quarell sharpe ygroūde And threwe at hym / & gaue hȳ suche a wounde Thorugh out the thyghe / vpon outher syde That in the felde / he myght nat abyde But hym withdrewe / and anone is wente With his men home / vnto his tente And made anone / a Surgyen to bynde His mortall wounde / and after as I fynde Whan he was staunche / & ceaseth for to blede In all haste / agayne he toke his stede And lest he were / of that wounde dede Afterwarde / as it was great drede He thought firste / auenged for to be Vpon Ector / if he myght hym se Of hap or sorte / if it wolde falle For hym thought / to his paynes alle It were to hym / the beste remedye Of his honde / if he myght dye For of his lyfe / he roughte nat amyte Be so that he / Ector myghte quyte Deth for deth / in conclusyon For that was hoolly / his entencyon

Of his desyre / fully suffysaunce By deth vnwarely / to gyue hym myschaunce But all this tyme / Ector vp and downe As he was wont / playeth the lyowne Amonge grekes / in many sondry place And with his swerde / gan them so to enchace That as the deth / where they myght hym seen They fledde afore hym / lyke a swarme of been For none so hardy / was hym to with sette And in this whyle / a grekysshe kynge he mette Were it of hap / or of aduenture The whiche in sothe / on his Cote armure Enbrouded hadde / full many ryche stone That gaue a lyght / whan the sonne shone Full bryght and clere / that ioye was to sene For Perlys whyte / and Emerawdys grene Full many one / were there in sette And on the cercle / of his basenette And rounde enuyrowne / of his auentayle In veluet fret / all aboue the mayle Saffres ynde / and other stones rede Of arraye / whan Ector taketh hede Towardes hym / faste gan hym drawe And firste I fynde / howe he hath hym slawe And after that / by force of his manhede He hent hym vp / afore hym on his stede And faste gan / with hym for to ryde From the wardes / a lytell out a syde At good leyser / playnely if he may To spoyle hym / of his ryche array Full glad and lyght / of his newe Empryse But out alas / on false couetyse Whose gredy fret / the whiche is great pyte In hertes may nat / lyghtly staunched be The Etyk gnaweth / by so great distresse That it defaceth / the hye worthynesse Full ofte sythe / of these conqueroures And of theyr fame / rent away the floures Desyre of hauynge / in a gredy thought To hye noblesse / sothely longeth nought Nor suche pylfre / spoylynge nor roborye Apparteyne not / to wrothy chyualrye For couetyse / and knyghthode / as I lere In one chayne / may nat be knet yfere For kouthe it is / that ofte suche rauyne Hath cause be / and rote of the ruyne Of many worthy / who so lyste take hede Lyke as ye may / now of Ector rede That sodaynely was brought / to his endynge Oonly for spoylynge / of this ryche kynge For of desyre / to hym that he hadde On hors backe / out whan he hym ladde Reklesly / the storye maketh mynde He caste his shelde / at his backe behynde To welde hym selfe / at more lyberte And for to haue / opportunyte To spoyle hym / and for no wyght spare So that his breste / disarmed was and bare Except his plates / there was no diffence Aagayne the stroke / to make resystence Alas why was he / tho so rekles This floure of knyghthode / of māhode pereles Whan that his foo / all that ylke day For hym alone / in awayte so lay If in myschefe / of hate and of enuye In the felde / he myght hym ought espye This Achylles / cruell and venymous Of hertely hate / moste melancolyous Whiche couertely / houynge hym besyde Whan that he sawe / Ector disarmed ryde He hente a spere / sharpe grounde and kene And of Ire / in his hatefull tene All vnwarely / or Ector myght aduerte Alas the whyle / he smote hym to the herte Thorugh out y^e breste / that dede he fylle downe Vnto the erthe / this Troyan champyowne Thorugh neclygence / oonly of his shelde The deth of whom / whan Odemon behelde The worthy kynge / myght hym nat refrayne But to Achylles / rode with all his payne And hyt hym so / amyd of all the prees Maugre the myght / of his Myrundones That for dede / Guydo sayth certayne Of that wounde / he fyll gro felyng on y^e playne But his knyghtes / on a shelde a lofte They layde hym / and caryed hym full softe Vnto his tent / in all the haste they can And there I leue / this dedely wounded man Full sore syke / tyll he may releue And after that / whan it drewe to eue They of Troye / with great reuerence Dyde theyr laboure / and theyr dylygence The dede corps / to carye into towne Of worthy Ector / whan Tytan went downe And to the temple dolefully they wende And of that day / this was the wofull ende I can no more / but thus the longe nyght In heuynesse / as it is skylle and ryght I wyll them leue / and agayne retourne To my mater / to helpe them for to mourne.

¶Of the complaynt that Lydgate maketh for the deth of the worthy Ector. Cap̄. xxviij.

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BUt now alas / how shall I procede In the storye / that for wo and drede Fele my hande / both tremble and quake O worthy Ector / oonly for thy sake Of thy deth / I am so lothe to wryte O who shall now / helpe me to endyte Or vnto whom / shall I clepe or calle Certys to none / of the Musys alle That by accorde / synge euer in oon Vpon Pernaso / besyde Elycon So aungelyke in theyr Armonye That tunge is none / that may specefye The great swetnesse / of theyr goodly songe For no discorde is / founde them amonge In theyr musyke / they be entunyd so It sytte them noughte / for to helpe in wo Nor with maters / that be w^t mournyng shent As Tragedyes / all to tore and rent In complaynynge / pyteously in rage In the Theatre / with a dede vysage To them alas / I clepe dare nor crye My troublyd penne / of grace for to guye Nouther to Clyo / nor Callyope But to Allecto / and Thesyphone And Megera / that euer doth complayne As they that lyue / euer in wo and payne Eternally / and in tourment dwelle With Cerberus / depe downe in helle Whom I must praye / to be gracyous To my mater / whiche is so furyous For to a wyghte / that is complaynynge A drery fere / is right well syttynge And to a matere / meynt with heuynesse Acordeth well / a chere of drerynesse To be allyed / as by vnyte ¶Wherfore helpe now / thou wofull nyobe Some drery tere / in all thy peteous payne Into my penne / dolefully to rayne And helpe also / thou cruelly yxione And Belydes / that doth the boget gone And with thy stone / helpe thou zepherus And in thy ryuer / helpe eke Tantalus That for hungre / haste so huge pyne This wofull playnte / helpe me for to fyne Me to further / do your besynesse For now the stocke / and roote of worthynesse Of knyghthod groūde / of māhod shours & well That tofore all / bare awaye the bell Of derrynge do / this floure of hye prowesse And was example / also of gentyllesse That neuer coude / do amys nor seye Alas Ector / alas why shuldest thou deye O cruell Parchas / why toke ye no hede So cruelly / to twyne his fatall threde Ye were to hasty / alas why were ye so And namely / the threde to breke a two Thou Antropos / thorugh thy great enuye O troye alas / well mayst thou wepe and crye And make a wofull / lamentacyon Whiche haste of newe / to thy confusyon Loste thy diffence / and thy stronge wall Thy beret vp / thy suerte royall By whom thy honour / chefely was begonne Alas alas / for now thy bryght sonne Eclypsed is / and thou standest desolate Of all comforte / and disconsolate Thy lyght is loste / and thou in derkenesse I plounged arte / for in soth fastnesse Of all worthy / thou haste the worthyest This day yloste / and the knyghtlyest That is or was / are shall / I the ensure Be euer borne / whyle the worlde may dure No wonder is / though thou wepe sore And day by day / complayne hym euermore That was thy shelde / both in ioye and wo Whom thou were wont / for to loue so So tenderly / with all thy hole herte That it may nat / lyghtly the a sterte To haue hym euer / in thy remembraunce Whiche was in soth / thy full suffysaunce.

For as Guydo / maketh mencyon There was no man / dwellynge in the towne That he ne hadde / of very kyndenesse For loue of hym / as he wryte expresse His childe more lefe / to a dyed in this caas Outher his Eyer / so well belouyd he was If the goddes fate / or destyne Disposyd hadde / that it myght haue be Woman also / of euery maner age Be for his deth / falle in suche a rage Thorugh the cyte / aboute in euery strete That with sobbynge / and salte terys wete And heer to rent / for dedely wo Furyously / ronne to and fro So mortall was / theyr aduersyte That to beholde / alas it was pyte Yonge maydens / and matrones olde Sobbe and syghe / and theyr fystes folde And loude crye / and sayde fynally Alas / nowe shall our Faders cruelly In our syght / be slayne day by day Alas the whyle / and no man shall saye nay Farewell our helpe / now Ector is gone In the surnesse / of vs euerychone Was wont to reste / nowe is he dede alas Of whom the body / whan it caryed was Into presence / of Pryamus the kynge Anone he loste / the offyce of spekynge And gan hym selfe / in salte terys drowne And pyteously therwith / fylle a swowne Vpon the corps / colde as any stone Inly desyrous / for to deye anone Without tariynge / on hym as he lay But that he was / by force rent away His bretherne eke / whan they toke hede Tryste and pale / for sorowe were nye dede And haue them selfe / with rage all to torne That neuer was / I trowe seen aforne Of bretherne yet / suche another care For eche of them / with hym selfe gan fare As they wolde / haue dyed on the cors For of theyr lyfe / platly / they gaue no fors But at the grounde / with many sorowes sore Lyke wylde bulles / they gan crye and rore That routhe was / theyr dedely wo to sene An herte of stele / myght it nat sustene ¶What shall I saye / of Eccuba the quene Or his suster / yonge Polycene Or Cassandra / the prudent and the wyse Or of his wyfe / the sorowe to deuyse Whiche rent them self / in tourment and in wo As fynally / they wolde them selfe for do By cruell deth / so they wepe and wayle That if I shulde / make rehersayle To wryte theyr sorowes / & theyr complaynges Theyr pyteous sobbynge / throwes & wepȳges The wofull cryes / and the pyteous sowns Theyr drery playntes / and Lamentacyowns And all theyr woo / for to specefye A large boke / it wolde occupye If eche thynge / I shulde in ordre telle I trowe it were / to longe for to dwelle For any man / and tedyous to here For many day / after as I lere The women wepte / afore the corps lyinge Them selfe defacynge / in theyr complaynynge That wonder was / how they myght endure But that they haue / it sothely of nature And of kynde / for to wepe and playne To syghe sore / and into terys rayne Tyll the tempest / of theyr wofull rage May by processe / lytell and lytell aswage And thus I leue them / syghe & sorowe make This cely women / in theyr clothes blake Shroude theyr faces / & wympled more ī vayne Whyle I tourne / to my mater agayne To telle playnely / how kynge Pryamus In herte was / inly desyrous To caste awaye / in his entencyon The corps to kepe / from corrupcyon Whiche naturelly / but men take hede Corrupte must / right of very nede For of kyndely / disposycyon There may be made / none opposycyon Aboue the grounde / if the body lye That of reason / it must putrefye But if crafte / be aboue nature Vncorrupt / it myght nat endure ¶Wherfore the kynge / shope hym to ordayne To preserue it hole / fro thynges twayne From odoure / and abhomynacyon And therwith eke / by crafty operacyon That it in slyght / be nat founde horryble But that it be lyfly / and vysyble To the eye / as by apparence Lyke as it were / quycke in existence What it coste / the kynge wyll spare nought But made anone / afore hym to be brought The craftyest / maysters / of the towne Suche as hadde / moste discrecyowne

To parfourme / his axynge curyously And they obeye / his byddynge faythfully With all theyr wyll / and entyer dylygence In the Temple / moste of reuerence Of all the cowne / whylom dedycate And of full yore / also consecrate To Appollo / of olde foundacyowne Besyde a gate / standynge of the towne Callyd Tymbr••a / in theyr Troyan tonge As in storye / is botheradde and songe And in this phane / that I speke of here They made firste / by the hye autere By great deuyse / a lytell oratorye Perpetuelly / to be in memorye Where was sette / a ryche receptacle Made in maner / of a tabernacle Egall of syght / for a large ymage That reysed was / on a ryche stage That was borne vp / at eche of his corners Of puryd golde / vpon foure pyllers And on eueryche / full craftely ydyght An Aungell stode / of golde borned bryght Ceryously the werke / to sustene With crafty Archys / reysed wonder clene Enbowed ouer / all the werke to cure So meruaylous / was the celature That all the rofe / and closure enuyrowne Was of fyne golde / platyd vp and downe With knottes graue / wonder curyous Fret full of stones / ryche and precyous Of euery kynde / that man can deuyse So ryally / and in so thryfty wyse That the derkenesse / of the blacke nyght With the bemys / of theyr clere lyght Enchacyd was / where they dyde shyne And fro the grounde / vpright as a lyne There were degrees / men by to ascende Made so well / that no man coude amende The workemanshyp / & they were euerychone Parformed vp / all of cristall stone Atteynynge vp / fro the table bas Where the standynge / and the restynge was Of this ryche / crafty tabernacle Hauynge aboue / vpon eche pynacle A ryche rubye / and reysed hye on hyghte Stode an ymage / huge and large of weyghte Of massyfe golde / hauynge the lykenesse Of worthy Ector / that gan his face dresse Towarde Grekes / where he dyde stonde Aye thretynge them / with his swerde in honde And amyddes / all this great rychesse They haue yset / by good aduysenesse The dede corps / of this worthy knyght To syght of man / standynge as vp ryght By sotyll crafte / as he were lyuynge Of face and chere / and of quycke lokynge And of colour / sothly and of hewe Beynge as fresshe / as any rose newe And lyke in all / as be supposayle As he lyued / in his apparayle For on his stede / lyke as it is tolde Thrugh smale pypes / wrought & made of gold That by mesure / were enbowed downe To an entre / made in his crowne By great aduyse / and subtylyte To eche partye / and extremyte Of his body / lyuealy porrect Thorugh nerfe and synewe / dryuen and direct By secrete porys / craftely to extende Wherby the lycour / myght downe descende To kepe hym hole / fro corrupcyon Without any / transmutasyon Of hyde and hewe / in any part to tourne And at his hede / of golde was an ourne That was fylde / with bawme naturall That ran thorugh / pypes artyfycyall Thorugh necke / and hede into many place Penetrable / by vaynes / of the face That thorugh vertue / and force of the lycoure He was conserued / lyfely of coloure Fresshe of hewe / quycke and no thynge pale So myghtely / the bawme dyde auale Comparysownyd / as it were semblable To a soule / that were vegetable The whiche / without sensybylyte Mynystreth lyfe / in herbe / floure / and tree And semblably / into euery vayne Of the corps / the vertue dyde attayne By breste and arme / spredynge enuyron For the moysture / by discencyon To hande and fote / sothly as I rede Thorugh bone & ioynte / gan his vertue shede And distyllynge / myghtely to flete And at his fete / full of gommys swete A vyoll stode / tempred with bawme ymeynt That by processe / may nat wexe feynt But day by day / encrease and amende Of whiche the vapoure / vpwarde gan ascende Causynge the Eyer / enuyron be delyse To resemble / a very paradyse

For the flauour / more holsome was and soote Than the odour / of spyce gōme or roote And of pure golde / were foure laumpes lyght Tofore the corps / brennynge day and nyght With oyle in sothe / if it be credyble That was by crafte / made in extynguyble For it ne myght / myn Auctor sayth certayne Nouther be queynt / w^t tēpest wynde nor rayne Nor by processe / wasten of no yeres Whiche in the Eyre / be bryght borned wyres Full craftely / reysed were a lofte Of whose swetnesse / men reioysed ofte In theyr courage / it lyked them so well And whan this werke / was complete euerydell Rounde enuyrowne / full ryche and fresshe to se They made / a parclose all of Eban tree That so longe / laste may and dure The whiche tree / oonly of nature Whan it is cut / smelleth wonder swete And may nat waste / nor brenne with no hete Though it be layde / amonge the colys rede Mydde the flawme / of many fyrye glede It nat consumeth / though men assaye ofte And in water / it houeth eke a lofte And kyndely / to the grounde it goth Toswymme on heyght / in sothe it is so loth And lyke also / as techeth Pluuyus This tree whylom / was passyngly famous Of so hye pryse / and reputacyon That in the large / myghty regyon And worthy londe / of Ethyopye and ynde Of yore agon / the folkes as I fynde Hadde this tree / in so great honour That they gaue trybute / to the Emperour As is remembred / of Antiquyte Of golde and yuor / and this ryche tree With these gyftes / famous and royall To quyte theyr dette / to hym in specyall. And whan Pryam / in full thryfty wyse Parformed hath / as ye haue herde deuyse This ryche werke / noble and excellent Of hertely loue / in all his beste entent Ordayned eke / as Guydo can you telle A certayne noumbre / of prestes for to dwelle In the Temple / in theyr deuocyons Contynuelly / with deuoute orysons For the soule of Ector / for to preye That the goddes / his spyryte lyste conueye Eternally / with them to dwelle yfere In ioye and blysse / aboue the sterres clere To whiche prestes / y^• kyng gaue mansyons There to abyde / and possessyons The whiche he hath / to them mortysed Perpetuelly / as ye haue herde deuysed And whyles they / knele praye and wake I caste fully / an ende for to make Fynally / of my thyrde boke On my rude maner / as I vnder toke And whyles they of Troye / wepe and morne Vnto Grekes / I wyll agayne retourne And with dulle style / on the storye trace Oonly borne vp / with supporte of your grace.

¶Explicit liber tercius. Incipit Liber quartus.