sig: [A1] | |
¶Here begynneth a lyttell treatyse cleped La conusaunce damours . | |
sig: [A1v] | |
¶The prologue of the author. |
|
In tyme of May / whan Flora the fresshe quene | |
Through arte and crafte / of swete zephirus | |
Depeynted hath / feldes and medowes grene | |
With sondry colours / very delicious | |
5 | White / redde / and crymoysyn amorous crymoysyn: =crimson |
Tauny / youlowe / violet / and blewe | |
With ryght many a nother dyuers hewe | |
Forth gone the virgyns euerychone | |
Replet with ioye / and eke felicite | |
10 | To gether floures. And some vnto one |
Haue more fantasy / whan they it se | |
Than to all that in the medowes be | |
A nother shall in contrary wyse | |
Gether other after theyr deuyse. | |
15 | So done clerkes / of great grauite |
Chose maters / wheron they lyst to wryte | |
But I that am of small capacite | |
Toke on me this treatyse to endyte | |
T'auoyde ydelnesse / more than for delyte | |
20 | And most parte therof / tolde was to me |
As here-after / ye may rede and se. | |
Thus endeth the prologue. |
|
sig: A2 | |
THe thyrde idus / in the moneth of Iuly | |
Phebus his beames / lustryng euery way | |
Gladdynge the hartes / of all our Hemyspery | |
And mouynge many / vnto sporte and playe | |
5 | So dyd it me / the treuthe for to saye |
To walke forth / I had great inclination | |
Per_chaunce some-where / to fynde recreation | |
And as I walked / euer I dyd beholde | |
Goodly yonge people / that them encouraged | |
10 | In suche maner wyse / as though they wolde |
Ryght gladly haue songe or daunsed | |
Or els some other gorgious thynge deuysed | |
Whose demeanynge / made me ryght ioyous | |
For to beholde / theyr dedes amorous. | |
15 | To wryte all thynges of plesure / that I se |
In euery place / where I passed by | |
In all a day rec[o]unted it can nat be recounted] recunted 1528 | |
Who coude discryue the fresshe beauty | |
Of dames and pusels / attyred gorgiously | |
20 | So swete of loke / so amiable of face |
Smilyng doulcely / on suche as stande in grace | |
Certaynly theyr bounte / and curtesy | |
Ofte moueth me / for to do my payne | |
Some-thynge to wryte / them to magnifye | |
25 | Aboue the sterres. But ay I may complayne |
Ignoraunce / gouerneth so my brayne | |
That I ne dare / for nothynge presume | |
Out of my mouthe / to blowe suche a fume | |
sig: [A2v] | |
It is a laboure / great and hyedous hyedous: =hideous | |
30 | Requirynge study / and moche experience |
For my shulders / it is to ponderous | |
Whiche am priuate / of suche condigne science | |
It is for a man / of hygh eloquence | |
And worthynes / fame and memorie | |
35 | So noble a thynge / to laude and magnifie. |
But nowe to purpose / where I began | |
Walkyng abrode / wandryng to and fro | |
Beynge alone / with me was no man | |
Sodaynly / came in my mynde to go | |
40 | Se. A faire pusell / and two or thre mo |
Of her companions. This was myn entent | |
And by and by / forth thetherwarde I went. | |
Whan I came there / I founde at the dore | |
A dammusell / standyng all alone | |
45 | Who I dyd salute / and ferthermore |
Of her demaunded I / curtesly anone | |
Gentyll mayde where is your companion? | |
Syr she sayd (her hart on a mery pyn) | |
Ye be welcome. she is nat nowe within | |
50 | But by her faire / and swete countenance |
I perceyued lyghtly / what she ment | |
Dame daunger moued her to that daliaunce | |
But Desyre bad me go. and in I went | |
And sodaynly / by the hand me hent | |
55 | This most curtes mayde / who I went to se |
Sayenge welcome / most derely vnto me. | |
sig: A3 | |
And by the hande / than as she me had | |
In we went / talkynge ioyously | |
Into a goodly parler / she me lad | |
60 | And caused me to sytte / curtesly |
Than vnto vs / came shortly by and by | |
A nother / that me swetely dyd welcome | |
Bryngyng fresshe floures / and gaue me some. | |
Than we began / to talke and deuyse | |
65 | Of one and other / of olde acqueyntaunce |
For comonly / of maydens is the gyse | |
Somtyme to demaunde for pastaunce | |
If that a man be in loues daunce | |
Or stande in grace / of any dammusell | |
70 | Under suche maner / in talkynge we fell |
We spake of loue / yet none of vs all | |
Knoweth perfectly / what loue shulde be | |
The one affyrmed / people veneriall | |
Folowynge the course / of their natiuite | |
75 | Endure great sorowe / and moche aduersite |
And many suffre / suche peyne and turment | |
That as mad folke / them-selfe all to_rent | |
Thus sayd one / and vp-helde it styffely | |
That loue was of suche maner nature | |
80 | That it myght rather be called a mad fury |
Than any maner thynge of pleasure | |
To whiche wordes / th'other mayden demure | |
Replyed. Prayeng vs / to gyue her licence | |
In this matter / to shewe forth her sentence | |
sig: [A3v] | |
85 | Gladly (we sayd[)] therto we assent |
In this to here / your opinion | |
Forsoth (sayd she) ye shall nat be myscontent | |
All-though therin / I make obiection | |
Where-as nowe / ye haue made conclusion | |
90 | Sayeng loue was a fury or a madnesse |
Without all grauite / measure / or sadnesse | |
Nay surely / your reason is defectyue | |
For this ye knowe very perfectly | |
That they that loue / and hate for to stryue | |
95 | Lyue a thousande tymes more quietly |
Than they / that hate eche other mortally | |
For where-as is no loue / nor tranquillite | |
There is myschef / langour / and all aduersite. | |
Loue is the very true manocorde manocorde: =manichord, or perhaps an error for monochord. | |
100 | That euery wyght shulde harpe vpon |
Louyng well eche other by very concorde | |
To this reason / byndeth vs euerychone | |
And this maner loue / is nat in vs alone | |
For bestes that haue / sence and vnderstandynge | |
105 | By companies go / to_gether right louynge |
Whiche doyng I repute very perfect loue | |
Whan by no crafte / nor male engyn | |
From their amite / wyll nat remoue | |
The one to socour other shall neuer blyn | |
110 | Who can depart true louy[n]g folkes atwyn? |
Father / children / and frendes of aliaunce / | |
And good neyghbours helpe other in eche chaunce. | |
sig: [A4] | |
This maner frendshyp / very loue I call | |
Other than this / or lyke no man can fynde | |
115 | Abyde (sayd the other) I thynke ye shall |
Here my reason / contrary to your mynde | |
I trowe none hence to the lande of Inde | |
Can be founde. Whiche hath nat tasted | |
Other loue / than ye haue nowe rehersed | |
120 | Harde you neuer tell / of yonge Pyramus / |
And his swete loue / called fayre Thysby: | |
In all Babylon / the moost swete and gracious | |
Bothe shynyng / full of fresshe beauty | |
Dwellynge also / togyder very nye | |
125 | Wherby the more / as I haue herde tell |
Fro day to day / in feruent loue they fell | |
They wold both / ryght fayne haue ben spoused | |
After suche lawe / as in that tyme they vse | |
But by theyr parentes / they were alway letted | |
130 | Who of theyr myschief / I may well accuse |
Neuer wolde one / the other of them refuse | |
The strayter they were kept / and inclosed | |
The more feruently / in loue they burned | |
And whan they coude nat to_gyther speke | |
135 | They made signes / tokyn and lokynge |
By suche meanes / theyr myndes wolde they breke | |
That one of other had perfect vnderstandynge | |
Nowe it happed / as loue is euer sekynge | |
To fynde remedye / what therof befall | |
140 | So at last they founde / a chenke in a wall |
sig: [A4v] | |
At whiche place / oft these louers two | |
Mette and talked / of their wo and payne | |
Many tymes / theder wolde they go | |
And on the wall / piteously complayne | |
145 | That he stode / betwene them louers twayne |
Nat openyng to them so moche space | |
To come to_geder / eche other to enbrace | |
These and like wordes / ofte wolde they say | |
O enuious wall certes thou doest amysse | |
150 | If thou wylt nat suffre / that we may |
Ioyne our bodies / suffre vs to kysse | |
Agaynst the / we neuer dyd amysse | |
Wherfore be nat thou / to vs vnkynde | |
Opyn thy-selfe / and obey to our mynde. | |
155 | And whan they shulde part eche other fro |
They toke leaue / and that ryght curtesly | |
Yet alway / before or they wolde go | |
On eche syde / they kyst the wall swetely | |
Syghyng a lytell / very amorously | |
160 | So wolde they stande / all many a longe nyght |
Tyll Aurora / exild them with her lyght | |
And whan Phebus gan / his bemes downe spred | |
Dryeng vp the dewes / in the medowes grene | |
Than wolde they stele priuely to bed | |
165 | That they shulde / of no persone be sene |
Where most of all / theyr sorowe sharpe and kene | |
At the hart / gan to prycke a_pace | |
That they ne coude / rest in any place. | |
sig: B[1] | |
Nowe languysshe they / with syghes profounde | |
170 | Nowe sorowe they / nowe they turne and wynde |
Nowe fresshely bledeth / their incurable wounde | |
Nowe cast they / right busely in mynde | |
Howe they may / some crafte and maner fynde | |
Theyr kepers to deceyue / by some wyle | |
175 | And to stele out / in the nyght by gyle. |
After they had / fixed theyr myndes heron | |
They agreed / at theyr metyng-place | |
That they wolde / into the feldes gon | |
The next nyght / and mete at a certayn place | |
180 | And whiche of them two / were first per_case |
Theder come / shulde no ferther go | |
Tyll the other / were ycome also. | |
Their metyng-place / I vnderstande shulde be | |
At the supulcure / or tombe of kyng Ninus | |
185 | (Kyng of Assiriens) vnder a goodly hye tre |
Bearyng white aples / the tre cleped Morus Morus: =more, 'mulberry tree', as elsewhere in this text. | |
Growyng fast by / a fountayne delicious | |
In the sayd place / couenaunted to mete | |
Yonge Pyram / and gracious Thysby swete. | |
190 | Whan the longe day / was gone and past |
And nyght come / euery-thynge at rest | |
The tendre mayde / hyed her ryght fast | |
To the dore she goth / redely and prest | |
And put therto / her doulce and softe brest | |
195 | Openynge it so / for feare lest it shulde crake |
And therwith / some of her kepars wake. | |
sig: [B1v] | |
So out at the dore / gote preuely is she | |
And through the towne / alone is went | |
Into the fyldes / towarde the foresayd tre | |
200 | O swete Thysbe / howe true was your entent |
Howe curtesly your hart dyd assent | |
For the loue of gentyll Pyramus | |
To enterprise / a thynge so perillous. | |
Myghty loues power / here may we beholde | |
205 | Proued on this goodly damosell |
What but loue coude make her so bolde? | |
She feared nat / the sauage beestes fell | |
Wherto shulde I any longer dwell? | |
Upon her way she went styll apace | |
210 | Castyng euer / towarde the appointed place. |
One myght demaunde / who was her gyde | |
Bycause it was in the quyet nyght | |
I answere none / but the hygh lorde Cupide | |
Whose souerayne puysaunce / and great myght | |
215 | Turneth obscure darkenesse / vnto lyght |
He leadeth folkes / that way as he wyll | |
In great parilles / redy for to spyll. | |
So this lorde / of his myght and grace | |
Conduced Thysbe / in the wylde felde | |
220 | Tyll she came vnto the foresayd place |
Where she sate downe / vnder Morus s[h]elde shelde] selde 1528; Morus may be a possessive form. | |
And as she sate / a_ferre-of she behelde | |
Towarde the wode / by lyght of the mone | |
A lyonesse / whiche towarde her dyd come. | |
sig: B2 | |
225 | This lyones / in the wode had slayne |
A beest before / and deuoured hym also | |
And came to drynke / at the sayd fountayne | |
Where Thysbe sate alone / with her no mo | |
For feare wherof / lyghtly she to go | |
230 | Into a denne / that was there-besyde |
Swete Thysbe ran / her for to hyde. | |
(In moche perill / and great ieopardye | |
Thysbe was brought / by this sodayne fraye | |
For in that denne / wylde beestes vsed to lye) | |
235 | For hast she fell / her kerchefe by the way |
Whiche the lyones (as I haue harde say) | |
Founde. And in her blody mouthe toke | |
Rent / tore / and out agayne it shoke. | |
Than forthwith she ran into the wode | |
240 | And as soone as euer she was gone |
Pyram came / and founde the cloth all blode | |
His hart gan to be / as colde as any stone | |
Sayeng these wordes / with most pitous mone | |
O nyght thou losest / and art distruction | |
245 | Of two yonge louers of Babylon. |
Of whiche two / she that most worthy was | |
For to haue lyued / is deed fyrst of all | |
I am the cause / swete Thysbe (hei alas) | |
That you ben slayne / of this beest truculentall | |
250 | If I had come fyrst / than had it nat befall |
O wretche that I am / to suffre swete Thysbe | |
To come alone / and here for to dye. | |
sig: [B2v] | |
O ye moost cruell / and rabbysshe lions fell | |
Come nowe and teare / the corps of Pyramus | |
255 | Ye sauage beestes / that in these rockes dwell |
If blode to you be so delicious | |
Come and gnawe / my wretched body dolorous | |
And on the kerchef / with face pale and tryst | |
He loked ofte / and it right swetely kyst. | |
260 | With deedly syghes / his swerde out he drewe |
Under the vmbre / of the forsayd tre | |
Wherwith shortly / hym owne selfe he slewe | |
Sayeng / take drynke nowe the blode of me | |
With whiche stroke / the blode (as it had be | |
265 | Water spoutynge / out of a condite-heed) |
Spouted vp / whan he fell downe deed. | |
And with the blode / in suche wyse sprynklyng | |
The frute of the tre / whiche that before | |
Was white. Turned as blacke as any-thynge | |
270 | And the blode / that sanke to the more more ='mulberry tree' |
Depeinted it / a fayre purple colore | |
Whiche vnto this day / so remayne | |
But nowe to Thysby / turne I wyll agayne. | |
All-though her feare were neuer the las | |
275 | Yet bycause she wolde nat breke promesse |
She came softly / towarde th'appoynted place | |
Bothe mynde and eye / lokyng without cesse | |
For yonge Pyram / the floure of gentylnesse | |
She loked euer / her swete-hart to se | |
280 | Tyll she approched / and came vnder the tre. |
sig: B3 | |
Whan she behelde / the transformacion | |
Of the tre. She was right sore abasshed | |
And bycause it was in suche condicion | |
She thought it was nat / the place appoynted | |
285 | But at last / as she more nerer loked |
She sawe a corps / vpon the grounde lye | |
Newly slayne / tremblyng and all blody. | |
Wherwith she gan / to be as pale as leed | |
And stepped backe / a lyttell sodaynly | |
290 | Incontinent she perceyued the corps deed |
Was her owne swete-hart / the noble Pyramy | |
O how she gan moost piteously to crye | |
Her handes strayne / and her fyngers wrynge | |
Enragiously / her armes out-castynge. Enragiously ='passionately', cf. rageously; enragiously not recorded in OED. | |
295 | She rent and tore / her goodly youlowe heare |
And toke the corps / in her armes twayne | |
Desperously / wepynge many a teare Desperously ='despairingly'; desperously not recorded in OED | |
Amonge the blode / of her louer slayne | |
Her bytter teares / lay as thycke as rayne | |
300 | And ofte she kyssed / his deedly colde visage |
Styll cryeng / as though she wolde enrage. | |
O swete Pyram / who hath taken you me fro? | |
O curtesse Pyram / speke nowe vnto me | |
I am thyn owne Thysby / full of wo | |
305 | Here thy dere loue / that speketh vnto the |
Lyfte ones vp thyn eyes Pyram me to se | |
And as she lay / this tomblyng on the grounde this: =thus | |
At longe her kerchefe / in the blode she founde | |
sig: [B3v] | |
Than she knewe / howe he deceyued was | |
310 | By the kerchefe / and the lyonesse |
Agayne she cryed / o Pyram hei alas | |
For my loue / floure of gentylnesse | |
Haue slayne your-selfe / in peinfull distresse | |
O swete Pyram / syth it is for my sake | |
315 | Of my dolorous lyfe / suche ende shall I make. |
Of ioye with you / parttaker haue I be | |
What tyme ye lyued / most curtes Pyramus | |
Shulde deth than departe you and me? | |
With you to dye / I am ryght desyrous | |
320 | O parentes parentes / of our deth reous reous ='guilty'; see OED s.v. reous |
To you our bodyes / I bequeth and take | |
To bury togyther / for neuer we shall forsake. | |
O miserable tre / with thy bowes longe | |
Coueryng nowe / lyeng deed on the grounde | |
325 | The noble Pyram / that whilom was so strounge |
Thou shalt anone / of suche another wounde | |
Couer my corps. And in a littell stounde | |
She pulled the swerde out of Pyramy | |
And therwith slewe herselfe pyteously. | |
Th'autor. |
|
330 | Than the damosell / that the storie tolde |
Syghe[d] softe / and loked me vpon Syghed] Sygheh 1528 | |
Wherwith the teares / downe on her chekes rolde | |
She had of theyr deth / so great compassion | |
That she was stryken in cogitacion | |
335 | And stode a whyle / as one had ben dismayde |
And these wordes / after to vs she sayd | |
sig: [B4] | |
The damosell. |
|
O curtes Pyram / and swete Thysbe also | |
Herde was your fortune and destanye | |
Your pitous deth / maketh myn hert wo | |
340 | Yet me-thynke / I se your bodies lye |
The tre and fountayne / ryght sorowfully | |
Unto this day / wepe and complayne | |
The lamentable dethe / of you louers twayne. | |
Here was true loue / who can it deny? | |
345 | Here were the burnyng sparcles of Cupyde |
Here were two hertes / closed in one truly | |
Here were two louers / nat swaruyng asyde | |
O cursed lyonesse / wo mote the betyde | |
Thou were the cause / that these louers twayne | |
350 | Were so soone / thus miserably slayne. |
O ye parentes / of these louers two | |
Why suffred you them / so for to spyll? | |
Ye caused them / thether for to go | |
Wherof succeded / all their myschiefe and yll | |
355 | Ye myght haue had your goodly children styll |
If ye had done / as reason doth require | |
To marry them / after theyr desyre. | |
These gentyls dyd / as christens nowe-a_day | |
Moost comonly / vse for to do | |
360 | Whiche no doubt is / a moche cursed way |
And causer of many yuels also | |
They marry / without consent of the two | |
Whiche mariage is nat worth an hawe | |
Damnable / and eke ayenst the lawe. | |
sig: [B4v] | |
365 | For to receyue this hygh sacrament |
Is required moche solemnite | |
But one moost speciall / that is fre assent | |
Of both persones / of hye and lowe degre | |
Without whiche / mariage can nat be | |
370 | Perfectly allowed / before the glorious face |
Of the hygh god / in the celestiall place. | |
Whan two maried / ayenst their myndes be | |
What is the very true consequens? | |
Contynuall discorde / moost comenly we se | |
375 | Braulyng / chidyng / and other inconuenience |
And another / moost poysonfull pestilence | |
For therof right ofte / aduoutry doth succede | |
Murdre / and many a myscheuous dede. | |
We se oft-tymes / whan two to_gether come | |
380 | By great loue / and longe continuaunce |
Yet of suche / there haue ben founde some | |
Whiche dayly haue ben at distaunce | |
To themselfe / and other great noyaunce | |
And coude by no meanes / togyther agre | |
385 | And by deuorse / departed haue they be. |
Than moche sooner / suche as by compulsion | |
Ben spoused / agaynst theyr owne fre-wyll | |
Shulde nat do well. But to make relacion | |
Particlerly / of all and euery yll | |
390 | That cla[n]destinat mariage doth fulfyll clandestinat] clamdestinat 1528clandestinat ='clandestine'; clandestinat not recorded in OED |
I shulde than / to longe tary you twayne | |
Where I was / turne I shall agayne | |
sig: C[1] | |
Before this tyme / you bothe haue harde tell | |
395 | Of the troian knyght / called Troylus |
And of Creseide / the goodly damosell | |
On whom he was so depely amorous | |
For whom he was / so heuy and dolorous | |
That had nat ben Pandare / his trusty frende | |
400 | Of his lyfe / he had lyghtly made an ende. |
For one syght he had / of that fresshe may | |
As he walked within the temple wyde | |
He loked as his hart / had ben pulde away | |
And coude nat moche longer there abyde | |
405 | The fyrst dart / of the hygh lorde Cupyde |
Had made in hym / so great and large a wounde | |
That lytell lacked / he fell nat to the grounde. | |
There was none so expert phisician | |
That coude cure or helpe his maladye | |
410 | To serche the wounde / myght no surgian |
It was impossible / to come therby | |
None coude cure / saue the faire lady | |
Creseide. On whom he loked oft | |
Syghyng depe / and gronyng lowe and softe. | |
415 | What shulde I herof / longer processe make |
Theyr great loue is wrytten all at longe | |
And howe he dyed onely for her sake | |
Our ornate Chaucer / other bokes amonge | |
In his lyfe-dayes / dyd vnderfonge | |
420 | To translate: and that most plesantly |
Touchyng the mater / of the sayd story. | |
sig: [C1v] | |
Of Cannace / somwhat wyll I tell | |
And of her brother / cleped Machareus | |
Howe Aeolous / her father ryght cruell | |
425 | Made her dye a deth full pitous |
But first she wrote / a pistoll dolorous | |
To her brother / of her wofull chaunce | |
These were her wordes to my remembraunce. | |
Cannace doughter / of Aeolous the kynge | |
430 | Greteth Machare / her owne brother dere |
In [her] owne hande / a naked swerde holdynge her] 1528 omits | |
With the other writyng / as doth appere | |
In this epistoll that she sendeth here | |
Howe by naught els saue deth she can fynde | |
435 | To content her fathers cruell mynde. |
O my father most innaturall | |
This swerde to me his daughter hath he sende | |
With whiche swerde / shortly anone I shall | |
Of my lyfe and sorowe make an ende | |
440 | To other pite / he wyll nat condiscende |
Wherfore his fierce mynde to content | |
To slee my-selfe I must nedes assent. | |
Th'autor. |
|
Than spake I / and wolde suffre her no more | |
Of this wofull mater / forther for to tell | |
445 | Suche lamentable louers / greueth my hart sore |
And also we coude nat moche longer dwell | |
Ryght glad was I / that it so happy fell | |
To here the hole of wofull Pyramus | |
Of her tolde / with gesture dolorous. | |
sig: C2 | |
450 | She wolde haue tolde / of many other mo |
The great loue / and fatall destenye | |
Howe Phillis desolate / ofte alone wolde go | |
By hylles and dales / mornyng tenderly | |
for Demophon / and howe she dyd dye | |
455 | But styll I prayed her to kepe silence |
And leaue of her tragicall sentence. | |
A man that sweteth / and is very hote | |
Brought to the fyre / is nat well content | |
What I meane / euery man doth wote | |
460 | Yet for this / I wolde nothyng assent |
That she had declared / appert and euydent | |
To our fyrst purpose / what loue shulde be | |
And wherupon / we gan to argue all thre. | |
The fyrst damosell / proued loue by reason | |
465 | The other spake all by auctorite |
Declaryng olde stories / of antique season | |
But to neyther of them wolde I agre | |
Without experience / proued can nat be | |
What is the myghty power of Cupyde | |
470 | Whiche regneth through the great worlde wyde |
Experience (sayd they) we desyre to here | |
What therby to proue / you entende | |
Than loked I on them / with sad chere | |
Castyng howe for to make an ende | |
475 | Of our argument / and nat offende |
Nother of them / through my negligence | |
For one of them / was myn experience. | |
sig: [C2v] | |
Forsoth (I sayd) I nat howe it may be | |
But ones I behelde / with great affection | |
480 | A fayre pusell / whiche happed yll for me |
For neuer syth / by no compulsion | |
I coude nat put her in obliuion | |
Nor my mynde pulle from her away | |
Nor neuer shall / to myn endyng-day. | |
485 | With her regarde / and swete countenaunce |
She gaue me a great mortall wounde | |
Through whiche deth / dayly doth auaunce | |
Towarde me / onely to confounde | |
My wretched corps: whiche in the grounde | |
490 | Must of foule wormes be eate and gnawe |
So condemned / by cruell loues lawe. | |
This lorde Cupide / lyst of his cruelte | |
Without reason / my body to turment | |
To mount an hylle / he constrayneth me | |
495 | With his arowes / sharpe and violent |
And me burnyng / with his brande ardent | |
Yet vp the hyll / no way can be sought | |
To geat alone: so lowe am I brought. | |
O Hyppomenes / howe happy thou were? | |
500 | What tyme thou wast so moche amorous |
On Atalanta / that curtes damosell dere | |
For whose loue / ne had nat ben Uenus | |
Thou shuldest haue dyed a deth ryght greuous | |
But by .iii. balles (that she the gaue) of golde | |
505 | Thou gotest thy loue of truthe / as it is tolde |
sig: C3 | |
Elas suche socour / no-where fynde I may | |
That me wyll helpe in myn heuynesse | |
And more encreaseth my sorowe day by day | |
Cruell thought on me doth neuer cesse | |
510 | With feare and drede / my body to manesse |
And with Dispeare / I haue so great stryfe | |
That gladly I wolde be reft of my lyfe | |
And than call I vnto the systers thre | |
To come out of their furious selle | |
515 | And from my peyne to delyuer me |
I care nat / though I with them shulde dwell | |
Or rauenyng wolues / hungry / fierse / and felle | |
My body gnawe / and to peces rent | |
To be losed / of my great turment. | |
520 | O Pole wheron the great worlde rounde |
Turneth about / by cours naturall | |
If a place may / vnder the be founde | |
I wolde gladly / therin that I shulde fall | |
O ye dogges / whiche to peces small | |
525 | Tare Acteon / for Diana sake |
I pray you of me an ende to make. | |
O crowes / rauons / and foules euerychone | |
What tyme my lyfe ended thus shalbe | |
Come than and take eche of you a bone | |
530 | And do beare them into what countre |
Pleaseth you / for all is one to me | |
So I be out of this greuous payne | |
For any longer / I can it nat sustayne. | |
sig: [C3v] | |
Wherwith dame Reason cometh vnto me | |
535 | Uery swetely lokynge in my face |
With whom cometh other two or thre | |
Good Esperaunce / and the lady Grace | |
And reason begynneth for to chace | |
The lordens away / whiche before | |
540 | Turmented my wretched body sore |
Fyrst Reason to Disperaunce doth speke | |
Hym banysshyng out of our company | |
On hym she wolde gladly her angre wreke | |
But lady pacience standyng by | |
545 | Sayeth to her very curtesly |
Ye must swetely shewe your-selfe vntyll | |
This pacient here redy for to spyll. | |
Than by the hande Reason doth me take | |
Sayeng / what though the gentyle Hypsiphyle | |
550 | Distroyed her-selfe for prue Iasons sake |
That ayenst his promes / dyd her begyle | |
Leape nat thou / tyll thou come to the style | |
For thou hast here nowe before thy face | |
(Whiche she lacked) the goodly lady Grace. | |
Reason. |
|
555 | Thou knowest after our hygh religion |
Who that slee them-[s]elfe wylfully selfe] felfe 1528 | |
By iuste sentence / of lastyng damnacion | |
Of helle. Be in great ieopardye | |
Wherfore I aduise the / loke theron wysely | |
560 | Take nat example of Dido and Myrra. |
Nor yet of Phillis / Scylla / and Phedra. | |
sig: [C4] | |
I say to the as I sayd before | |
They lacked Grace / ye and me also | |
Whiche thou hast / and shalt haue euer-more | |
565 | In case that thou gladly woldest do |
As we shall shewe the or that we go | |
Principally beware of Dispayre | |
In no wyse abyde that sower ayre. | |
A nother / thou shalt kepe moderacion | |
570 | In all thynges / that thou gost about |
Both in gladnesse / and lamentacion | |
Beware of thought / the villayn bolde and stout | |
Of heuynesse / with theyr cruell route | |
Feare / drede / discomfort / and mystrust | |
575 | Incline the neuer after their peruers lust. |
What foly is it for a womans sake | |
Nat knowyng your corage nor entent | |
Suche lamentacion / and sorowe for to make | |
Perauenture her swete hart wolde assent | |
580 | In all honour be at your commaundement |
Wherfore fyrst / ye shulde by my counsell | |
Knowe the pleasure of the damosell. | |
Th'autor. |
|
To whiche counsell / accorden an[d] agre and] an 1528 | |
Desyre / and curtes esperaunce | |
585 | They two promesse / for to go with me |
Dame Fauour sayth she wyll so auaunce | |
With the helpe of prudent Gouernaunce | |
To solicite my mater in best wyse | |
And dame Discrecion shall it deuyse. | |
sig: [C4v] | |
590 | The good holsome lady Remembraunce |
Sayth recorde / was nat worthy Theseus | |
The hye conquerour / delyuered from myschaunce | |
By socour of two ladyes gratious | |
For hym they were / so moche pitous | |
595 | That they put them-selfe / in daunger of moche yll |
Hym for to saue / that he shulde nat spyll. | |
For he had ben put to the Minataurus | |
Without prouise / of these ladies twayne | |
Within the mase / made by Dedalus | |
600 | All-though he had / the hidous monstre slayne |
Yet coude he neuer come out therof agayne | |
But by the ladies subtile inuencion | |
He slewe the beest / and came out anone. | |
Thou hast redde / ryght many an history | |
605 | Of ladies and damosels great bounte |
And howe soone they ben inclyned to mercy | |
As was the curtes lady / Hypermestre | |
For nothyng perswaded wolde she be | |
For all her father myght do or say | |
610 | She conueyed her loue and lorde away. |
And bycause this lady wolde nat do | |
Scelerously / as dyd her systers all | |
Afterwarde she suffred moche wo | |
But no punyishement / to her myght fall | |
615 | That she ne thought the peyne very small |
Suche ioye she had / of her spouse delyueraunce | |
That all her payne / to her was no greuaunce | |
sig: D[1] | |
Thus tender pite / in the hart feminall | |
Ronneth alway / vnto mannes defence | |
620 | Theyr gentyll hertes / swete and liberall |
Be lyghtly turned / with great diligence | |
To mannes socour / and beneuolence | |
They speke / they praye / they labour and they go | |
Ryght tenderly / mannes profite for to do. | |
Th'autor. |
|
625 | So these ladies / debated with me styll |
In whose company I was ryght ioyous | |
And at last / they sayd me all vntyll | |
Be mery and glad thou louer dolorous | |
For thy loue is so moche gracious | |
630 | That we thynke vnto thy desyre |
She wyll obey / as thou wylt requyre. | |
Th'autor. |
|
Than call I / vnto my remembraunce | |
The great promesses / that Paris of Troye | |
Made to Heleyn / yet scant it was his chaunce | |
635 | Her loue to gette / or her to enioye |
All that he sayd was of perfect foye | |
He was a prince / and a kynges son also | |
Yet longe it was / or she wolde with hym go. | |
Whan I mynde Echates / the woman beautious | |
640 | All my sorowe begynneth to renewe |
She and the fayre yonge man / called Hyrus | |
Betoken howe my loue shall neuer rewe | |
Nor pite me. yet as Acontius vntrue | |
To her wyll I vse neyther fraude ne wyle | |
645 | Lyke as he dyd Cydippes begyle. |
sig: [D1v] | |
Thus thought and feare / all the longe day | |
Turment me / tyll Phebus the hemyspery | |
Hath fully ronne / so that we may | |
Perceyue the blacke nyght aprochyng nye | |
650 | To bedde I go / lasshe and eke wery lasshe ='relaxed'; see OED s.v. lash adj. |
In hope some repose for to take | |
And by that meane / my payne for to slake. | |
Sone after / that I am downe layde | |
Morpheus / softely cometh to me | |
655 | Who at the fyrst / maketh me afrayde |
Tyll I knowe / what man he shulde be | |
He leadeth me where-as I may se | |
My swete loue / vnto whom I wolde | |
Desyrously / ryght oft my mynde haue tolde. | |
660 | And whan I haue ben about to speke |
Cruell drede / hath stepped me before | |
He and feare / alway my purpose breke | |
Yet her swete visage sheweth euermore | |
That of dame Pite / she knoweth well the lore | |
665 | It can nat be / that her great beauty |
Shulde be voyde / and without mercy. | |
Thus I stande debatyng a longe space | |
Than Morpheus / bryngeth me agayne | |
And whan I fynde me in the same place | |
670 | Where I lay downe / with myn handes twayne |
I graspe and fele / I sygh and complayne | |
And fynde it colde about me euery-where | |
And perceyue that she was nat there. | |
sig: D2 | |
O howe thought taketh me by the hert | |
675 | And heuynesse / falleth me vpon |
Those two from me wyll neuer departe | |
Tyll they make my body as colde as stone | |
They say to me / remedy is none | |
In this behalfe ferther to pursewe | |
680 | For on me / my loue shall neuer rewe. |
Thought and heuynesse. |
|
Thou mayst here lye / sygh / sorowe and wayle | |
And on thy miserable state complayne | |
For her beautye / frendes / and apparayle | |
Causeth her to haue the in disdayne | |
685 | She forceth nat / of thy wo and payne |
She is a fresshe yonge swete creature | |
Well bequeynted / with the lady pleasure. bequeynted ='acquainted'; bequeynt not recorded in OED | |
So stode the heuyns / whan thou were bore | |
And suche is thy fatall destenye | |
690 | To loue one / whiche setteth lytell store |
By the that art oppressed with mysery | |
What careth she / though thou for sorowe dye? | |
Or all thy lyfe / moane without a make | |
In wyldernesse / wandryng for her sake. | |
695 | We haue tolde the ofte / and longe agone |
That thy swete loue / fresshe and gorgious | |
Loketh to stande in grace of suche one | |
That may stipate / her port sumptuous stipate her port ='attend her train'? | |
To sayle forth / with fame glorious | |
700 | Lackyng nothyng / that dame Uolunte |
Wyll demaunde / longyng to Leberte. | |
sig: [D2v] | |
For all thy lorde / who thou seruest so true | |
Whiche is the very blynde god Cupyde | |
Bearyng his signe / a face pale of hewe | |
705 | As any asshes / wherto thou doest abyde |
Upholdyng it / with syghes large and wyde | |
Yet we two shall do so moche our payne | |
Of Atrapos / shortly thou shalt be slayne. | |
Th'autor. |
|
Thus many a nyght / ofte I dryue away | |
710 | Whiche me-thynke longer than a yere |
And whan I se the spryngynge of the day | |
Yet somwhat gladed is my chere | |
For busynesse to me doth appere | |
Byddyng me to ryse and come lyghtly | |
715 | Fye he sayth / vpon all sluggardy. |
Than I ryse / and my clothes take | |
As preuely and soft as it may be | |
Wherwith diligence begynneth to awake | |
Whiche ones vp / a_newe wyll turment me | |
720 | And whan I can no other way se |
With them I go / where they wyll me leade | |
For as than / I can no better reade. | |
Where-euer I go / thought is neuer behynde | |
Nor heuynesse / they be alway present | |
725 | To leaue them / I can no crafte fynde |
For I beyng neuer so diligent | |
With busynesse / bothe mynde and eke entent | |
Yet those two euer styll apeace | |
Come on me / my body to disease. | |
sig: D3 | |
730 | These two ofte / handle me so harde |
That I am made lyke vnto a stone | |
To busynesse / hauyng no regarde | |
I leaue hym / and forthwith anone | |
To some secrete place must I gone | |
735 | A lytell whyle / my sorowe to complayne |
From company / I do my-selfe restrayne. | |
Than I begyn in this maner wyse | |
Lowe and softe / that none shulde here me | |
O Uenus Uenus / is this your cruell gyse? | |
740 | Styll to turment vnto the extremite |
My pore body / whiche as you may se | |
Is brought into so great miserye | |
That for loue / shortly must I dye. | |
The burnyng fyre of loue / doth me assayle | |
745 | In suche wyse / that remedy is none |
To quenche it / no water can auayle | |
Nor yet versus of cantacion versus: =verses; cantacion ='incantation' | |
Of Pean / the artes euerychone | |
Nor of Mede / be nat worth a flye | |
750 | I am condemned / and nedes must I dye. |
Of all vnlucky / I most infortunate | |
Most sorowfull / most heuy and lamentable | |
What is my wretched body / lyfe / and state? | |
Nought els / but a thynge miserable | |
755 | Replenisshed with paynes intollerable |
To syghe / to sorowe / and morne tenderly | |
And by loue / condemned for to dye. | |
sig: [D3v] | |
Of all louers / none can be founde | |
Whose case may well compared be | |
760 | Unto myn: [though] all the worlde rounde though] through 1528 |
Were out-sought / yet shulde ye nat se | |
But that they had some felicite | |
But nought haue I / but all miserye | |
And by loue / condemned to dye. | |
765 | Troylous / of whom men so moche tell |
That he so great a louer was | |
Unto hym / the case ryght happy fell | |
For in his armes ofte he dyd enbrace | |
His swete loue / and stode so in her grace | |
770 | That nothyng to hym wolde she denye |
But by loue / condemned I am to dye. | |
Many a nyght with his loue he lay | |
And in his armes / swetely can her holde | |
Of nothynge to hym sayd she nay | |
775 | That he of her / aske or desyre wolde |
His great ioy forsoth can nat be tolde | |
He had souerayne blysse / and I miserye | |
And by loue condemned for to dye. | |
What ioy had Paris with Heleyn the fresshe quene? | |
780 | Deyanira / with fierce Hercules |
Briseis / the lady bryght and shene | |
With her lorde / the hardy Achilles | |
And Penelope / with her spouse Ulixes | |
Great gladnesse they had / with som miserye | |
785 | I haue no ioy: and am condemned to dye. |
sig: [D4] | |
Many a nyght / the friscant Leander friscant ='lively', cf. frisk, frisky; friscant not recorded in OED. | |
Lay and slept with his loue Herus | |
To passe Hellespont / she was his lode-stere | |
And in all thynges to hym gracious | |
790 | O these louers / fresshe and amorous |
Ofte passed the tyme to_gether ioyously | |
But by loue / condemned I am to dye. | |
Fayre Phillis / and eke Demophon | |
Had togyther ryght great felicite | |
795 | So had the lady Sapho with Phaon |
So had Machare / with his syster Canace | |
Dido with Aene / what ioy had she? | |
Ryght longe hym reteynyng curtesly | |
No ioy haue I / and am condemned to dye. | |
800 | Myrra that loued her owne father dere |
Wyckedly / by loue abhominable | |
Dyd so moche / that they lay both in fere | |
All a_nyght. doyng the dede damnable | |
Se howe Cupyde was fauorable | |
805 | To her stynkyng loue / and transgression |
And wyll me slee / for loyall affeccion. | |
Wherby I se / it is predestinate | |
Unto me: most wretched creature | |
For to haue this miserable state | |
810 | And infinite sorowe to endure |
Or bate of all ioy / and eke pleasure | |
Full of luctuous syghes and misery luctuous ='mournful' | |
And vtterly condemned for to dye. | |
sig: [D4v] | |
Wherfore adieu / all wordly vanite | |
815 | Adieu frayle pleasure / rollynge lyke a ball |
Adieu brytell trustes / that in this worlde be | |
Adieu I say / disceytes great and small | |
Adieu slepernesse / styll redy for to fall | |
Lastly adieu / swete hert without mercye | |
820 | For whose sake / I am condemned to dye. |
Th'autor to the two damosels. |
|
Lo nowe you two / haue herde to the ende | |
What is loue / by suche experience | |
As I haue had. And nowe I you commende | |
Unto god / for I must depart hence | |
825 | I thanke you hertely of your pacience |
Your curtesy / and eke your louyng chere | |
Of gentylnesse / that you haue made me here. | |
Your chere here (they sayd) is but small | |
We wolde it were moche better for your sake | |
830 | Our ianglynge / that to vs nowe hath fall |
Wolde suffre vs / no chere for to make | |
And so theyr leaue / swetely of me they take | |
At the port or gate / and in they go | |
And I went strayght to my home also. | |
¶Thus endeth la conusaunce damours . Imprinted by Rycharde_Pynson / printer to the kynges noble grace. | |
Cum priuilegio. |