66 CYBILE AND ENEAS."
Which that the stere, or he toke kepe,
Smote overe borde, loo, as he slepe.
And also sawgh I how Cybile1
And Eneas, beside an yle,
To helle wente, for to see
His fader Anchyses the free.
How he ther fonde Palinurus,
And Dido, and eke Deiphebus,
And every torment eke in helle
Sawgh he, which is longe to telle.
Which who-so willeth for to knowe,
He moste rede many a rowe
On Virgile or in Claudian,2
Or Daunte, that hit telle kan.
Tho sawgh I grave al the aryvayle
That Eneas had in Itayle ;
And with kynge Latyne hys tretee,
And alle the batayles that hee
Was at hymselfe, and eke hys knyghtis,
Or he had al ywonne hys ryghtis ;
And how he Turnus reft his lyfe,
And wanne Labina 5 to his wife;
And alle the mervelouse signals
Of the goddys celestials;
How mawgree Juno, Eneas
For al hir sleight and hir compas,
Acheved alle his aventure ;
Eneid, vi. 2 Claudius Claudianus wrote,
Raptu Proserpinæ.
3 Cf. Inferno.
Eneid, x. 76, 616; xii. 926. Lavinia,
For Jupiter tooke of hym cure,1
At the prayer of Venus,
The whiche I prey alwey save us,
And us ay of oure sorwes lyghte!
When I had seene al this syghte
In this noble temple thus,
“A, lorde !” thought I, “that madest us, 470 Yet sawgh I never suche noblesse
Of ymages, ne suche richesse,
As I saugh grave in this chirche ;
But not wote I whoo did hem wirche,
Ne where I am, ne what contree.
But now wol I goo oute and see,
Ryght at the wiket, yf Y kan
See owghwhere stiryng any man,
That may me telle where I am."
When I oute at the dores came,
I faste aboute me behelde.
Then sawgh I but a large felde,
As fer as that I myghte see,
Withouten toune, or house, or tree,
Or bussh, or gras, or eryd 4 londe ;
For al the felde nas but sonde,
As smale as man may se yet lye
In the desert of Lybye ;
Ne no maner creature,
That ys yformed be nature,
Ne sawghe me to rede or wisse.5
1 Care. 2 Ease. 3 Anywhere. 4 Plowed. 5 To advise or in.
"O Criste," thought I, "that art in blysse, Fro fantome and illusioun
Me save!" and with devocioun
Myn eyen to the hevene I caste.
Thoo was I war at the laste,
That faste be the sonne, as hye
As kenne myght I with myn ye,
Me thought I sawgh an egle sore,1
But that hit semed moche more
Then I had any egle seyne.
But, this as soothe as deth certeyne,
Hyt was of golde, and shone so bryght,
That never saw men such a syght,
But-if the hevene hadde ywonne
Al newe of gold another sonne ;
So shon the egles fetheres bryghte,2
And somewhat dounwarde gan hyt lyghte.
Now herkeneth every maner man,
That Englissh understonde kan,
And listeneth of my dreme to lere ;
For now at erste shul ye here
So sely an avisyoun,
That Isaye ne Cipioun,*
1 Cf. Purgatorio, ix. 19; also Metamorphoses, x. 155. Gany medes was carried off by Jove in the form of an eagle. 2 Lines 504107 are not in the MSS. 3 Happy. Cf. Parlement of Foules, 1. 31.
Ne kynge Nabugodonosor,
Pharoo, Turnus,1 ne Elcanor,2
Ne mette suche a dreme as this.
Now faire blisfulle, O Cipris,
So be my favor at this tyme!
And ye me to endite and ryme
Helpeth, that on Parnaso dwelle,
Be Elicon the clere welle.
O Thought, that wrote al that I mette,
And in the tresorye hyt shette
Of my brayne! now shal men se
Yf any vertu in the be,
To tellen al my dreme aryght;
Now kythe thyn engyne and myght!
This egle of whiche I have yow tolde, That shone with fethres as of golde,
Which that so highe gan to sore,
gan beholde more and more,
To se her beaute and the wonder;
But never was ther dynt of thonder,
Ne that thynge that men calle foudre,
That smote sommetyme a toure to powdre,
1 Cf. Eneid, ix. Iris was sent from Jove to Turnus. 2 Perhaps Elkanah, 1 Samuel i. 1, etc. 3 That is, Venus. 4 Show thine ability Thunderbolt. Cf. Purgatorio, ix. 29.
And in his swifte comynge brende,
That so swithe gan descende,
As this foule when hyt behelde,
That I a-roume was in the felde;
And with hys grymme pawes stronge,
Withyn hys sharpe nayles longe,
Me, fleynge, in a swappe2 he hente,
And with hys sours a-gene up wente,
Me caryinge in his clawes starke,
As lyghtly as I were a larke,
How high, I cannot telle yow,
For I came up, I nyste how.
For so astonyed and a-sweved 4
Was every vertu in my heved,5
What with his sours and with my drede,
That al my felynge gan to dede;"
For-whi hit was to grete affray.”
Thus I longe in hys clawes lay, Til at the last he to me spake
In mannes vois, and seyde, "Awake!-
And be thou not a-gaste, for shame!"
And callede me by my name.
And for I sholde the bet abreyde,
Me mette," Awake," to me he seyde,
Ryght in the same vois and stevene,9
That useth oon I koude nevene; 10
And with that vois, soth for to seyne,
My mynde came to me ageyne,
1 Roaming. 2 Swoop (sweep). dream. 5 Head. Grow dead. 10 Name.
8 Soaring. 4 Amazed, as in a 7 Fright. 8 Dreamed. 9 Tone.
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