Imatges de pàgina
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THE ROUTHE FOR SUCHE UNTROUTHE.

What that she wrote or that she dyde;
And nor hyt were to longe tendyte,
Be God, I wolde hyt here write.

But, weleaway! the harme, the routhe,
That hath betyd for suche untrouthe,
As men may ofte in bokes rede,
And al day se hyt yet in dede,
That for to thynke hyt a tene1 is.
Loo, Demophon, duke of Athenys,'
How he forswore hym ful falsly,
And trayied Phillis wikkidly,
That kynges doghtre was of Trace,
And falsly gan hys terme pace; 3
And when she wiste that he was fals,
She honge hir selfe ryght be the hals,*
For he had doo hir suche untrouthe;
Loo! was not this a woo and routhe?

Eke lo how fals and reccheles

Was to Breseyda Achilles,

And Paris to Enone;

And Jason to Isiphile;

And eft Jason to Medea;

Ercules to Dyanira;

For he left her for Iole,

That made hym cache his dethe, parde.

How fals eke was he, Theseus ;

That, as the story telleth us,

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1 Trouble.

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8 Pass.

The following examples of untre lovers are taken from the Heroides, epistles ii., iii., v., vi, ix., x., xi. Neck. 5 Ariadne.

The devel be hys soules bane!

For had he lawghed, had he loured,

He moste have be devoured,

Yf Adriane ne had ybe.

And, for she had of hym pite,

She made hym fro the dethe escape,
And he made hir a ful fals jape;
For aftir this, withyn a while.
He lefte hir slepynge in an ile,
Deserte allone, ryght in the se,
And stale away, and lete hir be;
And tooke hir suster Phedra thoo
With him, and gan to shippe goo.
And yet he had yswore to here,
On alle that evere he myghte swere,
That so she saved hym hys lyfe,
He wolde have take hir to hys wife,
For she desirede nothing ellis,
In certeyne, as the booke tellis.

But to excusen Eneas

Fullyche of al his trespas,

The booke seyth1 Mercure, sauns fayle,

Bade hym goo into Itayle,

And leve Auffrikes regioun,

And Dido and hir faire toun.

Thoo sawgh I grave how that to Itayle

Daun Eneas is goo for to assayle;

And how the tempest al began,

And how he lost hys sterisman,2

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43C

1 Eneid, iv. 252, etc. 2 The helmsman, Palinurus, was deceived by Somnus, and cast into the sea, the stern being broken off, before reaching the rocks of the Sirens. Æneid, v., end

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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

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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;

1 The Sibyl of Cumæ.

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Eneid, vi. 2 Claudius Claudianus wrote, in the fourth century, De Raptu Proserpina. 3 Cf. Inferno. Kg of the Rutulians laughter of Latinus.

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Eneid, x. 76, 616; xii. 926. 5 Lavinia,

For Jupiter tooke of hym cure,1
At the prayer of Venus,

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2

The whiche I prey alwey save us,
And us ay of oure sorwes lyghte! 2
When I had seene al this syghte

In this noble temple thus,

"A, lorde !" thought I, "that madest us,
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 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."

1 Care. * Ease. • Anywhere. • Plowed. form.

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To advise or in

THE SECOND BOOK.

"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.

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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,'

And somewhat dounwarde gan hyt lyghte.

SECOND BOOK.

Proem.

Now herkeneth every maner man,

That Englissh understonde kan,
And listeneth of my dreme to lere;
For now at erste shul ye here

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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. Happy Cf. Parlement of Foules, 1. 31.

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