[
{"content": "King Iamy/Iomy, rejoice is all good\nTo you no thing\nTo summon our king your sovereign lord,\nA king a summer it is wonderful,\nKnow ye not salt and sugar asunder,\nIn your summoning you were to maltreat,\nAnd your harold nothing expert,\nYou thought you did it full valiantly,\nBut not worth three shillings,\nSir squire gallard you were to swift,\nYour will runs before your wit,\nTo be so scornful to your ally,\nYour counsel was not worth a fly,\nBefore the French king, Danes, and others,\nYou ought to honor your lord and brother,\nTrust me, Sir James his noble grace,\nFor you and your Scots would turn his face,\nNow you proud Scots of Dunbar,\nFor your king may sing wellaway,\nNow must you know our king for your regent,\nYour sovereign lord and president,\nIn him is figured Melchisedech,\nAnd you be desolate as Aramlech,\nHe is our noble champion.\nA king anointed and you be none,\nThrough your counsel your trader was slain,\nWherefore I fear you will suffer pain,\nAnd you proud Scots of Dunbar.\nPar thou be his homage.\nAnd you did not your duty therein.\nWherefore you may now repent,\nYou bring yourself somewhat to bold,\nYou are bound tenants to his estate.\nGive up your game, you play checkmate.\nFor to the castle of Norham\nI understood you to come soon.\nFor a prisoner there now you be,\nEither to the devil or the hermit.\nThanked be Saint. George, our lady's knight,\nYour pride is past, good night.\nYou have determined to make a fray,\nOur king being out of the way,\nBut by the power and might of God,\nYou were beaten with your own rod,\nBy your wanton will, sir, at a word,\nYou have lost spurs, coat armor, and sword.\nYou had been better to have busked to hunt,\nThan in England to play such pranks,\nBut you had some while sowed.\nTherefore you are laid now full low,\nYour power could no longer maintain,\nWar with our king to contend.\nOf the king of Navarre you may take heed,\nHow unfortunately he now fares,\nIn double woes now he dreams.\nThat is a king without a realm\nAt his example, none would take.\nExperience has brought you in the same plight\nOf the outlaws, you rough-footed scores.\nWe have well avenged you of the boots\nThe rank rowers and broken Danes\nOf our English bows, you have set your traps.\nIt is not fitting in your nor your town\nA summer to wear a king's crown\nWho\nHis son, the lord admiral, is very good.\nHis sword has bathed in the Scots' blood\nGod save the king. Henry and his lords all\nAnd send the treacherous king such another fall.\n\n\u00b6Amen. For Saint Charity.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "Over your gracious god most in magnificence,\nHis merciful eyes cast from heaven on me,\nSeeing his creatures in deadly violence,\nHe himself complains with pity, full rue,\nSaying:\n\nGod. O man, deceived of intelligence,\nOpen thine eyes unto my call and cry,\nAnd tell me if I have done some offense,\nThat thou forsakest my willingly.\nMan, such love I did take,\nThis world in seven days, what I wrought,\nThou was the last thing that I made,\nBecause I would thee wanted nothing.\nWhat thing might help did not lack,\nIf at thy need, if it were sought,\nFoul fish, all thing for thy sake,\nFor thy comfort, all was brought forth,\nMore over I gave thee that dignity,\nAll beasts to bow unto thee,\nI made thee also like unto me,\nAnd gave thee consciousness and freewill,\nMe to serve that thou shouldst see,\nTo choose the good and leave the ill,\nI ask nothing again of thee,\nBut love thy sovereign as it is skill,\nBut unto this take thou no intent,\nThou turnest from me unkindly,\nOn love's unkindly, thy love is lent.\nThy heart beholdeth not heaven so high,\nFor all the goods I have sent thee,\nThe lips disdain to say thank you,\nIn time to come or thou repent,\nI make amends or that thou die,\nA Christian soul conceceived in sin,\nReceived in conscience thus complaining,\nHe fell down flat with bitter din,\nAnd said:\nMan.\nLord, merciful sovereign king,\nI, most unkind wretch of mankind,\nI know I am thy traitor untrue in my living,\nThis wicked life that I live in,\nI may it not hide from thy knowing,\nI want words and also wit to speak a cause,\nThat I have thou given me,\nOf thy goodness without cause,\nThough I have grieved thee and do yet,\nThy benefits thou not withdraw,\nI have deserved to have hell's pity,\nSo have I lived against thy law,\nBut Lord, thou knowest man's frailty,\nHow fragile it is and has been ever,\nFor though the soul hath thy likeness,\nMan is but foul earth and clay,\nIn sin conceived and wretchedness,\nAnd to the soul rebellion everlasting,\nFirst a man grows as doth grass.\nAnd wastes it as flowers or hay,\nSince man is so frail a thing,\nAnd thy power so great in kind,\nThis world but a twinkling,\nThou mayst destroy the might of the find,\nWith thy right lord, mercy mingle,\nAnd to my sore salvation thou send,\nSorely I repent of my slying,\nMercy, lord, I will amend,\nDeus.\nI gave thee the bodily heal,\nTo spend it in my service,\nFair ones also and features feel,\nMan, what dost thou with all these,\nThou livest a lecherous life unleavened,\nYear after year thou lust not to rise,\nThou studiest after nice array,\nAnd makest great cost on thy clothing,\nTo make the seemly as one should say,\nThou couldst amend my making,\nThou purposed the day by day,\nTo set my people in sinning,\nThy wretched will thou follow always,\nWhat end sin hath thou thought nothing,\nIn Noah's time because of sin,\nAnd for lechery in especial,\nWhat vengeance came then to mankind's kin,\nSave eight persons drowned were all.\nOn Sodome / and Gomor / and the men wtin\nHow I made fyre and brymstone fall\nFro heuen on them that bode therin\nfor synne were destroyed bothe great & small\nMan wenest thou my myght be lesse\nThan it was than or that elles I\nThou hast no as moche wyckednesse\nAs whan I smote the moost pyteously\nBut yf thou wyll thy fautes redresse\nThought I now spare for my mercy\nMan thynke on my ryghtwysnesse\nAnd make amendes or that thou dye\n\u00b6How the Grekes toke lande before Troye / &\nhow they were strongly fought with. Ca. xxi.\n\u00b6How the thirde boke telleth how the Troy\u2223ans\nyssued out on ye morowe / and fought with\nthe Grekes / & how valyauntly Ector bare hym\nselfe that daye. Capitulo. xxij.\n\u00b6How the Grekes sent to kynge Pryamus for\nto haue trewes for Eyght wekes / And of theyr\nBataylles after the trewes fayled. Ca. xxiij.\n\u00b6How the Troyans toke kynge Thoas pryso\u00a6ner\n/ & ledde hym into Troye. Capitulo. xxiiij.\n\u00b6Howe durynge a Trewes of thre Monthes\nEctor walked into the grekes hoost / And of the\ncommunion of Achilles and him. Ca. XXV.\n\u00b6When the truths were ended, they went\nto battle again, where many a man\nwas slain on both sides. And of the Description\nof the Palaces of Ilion, and also how\nmany Greeks died of the pestilence, that they\ndemanded truces for thirty days, which they obtained. Capitulo. XXVI.\n\u00b6How Andromache, Ector's wife, had a vision\nin her sleep, that she and her husband\nwould fight on the morrow, that he would be slain,\nwhich she could not believe, neither father nor mother,\nand how Achilles slew him. Ca. XXVII.\n\u00b6Of the complaint that Lydgate makes for\nthe death of worthy Ector. Cap. XXVIII.\n\u00b6Now the fourth Book, which speaks how\nThe Greeks made Priamus chief Captain\nof their Host, and deposed Agamemnon.\nCapitulo. XXIX.\n\u00b6How King Priam went to the battle,\nto avenge the death of Ector, where he\ndid marvelous deeds with his arms. Ca. XXX.\n\u00b6How Achilles slew the worthy Troilus,\nEctor's brother, unjustly, and took him.\nAbout the field at his horse's tail. Ca. XXxi.\nHow Paris slew Achilles in the Temple of Apollo / and Anthylus, Duke Nestor's son. Chapter. XXXii.\nHow Paris and Thelamon, Ajax, slew each other in the field. Chapter. XXXiii.\nHow Pantasyllya, the Queen of the Amazons / How the Greeks made a horse of brass where men of arms / & under color of peas brought it into Troy / By which it was utterly destroyed for ever. Cap. XXXv.\nThe fifth book of Troy / which speaks of how the Greeks returned to Greece after the destruction / And after those who escaped died miserably. Chapter. XXXvi.\nHow the translator writes the stock of Pyrrhus by linear descent / how his grandfather was named Pelleus / and his grandmother called Thetis. Chapter. XXXvii.\nOf the most worthy king Henry V.\nExplicit Tabula.\n\nHere follows the Troy book / otherwise called the Siege of Troy / Translated by John Lydgate, monk of the Monastery of Bury / And printed at the command of our Sovereign.\nReign of Lord King Henry the VIII, by Richard Pynson, printer to his most noble grace. A.D. 1494.\n\nMighty Mars, with thy stern light,\nIn armies' haste, thou wieldest power and might,\nNamed art thou, from east to west, occident,\nMighty Lord, the god of war, omnipotent.\n\nWith shining of thy streams, red,\nBy influence, thou dost thy birdle lead,\nOf chivalry, as sovereign and patron,\nFierce and dry, of complexion,\nIrritable and mad, and melancholic,\nAnd of nature, burning and colric,\nOf colour showing, like the fire's delight,\nWhose fierce looks are as full of fear,\nAs the lion, that lies low,\nDown by the sky, from Jupiter's bow,\nThy streams are so passing disdainful,\nTo look upon, inwardly furious.\n\nAnd Cancer, art thou with thy fiery emblems,\nOf war and strife, in many various realms,\nWhose lordship is most in Capricorn,\nBut in the book, is thy power learned,\nAnd Cancer, art thou of contention and strife,\nNow for the love of Vulcan's wife,\nWith whom thou wert once at mischance took.\nSo help me now, only for her sake,\nAnd for the love of thy beauty,\nThat dwells beyond Cyrene,\nIn Libya's land, upon the red sea shore,\nSo be my help, in this great need,\nTo do succor, my style to direct,\nAnd of my pen, the tracies to correct,\nWhich barrenness is, of golden Lycorus,\nBut in thy grace, I find some succor,\nTo convey him that stumbles, for want of eloquence,\nTo rehearse or write any word,\nNow help, O Mars, thou art of knighthood's lord,\nAnd hast of manhood, the magnificence,\nAnd other, goddess, of prudence,\nThis work is pleasing to you, that you not refuse,\nBut make Clyo, for my muse,\nWith her sisters, that dwell on Persephone's isle,\nIn Cyrene, by Helicon the well,\nRinging clear, with streams crystal,\nAnd called is, the well Cabalyne,\nThat springs by touch, of the Pegasus,\nAnd help also, O thou Calliope,\nThat were mother, to Orpheus,\nWhose dities were, so melodious,\nThat the wrathful, of his resounding harp,\nAppeased were, the bitter words' sharp.\nBoth of parchments and infernal furies,\nAnd Cerberus, cruel, were found.\nHe also brought forth beastly creatures and trees.\nNow, by your grace, be helping me,\nAnd of your golden dew, let the ink be wet,\nMy dull breast, that with your honey sweet\nSugryst tongues of rhetoricians,\nAnd mistress art to musicians,\nNow be my help, to enlighten this work\nWhich is beset with clouds dim and dark,\nOf ignorance, in making to proceed,\nTo be merry to them that shall it read,\nAlso in heart, I am so full of fear,\nWhen prudent lords here shall take heed,\nThat in making, more skill can than I,\nTo whom I pray, in their goodness,\nHave compassion where I err in my translation,\nFor God I take, in witness,\nThat I this work, of heartfelt lowly humility,\nTook upon me, of intention,\nDevoid of pride and presumption,\nTo obey, without variation,\nMy lords' bidding, fully and pleasure,\nWhich has desire, truly, to say,\nOf true knighthood, to remember again.\nThe worthiness, if I shall not lie,\nAnd the prowess of old chivalry,\nBecause he has joy and great dignity,\nTo read in books of antiquity,\nTo find only virtue, for to see,\nBy example of them, and also for to eschew,\nThe cursed vice of sloth and idleness,\nSo he employs in virtuous busyness,\nIn all that pertains to manhood, I say,\nHe is ever busy and so inclined,\nTo train his body in martial plays,\nThrough exercise, to exclude sin,\nAfter the doctrine of Vigilius,\nThus is he both manly and virtuous,\nMore passingly than I can of him write,\nI lack the skill, his high renown to endite,\nSo much of manhood, men may see in him,\nAnd for to know, whom I would mean,\nThe eldest son, of the noble king,\nHenry the fourth, of knighthood well and spring,\nIn whom is shown, of what stock it grew,\nThe roots of virtue, thus can the sentence renew,\nIn every part, the tarage is the same,\nLike his father, in manners and in name,\nIn truth, this no tale is.\nCalled Henry, the worthy prince of Wales,\nTo whom long succession grants,\nTo govern Brutus Albion,\nWho commanded me, the dreary pitous fate\nOf the Trojans, in English to translate,\nThe siege and destruction,\nAs the Latin makes mention,\nTo compile and after Guido make,\nSo I could, and write it for his sake,\nBecause he desired, high and low,\nThe noble story openly known,\nIn our tongue, about every age,\nAnd written, as well in our language,\nAs in Latin and in French it is,\nThat of the story, the truth we not miss,\nMore than does each other nation,\nThis was the fine of his intention.\nThe which enterprise, I begin at once,\nIn his worship, for a memorial,\nAnd of the time, to make mention,\nWhen I began, on this translation,\nIt was the year, truly to say,\nForty complete, of his father's reign,\nThe time of the year, shortly to conclude,\nWhen twenty-two degrees, was Phoebus' altitude,\nThe hour when he, drew his steeds.\nHis rose-colored chariot/low beneath the wave,\nTo bathe its beam/in the waves' embrace,\nGolden-green/like grass, as men could see,\nPassing the border/of our Ocean,\nLucyna of pallor/pale and wan,\nHer cold rising/in October began to shine,\nTo enhance the darkness/of the frosty night,\nIn the midst/of the Scorpion,\nAnd Vesperus/began to westerly down,\nTo hasten his course/against the morrow's gray,\nAnd Lucifer the night/to banish away,\nIs then called/messenger of day,\nOur empyrean/to put out of fear,\nWith bright calendis/of Phoebus' first light,\nBeyond the bounds/Proserpina the queen,\nWhere Pluto dwells/the dark region,\nAnd the furies/have their dwelling,\nUntil after a while Apollo/is not willing to tarry,\nTo take her back.\nWhich time I began/to behold the prologue,\nOf Troy's book/I made by days old,\nWhere was remembered/by authors before,\nOf the deed the true corn,\nSo it fell/severed from the chaff,\nFor in their hand/they hold as a staff,\nThe truth only/which they have obeyed.\n\"Vnto this fine/ not be deceived/ through negligence or fullness,\nThe which serpent/ of age by process is/ fiercely attempting/ to assail,\nThe truth/ to make us fail,\nFor ne'er writers/ all were out of mind,\nNot storyed only/ but of nature and kind,\nThe true knowing/ should have taken revenge,\nAnd from science/ our wits put aside,\nNe had our elders/ searched out and sought,\nThe sincere pythia/ to impale in our thoughts,\nOf things past/ obscured by their hue,\nBut through writing/ they are refreshed new,\nOf our Ancestors/ left to us behind,\nTo make a mirror/ only to our mind,\nTo each thing/ truly as it was,\nMore height and clarity/ than in any glass,\nFor they their writing/ now memorial,\nDeath with his sword/ shall have slain all,\nAnd I dimmed/ with his sudden showers,\nThe great prowess/ of these conquerors,\nAnd darkened also/ the brightness of their fame,\nFor unto us/ their books present.\"\nWithout feigning the way they went, in their days, when they were alive, Against the truth, whoever disputes or completes or makes any debate, The truth is red, of high or low estate, Without favor, whoever speaks, take heed, For after death, clerks little fear, After decree, to bear witness, Nor of a tyrant, the truth to express, As men distinguish, without exception, wt lack or price, they grant them their reward, Therefore it seems to me, every manner of man, Should, by his line, in all that ever he can, For virtue only, eschew to do amiss, For after death, plainly as it is, Clerks will write, and except none, The plain truth when a man is gone, And by old time, for their writing true, They cherished were, of lords that them knew, And honored greatly, in those days, For they enacted and gilded with their sayings, Their high renown, their method and prowess, Their knighthood also, and their worthiness, Their triumphs, victories, Their famous conquests, & their fond glories.\nFrom point to point, rehearsing all the truth,\nWithout fraud, negligence, or sloth,\nThey did their labor and their busyness,\nFor else, the great worthiness of their deeds\nWould have been in vain,\nFor darkened age would have slain,\nBy length of years, the noble, worthy fame\nOf conquerors, and plainly of their name,\nFor dimmed also the golden laurel wreath,\nAnd defaced the palm laurel,\nWhich they won, by knighthood in their days,\nWhose fretting rust new and new assays,\nTo eclipse the honor and the glory,\nOf high prowess, which clerks in memory have truly set,\nThrough diligent labor, and enluminated,\nWith many curious flowers of Rhetoric,\nTo make us comprehend the truth as it was,\nBeseeched them and faithfully traveled,\nAgainst all that age would assail,\nIn their books, every thing I set,\nAnd with the key of remembrance it shut,\nWhich lasts yet and endures ever in one,\nRecord of Thebes, that was so long gone.\nOf which you may behold the ruin and destruction,\nBy good inspection, crop and root, just as it was indeed,\nOn Stace look, and there you may read it,\nHow Polynices and Ethiocles, the brother two,\nCould not live in peace,\nUntil Thebes was brought to ruin,\nAnd all the manner, how they died fine,\nThat death also of worthy Tydeus,\nAnd how Edippus with Terys full of pity,\nWept out his eyes and all his dreary pain,\nAnd how the smoke departed were on their way,\nAt the feast of fires funeral,\nIn great Stace, you may read all,\nThe fire engendered by brotherly hatred,\nWhere through that death was the cruel meed,\nIn very truth, of many a worthy man,\nLike as my Author well rehearses,\nOf Troy also that was of latter years,\nBy diligence of Chronicles,\nYou may behold in their writing well,\nThe strife, the war, the siege and every del,\nRight as it was, so many years passed,\nWhose story yet, age has not diffaced,\nNor cruel death with his mortal strokes.\nFor despite death, in books you may behold\nThe story fully rehearsed, new and new\nAnd freshly flowering, in color and hue\nFrom day to day, swift and nothing feigned\nFor clerks have this story so depicted\nThat death nor age by no manner means\nThe truth may not make for to die.\n\u00b6Yet some have spared the truth in writing,\nAnd plainly not declared it as it was,\nBut transformed it through vain fables,\nBy false transposition they have concealed,\nAnd hidden the truth falsely under a cloud,\nAs Homer did, who in his writing\nFeigned many diverse things that never were,\nAnd things done in another way\nHe transformed, and feigned falsely that gods were involved in this case.\n\u00b6The worthy Greeks, in their endeavor,\nWaged war against the Trojans, and how they were,\nLiving among them, day by day.\nAnd in his days, so fresh and gay,\nWith sweet words under honeyed soothe,\nHis gall is hid low by the root,\nSo it may not be seen outside.\nAnd all for him we were allied with Greeks,\nTherefore he was favorable to them.\nIn many things, which is not commendable,\nOf those who wish to judge aright.\nFor in making love, has lost his sight\nTo give a prize where none is due.\nCupid is blind, whose domains are observed,\nMore after lust than after equity,\nOr after reason, how the truth be.\nFor singularity and false affection\nRaise up often by vain lasciviousness.\nA man to be worshipped who deserves none,\nBy false report and thus, many one\nWithout merit, has his fame blown,\nWhile another, the renown is unknown,\nWho in arms has wrought marvels,\nOf whom parchment speaks not a word.\nFor favor only is fostered more than right.\n\nOutside also poetry has closed,\nFalsified with truth that makes men enclosed.\nTo which part that they should hold\nHis mystic speech is so hard to unfold,\nThat it entrances readers who it seems,\nVirgil also, for love of Aeneas,\nIn Enydos, recounts much,\nAnd was in part true to his writing,\nExcept only that he wished for a while\nThe traces followed of Homer's style.\n\nAnd of this siege, wrote also Lollius,\nBut before all, Dares Phrygius,\nWho wrote most truly after he found,\nAnd describes also of the Greek land,\nFor they were present and saw every detail,\nAnd as it filled them, they wrote true and well,\nEach in his tongue, by such consonance,\nThat in their books was no variation.\n\nWhich after were brought to Athens,\nAnd by process, were seized and sought,\nBy diligence of one Cornelius,\nWho was new to Salustius of Rome,\nBorn in Rome, who caused their translation,\nAnd the traces of these Authors,\nBy good judgment.\n\nBut because he set all his intent\nTo be brief, he left much behind,\nOf the story, as men find in books.\nThe first measuring/and cause original\nWhat was the measuring/and root specifically\nNot how they came/by land or by sea\nHow first the spark/was kindled of envy\nBetween Greeks/and those of Troy town\nOf which Cornelius/makes no mention\nOf their ships/nor of their victuals\nNor how Greece/is called the tail\nAnd the less/as books verify\nIt is named now/the land of Rome\nWhat number of kings & dukes went\nToward the siege/all of one assent\nTo win worship/and for exercise\nOf arms only/in full knightly manner\nAbydning there/to see/the outcome\nOf the city/and noble Illion\nNor what the manner/of their armor\nNor at the siege/who lasted longest\nIn what way/each other attacked\nNor how often/they met in battle\nHow many worthy/lost their lives\nThrough old hatred/stirred up new strife\nNor of their death/he dates not the year\nFor his writing/was particular\nWithout fruit/he was concise\nThis Cornelius. There was recently an author of great renown who urged him to see the tragedies of Dionysus and Dareus. This Guydo, whose name was Columna, excelled in writing with such skill and rhythm. He adorned this noble story with many fresh colors of rhetoric and rich flowers of eloquence to make it pleasing. In the story, Guydo has embedded many things, and I truly believe he has no equal in writing about this subject. As you may see in his book, to whom I kneel, I grant laud and honor and excellence of fame to you, Guydo, master, who surpasses all in sovereign style, and to whom I shall follow as closely as I can. May God grant it to be to your reward.\nIn the reign and land of Thesalya, now named Salonya, there was a king named Pelleus, wise and discrete, and also virtuous. He held the lordship and the regality of this isle as governor and king. Of whom the people called Myrmidones, as Ovid says in his writings, were brought, each one, to destruction. With sudden tempest and fiery leaven, the gods sent them down from heaven. For they, of their own accord, without further offense.\nWith the sword and stroke of pestilence,\nOn this isle once took revenge,\nAs is put in remembrance,\nFor this people were certain destroyed,\nWith thunder thrown and hail and rain,\nFull unexpectedly, as Guido describes,\nFor none of them was left alive\nIn all the land, that the violence\nCould escape from this pestilence,\nExcept the king, who went alone\nInto a wood to make his mourn,\nSolitary by himself, all disconsolate,\nIn a place that stood all desolate,\nWhere this king roaming to and fro,\nComplained ever of his fatal woe,\nAnd the harms that he endured,\nUntil at last, by chance or adventure,\nBeside a holt he saw where stood a tree,\nOf full great height and large of quantity,\nFirm by the root, as he could see,\nWhereas he saw, by the earth low,\nThe ample crepe passing in great plenty,\nWith this sight he fell down on his knee,\nAnd made his prayer in his pagan way,\nTo the gods, with humble sacrifice,\nUpon his woe and great adversity.\nOnly of mercy, to have pity,\nTo turn these Amptys into form of man,\nThus he prayed, with pale and wan countenance,\nHis land to enliven, which stood desolate,\nAnd he alone, a weary and forlorn,\nComforted, of any creature,\nHim to relieve of that he endured,\nAnd as Jupiter,\nHeard his prayer,\nAnd had such compassion,\nThat he immediately fulfilled his request,\nAnd of his might, which is divine,\nHis grace he made, from heaven, to shine,\nBenignly upon the earth,\nThat a sudden,\nTransmutation was made of Amptis,\nTo the form of me anon,\nWhich on their feet,\nWent straight to Thesalya,\nAnd saluted there the king,\nAnd like his lords, took their dwelling,\nWithin a city, called the Egee,\nAs in Ovid, ye may behold and see,\nThe which people, for their worthiness,\nFor their strength and great hardiness,\nMyrmidons, so long, have borne the name,\nAs in the life, ye read may the same,\nOf St. Matthew, how they are called so.\nWhere the apostle had much to do,\nFor wisdom and prudent caution,\nBeside labor and willing diligence,\nThrough foresight and discretion,\nAs I suppose, in my opinion,\nThis fable of Amphitryon was composed,\nThrough their wisdom, they achieved,\nThrough their knighthood, who so wish to look,\nTheir manly deeds, through the Trojan book,\nIn all mischief, they bore it so well,\nThat they wisely provided beforehand,\nBoth in war and peace.\n\nBut as Amphitryon, to avoid idleness,\nIn summer is so full of busyness,\nOr winter comes to save them from cold,\nShe had told this story before.\n\nBut in this matter, I hold no sermon,\nI will no longer make digression,\nNor in fables, no more as now entertain,\nBut there I left off, I will again return,\nOf Pelleus, further to proceed,\nWho truly, in the story as I read,\nAnd as my Author desires to call him,\nHad a wife, who was called Thetis.\nThe man, the hardy Achilles,\nDescended was, in truth, as was fitting,\nMost renowned among Greeks and the best knight,\nIn worthiness proven by his hand,\nWhose cruelty troubled Troyans greatly,\nThrough marvels he wrought during the siege,\nPatience if you will, as I relate,\nThis Pelleus, whom I spoke of before,\nHad a brother, born of the same mother,\nNamed Eson, far surpassing in years,\nWhose lust had vanished, and all desires lost,\nSo aged was he that both mind and memory,\nWere dulled and darkened,\nTherefore, the reign and land of Thessaly,\nCrown and scepter with all regalia,\nHe resigned, his brother to rule,\nRoyal estate and diadem too,\nBecause he was lame and blind,\nAnd to govern, had lost both wit and mind,\nSo feeble was his cell, retentive ability.\nAnd forgave his imagination\nThat lost were both memory and reason.\nFor which he made a resignation\nTo his brother, next heir by degree,\nAnd nearest ally of his affinity.\nBut as some Authors in their books say,\nTo youth he was restored new again,\nBy craft, and renewed to his lustiness.\nFor with her herbs and with her potions,\nSteadily working of confexions,\nBy quaintness also of her instruments,\nWith her charms and enchantments,\nShe made a drink, in books as is told,\nIn which a yard that was dry and old,\nWithout abode, anon as she cast it,\nBegan to bloom and bud, it turned green and fresh to behold,\nAnd through his drink, she had from years old,\nEsau restored, unto lusty age,\nAnd was of wit and reason, also as sage,\nAs ever he had been before.\nThis Esau, of his wife I bore,\nHad a son, and Iason was his name,\nIn the work of whom nature was not to blame,\nFor she spent her craft, plainly and knowing,\nUpon him, holily in working.\nWhen she thought in her heart, with will and intent,\nThat of her craft, behind was nothing wanting,\nTo reckon his shape, and also his fairness,\nHis strength, his beauty, and his liveliness,\nHis gentleness, and his wise governance,\nHow large he was, and of dallying,\nThe most goodly, that men could know,\nIn all his por (perhaps \"por\" is a mistake for \"pore,\" meaning poor or needy, and should be removed):\nAnd with all this, abundance and a treatable disposition,\nThat of knowing, God wot I am not able,\nFor to describe his virtues by and by,\nFor as my Author faithfully tells,\nHe was beloved, so of old and young,\nThrough the land, is his honor sprung,\nBut for that he was, but young and slender,\nOf age also, meek, and tender,\nHe was committed, to the governance,\nOf Pelleus, to whom without fail,\nIn every thing, he was as serviceable,\nAs diligent in chamber, and at table,\nAs ever was any, child or man,\nUnto his lord, in all that ever he can,\nGlad in heart, and of faithful obedience,\nSo that in cheer, nor in countenance,\nInward in heart, nor outward in showing.\nHis uncle was not grumbling\nAlthough he held in his hand\nThe worthy kingdom and the rich land\nOf this Jason and the heritage\nOnly, for he was too young of age.\n\nTo whom Pelleus did his pain\nAgainst his heart falsely to feign\nTo show other than he meant in his heart\nAnd kept him close, no thing him stirring\nLike an adder under fair Venus' bed\nFor to his heart, his tongue was contrary\nBenign of speech, of mewling a serpent\nFor vengeance:\n\nTo show him kindly to his ally\nBut inwardly burned of hate and envy\nThe hot fire, and yet there was no smoke\nSo craftily did I conceal\nThat no man might, as by sign discern\nToward Jason, in his heart he bore envy\nAnd marveled at none, for it was causeless\nSave he feared that he, for his increases\nAnd for his manhood, likely was to attain\nTo succeed in his father's reign\nWhich Pelleus unjustly occupies\nAnd day by day casts and fantasizes\nHow his poison may by some pursue\nUpon Jason be fully executed.\nHere every hour and time,\nAs one who feared to see an hasty prime,\nFollows change, as it is wont to do,\nSuddenly after a new moon,\nHe casts ways and compasses sore,\nAnd under color, always more and more,\nHis fell malices he began to close and hide,\nLike a snake that is wont to glide,\nWith its venom under fresh flowers,\nAnd as the sun is hot after these showers,\nSo of envy's hatred burned the gladness,\nUpon a time he thought to proceed,\nTo execute his meaning everywhere,\nIn port, alambe, in her heart a lion fell,\nDouble as a tiger, slyly to compact,\nGall in his breast and lugre in his face,\nThat no man has to him suspicion,\nHow he pursues the destruction\nOf his new one, and that within a while,\nPretending love, all was guile,\nHis malices were hidden, so under key,\nThat his intent there can no man discern,\nIt was concealed and closed in secrecy,\nUnder the lock of private enmity,\nAnd that in truth, it grieved him the more,\nUpon himself, the angry fret so sore.\nAydynge always / until his intent\nHe finds may / a convenient reason\nFor to pursue / directly his purpose\nTo perform / it fully in deed\nWhereof Iason / has little doubt\nHis uncle / and he / were not in agreement\nOf whose meaning / was no convenience\nFor malice was coupled / with innocence\nAnd ground of all / so as I can devise\nWas envy / and covetousness\nWhich frets so sore / falsely to win\nAs crop and root / of every sorrow and sin\nAnd cause has been / since gone far\nThat many a realm / has suffered greatly\nThe dreadful venom / of covetousness, alas\nLet them beware / who stand in this case.\n\nTo think beforehand / and to have in mind\nThat all falsehood / leads to an end\nFor though it may last / and last a year or two\nThe end in truth / will be sorrow and woe\nOf all that are false / and envious\nHere of no more / but forth from Pelus\nI will you tell / who has long sought\nThis thing / until it was brought to pass\nNew tidings / and that so marvelous\nThat he was astonished and all his house,\nOf a marvel, newly fallen beside Troy,\nThe place oriental,\nHow in Colchos, as the riding came\nWithin an isle, enclosed was a Ram,\nWhich bore his fleece, full richly of gold,\nAnd for its richness, it was kept in hold,\nWith great advice and great diligence,\nThat no man might there commit offense.\n\nAnd in this isle, there was a governor,\nA noble king, a worthy warrior,\nWho Cetes hight, wise, discreet and sage,\nWho was also, iron-gray in age,\nIn his time, as books can describe,\nHad undertaken many great enterprise,\nIn peace and war, and much worship won,\nAnd he was soon, also to his son,\nWho gave him honor, to attain his due,\nSo as poets delight, to feign touching his line, I leave as now the great\nAnd of this Ram, my purpose is to treat.\n\nThat was committed, I dare well assure,\nTo the keeping and the best care,\nOf cruel Mars, the mighty god of war,\nWho with the streams of his red star,\nAnd influence of his deity.\nOrdered has this ram to keep,\nBollys full unwild, with brass feet,\nRamagous and wild, and therewith,\nAll full fell and dispited,\nNature wood and furyous,\nTo hurt and slay, ever of one desire,\nOut of whose mouth, living and wild fire,\nLike a flame, ever blazed out,\nTo burn all them that stood near about,\nEke of their eyes, the looks most horrible,\nTo a fourneys, the streams were visible,\nAnd who that would, to increase his glory,\nThis ram of gold, win by the victory,\nFirst he must, with very force and might,\nUnto outrance, with this bully's fight,\nAnd them vanquish, all before the land,\nAnd make them humble, as any ox in stall,\nAnd to the yoke, and do them ere the land,\nOf very manhood, this must he take a hold,\nAnd after that, he must also endure,\nWith a serpent, of huge and great stature,\nWithout favor, plainly have a do,\nTo outrance eke, without words more,\nThe which serpent, shortly for to tell,\nWas like a fiend, come out of hell.\nFull of venom and cruel hate,\nHe was armed, hard as any plate,\nTo stand at defense,\nHis breath worse than pestilence.\nInfectious envy would surround all the air,\nIn every place where he appeared.\nHe was so full of corruption,\nAnd so dreadful of infection,\nThat death was the fine,\nOf this high Empire,\nFor those who would take this quarrel in hand,\nLike in one, both free and bound.\nBut if he could defend himself better,\nAnd of his conquest, this was also the end.\nWhen he had the mighty serpent slain,\nHe must, by custom and by law,\nFrom his head, his teeth each arrange,\nAnd then sow them in the selfsame place,\nWhere the Oxen had before plowed,\nOf such seed, a wonder corn sprang.\nKnight after knight, passing of great might,\nEach with another, ready for the fight,\nTill each his brother had brought to the ground,\nBy mortal fate, and yield his death wound,\nThis was the end of them each one,\nFor in their sorrow, of all there was none.\nThat might live by that fatal law\nAny longer in truth than his fellow.\nAnd by this way, dreadful and perilous,\nHe who desires to be victorious\nMust pass and manly endure,\nAnd however it falls, take his adventure,\nOf no estate was there exception,\nChoose who will, for his conclusion,\nHe may not escape for favor or reward,\nWhoever begins a vice, I advise,\nFor by the statute of the king I may\nWhoever will enter and try,\nBut after that he has begun,\nHe may not choose until he has lost or won,\nyet, as some of this ram expresses,\nAnd of his flees also bears witness,\nIt was nothing but gold & great treasure\nThat Cetes king kept with high labor\nBy incantations,\nBy sorcery and false illusions.\nThat was spoken of in realms far about,\nFor which many put their life in doubt,\nOf high desire they had to win\nThe great treasure that was shut within\nColchis land, as you have heard say,\nWhose pursuit rose from covetousness.\nGround and root of woe and all mischance,\nBy vain report, present themselves to audience,\nFor which they put themselves in jeopardy,\nWithout help, unlikely for to survive,\nThere was no help, nor any sleight of arms,\nThat could avail against the cursed charms,\nThey were so strong and superstitious,\nThat many worthy knights, full famous,\nWere hastened towards their death, alas,\nWho wished to jeopardize their lives in this case.\nAnd this lasts till afterwards befall,\nThat Pelleus plainly heard tell,\nThe great mischiefs and destructions,\nIn Colchos wrought on various nations,\nThat pursued the ancestors to conquer,\nTill Pelleus so fiercely began to inquire,\nThat he knew fully how the truth was,\nAnd in his heart, he at once began to devise,\nHow he might, by any sleight, take\nHis new Iason, to undergo this enterprise,\nIn Colchos, this high empire, to undertake,\nBy which way, best he might help himself.\nAnd began to feign a color, fresh in hue,\nI seem outwardly, so lusty and so new,\nAs there was no treason hidden within.\nAnd saw it was time / to begin\nOn his purpose, he first made it quaint\nAnd began with gold and paint / his gay words in sown glory\nKnowing Jason was young and desirous / and lightly inclined\nTherefore he thought / that he would please\nOpenly to work towards his goal\nAnd made at once / a convocation\nOf his lords and barons / about Envyron, the land of Thessaly\nTo assemble / estates of degree\nOf all his realm / within the chief city\nTo hold a council / utterly cast\nThereby to achieve / his desire as fast\nAnd so his court continued for three days\nThat lastly, his hidden might\nHe began to rouse / that had been hidden so long\nFor he could no longer prolong / the venom that fretted at his heart\nIn such a sly way / that no man could avert\nOn no side / but that he meant well\nFor the treason was cured everywhere\nAnd concealed / under treachery\nFor he thus began / to give it away\nAt prime face / that no man could deem.\nBy any word / as it would seem,\nIn church / in port / by sign or dance,\nBut that he cast, knightly, to advance\nHis young newcomer, as likely as not,\nTo high honor / of manhood and prowess,\nFor of the intent, which he began to ponder,\nNo man could spy / the effect he did so cloak,\nThe text was conveyed / so with flattery,\nSo that the people / could not see\nLittle or nothing / of his intent within,\nFor which alone / to praise him they began,\nThat he such honor / to his newcomer would\nFor with such cheer / he began unfold,\nBefore them all / this intention,\nThat he has dispelled / all suspicion,\nFrom all that were / assembled in the place,\nAnd toward Jason / he turned his face,\nFull lovingly / in countenance and cheer,\nAnd to him said / that throughout your court,\nWho made this silence?\nCosyn Iaso, / take heed what I shall say,\nFor I am / so inwardly glad and pleased,\nAnd surprised / with mirth through my heart.\nThat it enchants and voids all my pain,\nIn my inspection to consider thy youth, disposition,\nWhich shortly, to save virtue, is meant for,\nExcept to worship, and to gentleness,\nTo manly freedom, and to high largesse,\nThat truly, where I wake or wink,\nMy joy is only there, for to think,\nI hold myself so passing fortunate,\nAnd all my land, of high and low estate,\nWhich likely are, in honor, to flee,\nAnd live in rest and quiet,\nThrough thy support and supportable,\nWhose manhood may so much avail us,\nBy likelihood, and so much amend,\nIn very truth, to save us and defend,\nAgainst all those whom I can descry,\nThat of malice would aggravate us,\nOr rebel in any manner,\nOf surrendering or pride to err,\nOur worthiness assured in tranquility,\nFrom all assault, of them that would harm us,\nTo perturb our noble, royal estate,\nAgainst whom, when thou art our wall,\nOur mighty shield and protection.\nI fully believe this in my opinion. For your age, wit, prowess, knightly heart, and manly excellence, your high renown is reported in many lands and many kingdoms in this round world. How could I then stand in better esteem for your honor, which is so highly revered, that I would willingly and without ceasing, help increase your renown and spend my treasure, this great desire assails me without fail, day and night, and I hope for the best, to enhance your honor above the pool and the seven stars. I have seen to this end, and have applied my mind to it. What should I longer dwell, my dear cousin, if it were by sovereign manhood, could you dare to attain knighthood?\nThe flees of gold, to conquer by your strength\nWhich is spoken of, so far in breadth and length,\nAnd return home, in body safe and sound,\nIf this conquest could be found,\nThat you dare, achieve this enterprise,\nMore hearts I knew not how to devise,\nIn all this world, for truly at the best,\nMy realm and I, were then in rest,\nFor to your manhood, all would fear us,\nWherefore, fair lady, of knighthood and manhood,\nTake upon you, my prayer and request,\nAnd here my truth, and take it in pledge,\nWhatsoever needs, in might or cost,\nI will myself, towards this voyage,\nOrder yourself, in armor and prepare,\nThat nothing shall fail, that is to your pay,\nAnd moreover, I plainly assure,\nThat if I see, you do your best,\nThis high enterprise, to bring about,\nYou shall not fear, nor be in doubt,\nAfter my day, by succession,\nFor to be king, of this region,\nAnd holy have scepter and regality,\nWherefore, Jason, lift up thine heart and eye,\nThy name shall be long recorded.\nThrough the world, wherefore accorded,\nWithin thyself, and plainly not spare,\nOf thine intent, the sum to declare.\nWhen Jason had, his uncle understood,\nHe rejoices, to take on hand,\nThis dreadful labor, without aid,\nHe warned not, the moving fraudulent,\nThe pure poison, under sugar cured,\nNor how to gall, with honey he was lured,\nThe dark deceit, the cloudy false engine,\n\nWhereto Iason, has no warning,\nThe king he thought, of clean conscience,\nWithout fraud, had all this thing meant,\nWherefore anon, he yields full assent,\nAt words few, and plainly began to say,\nHis uncle's will, that he would obey,\nHe was accorded, in conclusion,\nWith humble heart, and whole intention,\nWhereof the king, receives such gladness,\nThat he might, out express,\nBut right as fast, did his busy pains,\nFor this journey, in haste to prepare,\nAnd for as much, as the Colchian country,\nEnclosed was, about a see,\nAnd that no man, however long he strives.\nWithout ship/thyder may arrive\nTo his presence/he did call\nFamous Argus/who could build the best\nTo make a ship/and first, this is found\nTo sail with/by sea/f\nThe which has wrought/a ship by subtle craft\nWhich was the first/that ever wave carried away\nTo enter/Argon/bare the name\nGrammarians record/yet the same\nThat each great ship/first, for this marvel\nIs called so/which proudly bears her sail\nAs this book/does specify\nHow it happened/forth of this voyage.\n\nWhen all was ready/men and victuals\nThey/and many worthy were in that company\nOf noble birth/and of great alliance\nIn that voyage/ready to go\nBoth for love/and worship of Jason\nAmong which/the great Hercules\nOf force and might/of strength unrivaled\nAnd he, begotten was/upon Almene\nSimple and fair/maidenly to see\nOf Jupiter/and that full love raging\nTaking likeness/of Amphitron\nDown from heaven/for all his delight\nHe was carried away/through lust of her beauty.\nFor he loved her with heart and whole intent\nAnd of the two, truly by descent,\nCame Hercules, the worthy, famous knight,\nMost renowned of manhood and might,\nWho in his time was so marvelous,\nSo excellent and so victorious,\nThat Odysseus himself would choose to record him,\nMethamorphoseos, his famous twelve deeds,\nWhich are remembered, there particularly,\nIn his honor, for a memorial.\n\nAnd to rehearse them in order by and by,\nIf you please, I purpose truly,\nHe slew Antaeus on high ground,\nAnd many gained what they wished with might and strength,\nHe outraged, for all their rude lives,\nThe serpent, hydra, he slew in ambush,\nAnd Cerberus the hound, he bound so sore,\nAt the gates of Hell, that he broke no more,\nAnd made him void of his venom in the fight.\nAnd upward gave him such a laxative,\nThat all the world, his breath contagious,\nInfected has, it was so venomous,\nAnd with one wind, he would run upwards,\nHe caught Aries, birds of Arcadia.\nAnd slew Centaur, the most monstrous one.\nThe first Lion/ he burst his house\nThis is to say/ when he was a slave\nOut of his skin/ he had himself stripped & flayed\nWith cruel heart/ through his high renown\nThe golden apples/ he took from the dragon\nThe fiery cat/ he shed without more\nAnd of Arcady/ the cruel boar bore\nAnd at the last/ on his shoulders bore\nOf true might/ the firmament he bore\nBut for that/ I may not reckon all\nHis passing deeds/ which are historical\nRead Ouidas/ and there you shall find them\nOf his triumphs/ how he makes mind\nThroughout the world/ how he honors himself fet\nAnd of the pillars/ at the gates that he set\nWhich Alexander/ of Macedonia king\nThat was so worthy/ here in his living\nRed in his conquest/ as Guido de Columnis writes\nWith all his host/ proudly to visit\nBeyond which/ no land is habitable\nNor see to sail/ truly cannot\nSo far it is/ beyond the Ocean\nThat sailors/ no further no skill can\nSibyl's straits/ mariners call it\nAnd the bounds/ be they named alike of all.\nOf Hercules, he set them as marks, and I shall pass over all others. Further, as Guy intends, and the place is called Siracenya, the fine result of his labor. Of this matter, what more should I say? I will return to Iason again, who in haste makes ready, taking his leave, Towards the sea, and Hercules with all his men, Anoneas you shall hear. The time of the year, when the shining sun was so far up in its sphere, And had passed the Gemini, And he had his chariot, whyrylyd up so high, Through the draft of Pirus, so read, He made his mansion and his royal sea, Where the standing escynall is hallowed, Of fresh Appollo, with his golden way, When men in their hearts are so pleased, For the heat, to hide them in the shade, Under these branches and these bowers glad, When Phoebus beams, that so brightly shine, Descend, ben, right as any line.\nAnd cause the eye to be full hot, in that lusty fresh season,\nWhen corn is sown in the field to lie,\nAnd the grasses in the green mead,\nFrom year to year, have been of custom more,\nAnd on the plain cast and laid full low,\nUntil the moisture consumed be away,\nOn hill and heath, the merry summer's day,\nAt which time, the young knight Jason,\nWith Hercules, is to ship gone,\nAnd with them also, as I rehearse can,\nOf Greeks, also many lusty man,\nShipped each one with royal apparel,\nAnd when they were, crossed under sail,\nWithin the ship, which Argus made,\nWhich was so sturdy, it might no water load,\nThey began to sail, and had wind at will,\nThe ship began to break, the stubborn waves ill,\nUpon the sea, and so both day and night,\nTo Colchis ward, they held the way right,\nGuiding their course by the pole star,\nWhere they sail, by costs ne'er or far,\nFor Philoteas was their elder guide,\nWho could before, so prudently provide,\nOf very insight, to cast before and see.\nTempest or wind, on land and sea,\nOr when troubles of storms should fall,\nHe was their master, plainly so,\nIn shipman craft, and chose their governor,\nCould warn them before of every hour,\nThat should fall, when stars did appear,\nAnd specifically, as Phyllis does teach,\nThis Phyllis, who was no fool,\nHad her sight erect unto the pole,\nHer advice and clear inspection,\nTo the stars and constellations,\nWith the asterisms, round about, called the septentrion,\nFor the pole, commonly called Arcturus,\nEver in one, appears to us,\nRightly so, who can look aright,\nAntares is hidden from our sight,\nBut to sailors, who are discreet and wise,\nWho wish their course, prudently devise,\nUpon the sea, have sufficiency enough,\nTo guide their passage, by Arthur's plow,\nFor it to them, is direction,\nTo the coasts, of every region,\nWith help only, of needle and stone,\nThey may not err, what coasts that they have gone.\nFor mariners who are discrete and wise,\nAnd expert in their lodgings,\nBy this course alone, only by the star,\nWhich Arthur compasses around,\nThis circle and constellation,\nI call it the circle of Artophilax,\nWho knows it needs no more to ask,\nFor it is sufficient for seamen,\nOn starlit nights, when they see its light.\n\nAnd as poets of these two kinds,\nIn their books, it pleases them to say,\nAnd in their ditties to declare to us,\nCalixto\nHis own son, was named,\nIn heaven, and I deified,\nBecause Juno, to her, had envy,\nWith Jupiter, when she saw her die.\n\nFor which she was turned into a bear,\nAnd for her sin, she mourned on earth,\nTell me, Naso, can you tell,\nShe was translated eternally to dwell,\nAmongst stars, where she is stalled,\nAnd Ursa Major, is called by clerks,\nSo that his son, for his worthy fame,\nBears the name of such a course,\nThis Philotetes, who was the most expert.\nOf all seamen that ever I heard tell,\nCould steer a course, he might ring the bell.\nWhen the Greeks, long weary and cast out,\nIn the sea, after toil, sought to resort\nTo refresh and disport in joy,\nUpon the bounds of Troy's land.\nWhen Hercules and Jason, on his hand,\nFrom their ship, had taken the land,\nAnd with them, their knights, each one,\nFrom sea to land, were gone,\nWeary, and they in truth came to Argo's haven,\nA little beside Troy town,\nAnd they were glad to be in shelter,\nFrom storm and tempest, after weariness,\nFor they meant no harm, nor guile,\nBut on the shore to rest a while,\nTo hindrere no man of any age,\nNor in that isle, for to do damage,\nTo man or beast, wherever they go,\nBut for to abide there a day or two,\nTo refresh and repair anon,\nWhen the rage of the sea were gone.\nAnd while they lay on the shore,\nThey did nothing but disport and play,\nAnd bathe and wash themselves in the fresh river,\nAnd drank waters that were sweet and clear,\nThat flowed like crystal in the cold well,\nAnd took nothing but what was to sell,\nIt was nothing in their intention,\nTo anyone, to cause offense,\nTo molest or harm any,\nBut the whims of fortune,\nEnvy has ever had of those who live in ease,\nWhose course unexpectedly leads to sickness,\nFor she was the reckless goddess,\nOf transformation,\nTo turn her wheel by revolution,\nTo make Trojans seem unjustly,\nThat Greeks had arrived to detain,\nSo that the cause of this suspicion,\nHas brought many to destruction,\nFull many worthy of kings and princes,\nThroughout the world, counted in provinces,\nWere brought to chaos through this slander,\nFor this thing, alas, that was never thought,\nFor it was the cause and occasion.\nThat this city and this royal town\nWere destroyed, as it is clearly found,\nWhose walls high were battered down to the ground,\nAnd many a man and many a worthy knight\nWere slain there, and many ladies bright\nWere widowed by the pressures of this war,\nAs it is reported far and wide,\nAnd many maidens in tender age\nWere left alone in that great upheaval,\nBehind their fathers, alas, it had to be,\nAnd for no reason, but that fortune would\nShow her might and her cruelty\nIn taking vengeance upon this city.\n\nAlas, that ever\nSuch a worthy estate\nShould fall for little in the dispute,\nFor when it is gone, it is not likely to stop,\nFor from a small spark,\nA full-grown tree often grows,\nWho climbs high may not fall softly,\nAnd from sparks that are of small sight,\nFire is engendered that consumes all,\nAnd a spark first of little hate\nKindles flame of contention and debate,\nAnd from envy, it spreads far and wide,\nAnd thus, alas, in realms mortal war.\nIs it begun, as men may read and see,\nOf a spark, of little enmity,\nThat was not quenched first, what it was gone,\nFor when the fire is so far yonder,\nThat it embraces, hearts by hatred,\nTo make them burn, hot as any gladness,\nOn other party, through his cruel tenure,\nThere is no quenching, but sharp swords keen,\nWhich alas, consume all and leave naught,\nAnd thus the fine, of enmity is death,\nThough the beginning be but casual,\nThe fretting abiding is passing cruel,\nTo void realms, of peace, pleasures and joy,\nAs it fills, whylong, of this worthy Troy,\nIt does me weep, of this case suddenly,\nFor every wight, ought to complain,\nThat little guilt, should have such vengeance,\nExcept Parcaas, through God's providence,\nThat this mischief, should after be,\nFollowing Parcaas, of great felicity,\nFor Troy, brought unto destruction,\nWas the beginning, and occasion,\nIn my Author, as it is specified,\nThat worthy Rome, was after edified,\nBy the offspring, of worthy Aeneas.\nFrom Troy, when it was in exile,\nThe which Rome, renowned and chief city of the world,\nWas its head and leader, for its passing worthiness,\nAnd also what troubles beset Troy,\nAnd the walls were cast down and broken.\nIt was the cause of many kingdoms beginning,\nAnd many great cities.\nThis Troyan man, this manly man Aeneas,\nBy various seas, sailed for so long a time,\nUntil fortune led him to Italy,\nAnd the land he won, as books tell us,\nWith whom was also his son Ascanius,\nWho after Aeneas succeeded in lineage,\nAnd after him, his son Silvius,\nFrom whom came Brutus, so famously renowned.\nOnce, this land was called Britain,\nFor he, through his valor, won this noble isle,\nAnd it first began.\nFrom Troy also came this same Aeneas,\nAnd worthy Francus, a lord of high degree,\nWho built in his time a noble royal town,\nWhich truly advanced his honor.\nAfter his departure from Troy, Franchepans began the land's first name, Authenor. He founded the city of Venice first and Sycanus soon inhabited the land of Cecily. After Sycanus' departure, his worthy brother Syculus reigned. The land was then called Cecily.\n\nBut Enias went to Tuscany, and with his people, he began Naples in Cecily. Naples became very rich and powerful for a long time.\n\nDionedes, the noble knight, went into exile when Troy fell with his fair troops. He intended to return to his reign, but his lieges feigned a quarrel against him and rebelled. They withheld both the scepter and crown from him, denying him duty, loyalty, and obedience. Therefore, according to the books, Enias was forced to leave Cecily.\nVnto Calabria, and he began to possess it. And there, the knights of Diomede who were for Troy, had him there sewn into the form of birds. By Circe's craft, daughter of the sun, they were transformed and in the air, flew away one by one. And called Ben among the Greeks, birds of Diomede. But as some books testify, this change was made by Venus, the goddess, out of her wrath towards this worthy knight. Only for having seen him once fight with Aeneas, her own dear son. At that time, as they fought each other, Diomede struck him with a deadly mortal wound. This mother Venus, began at once to shield him, under a sky and a misty cloud, to save him from harm at that time. And for this sky, Venus took revenge, turning his men into birds. And in that form, they flew from year to year to his tomb. So upon him, a mind they have, and a customary remembrance and observation.\nAt these exequies, each bird stays for a day's space, and then departs not. And over and above, as it is due to them, they love Greeks and plainly shun Latins. For they present themselves immediately beside us, and each one from another, as books assure us. These birds know only of nature, Greeks and Latins, kindly distinguishing. When they see which is such a wonder, to my wit I cannot aspire. The causes hidden, of such sorcery, I cannot spy. But well I wot, though my wit be blended, that root of all was false enchantment. But of our faith, we ought to defy such appearances, shown to the eye. Which of the fiend, is but illusion. Thereof no more, and thus when Troy town was ever overthrown and brought to naught, full many cities were built and wrought. And many lands and many rich towns were edified by the occasion of this war, as you have heard me tell. Which to declare, now I may not dwell. From point to point, like as books say.\nFor I Jason will return again\nTo that land, worthy Hercules has landed,\nAt Symeonte, the harbor he chooses,\nAs I have told you, to rest and comfort,\nAnd not only for that, but just to amuse,\nBut to the king, reigning in Troy town,\nOnce called Lamedown,\nFrom false envy, it was reported and told,\nThat certain Greeks, with bold hearts,\nDared to enter his land, which they did not know,\nWell armed, in a new vessel,\nWhich to arrive had no permission,\nAnd their purpose was to commit offense,\nBy luck and his land to harm,\nFor they, with pride, without any leave,\nOr safe conduct, took the stronghold,\nAnd such deeds, on the land they made,\nAs in their power were all manner of things,\nHaving no regard, openly to the king.\nOf his estate, they took no heed,\nOf such strangers, great is the fear,\nIf men are lazy or negligent,\nFully to know what is their intent,\nBut for the prolongation, and no peril cast,\nSuch sudden things would be known as fast.\nAnd they didn't differ / until harm be done\nIt would be wise / that it be seen to\nMen can endure / and abide too long\nOf negligence / for letting slide\nTo inquire / of their governance\nThis was the speech / of the Dalaiance\nEveryone to another / by revelation\nIn every street / through Troy town\nSome rowing / and some spoke broadly\nAnd this speech / so long it remained\nFrom one to another / truthfully that the news\nWas reported to King Lamaswoun\nAs you have heard / the which of willfulness\nWithout counsel / or a vision\nHe hastily / made his son's decision\nTo know / how they were bold for to land\nBeside his leave / of presumption\nWherefore he commanded / in conclusion\nWithout delay / soon to remember\nOr finally / they should not avoid\nTo be compelled / despite who says no\nAnd so the king / on a certain day\nIn haste sent / his ambassador\nTo Jason / of Greek governance\nWho neither thought / harm nor villainy\nBut innocent / with his company\nDisported himself / endlessly on the shore.\nAnd ever since he came to land,\nAnd of the charge that he laid on him,\nWord by word he spoke to Jason,\nExactly as, with every circumstance,\nThis was the same, plainly stated.\nThe wise, worthy, and renowned,\nThe mighty king, noble Lamus,\nHas sent you this message:\nIts meaning is this, in essence:\nHe marvels that you, Greeks,\nBring no companions,\nAnd have no conduct to show,\nNo protection or license,\nIn prejudice of his magnificence.\nTherefore he has laid a charge on me,\nAnd commands you to make it plain,\nThat you immediately,\nWithout noise or any more disturbance,\nRelease the bonds of Troy,\nOr you and yours, he threatens to harm.\nIt is better for you, with ease, to depart,\nThan to jeopardize your lives,\nIn any way, for lack of prudence,\nAgainst his will, to resist,\nEither from pride or willfulness.\nFor to be bold, without fear\nTo interrupt, his felicity,\nHe desires, in tranquility,\nTo hold his reign, without disturbance,\nIn whose person is made such alliance,\nHis manhood and royal majesty,\nThat they will not suffer, none of any degree,\nTo encroach on his quiet, in any manner,\nWherefore I advise, as it seems wise,\nTo heed my words, and not disobey,\nLest you offend, his knightly excellence,\nFor you shall find, in experience,\nWithout feigning, I tell the truth,\nTake heed therefore, I may no longer dwell,\nFrom point to point, since you are wise and sage,\nFor this is whole, the effect of my message.\n\nWhen Jason heard of the messenger,\nThese words changed him there,\nAnd he kept himself close, with sober counsel,\nAnd was not, hasty for Irene's cruelty,\nFor no rancor, he caught in his tale,\nSave in his face, he began to grow pale,\nLong abiding, or anything he would say,\nAnd before he spoke, any word again.\nTo him who was sent from the king, he began to reveal, to his people standing around, the substance of his intent. For to them he disclosed first, when he departed, and word by word thus he spoke to them:\n\n\"Know ye this, sirs,\nTake heed I pray, both high and low,\nHow Lamasun, that is king of Troy,\nHas sent to us a wonderful envoy,\nHurrying to us from his land,\nAnd asking how we are upon the shore,\nDesiring to arrive,\nWithout leave, to see his gentleness and freedom,\nWhich is not denied,\nTo strangers who enter his realm,\nFor naught does God know but for a little while,\nTo refresh and to depart soon,\nAs you can, record each one,\nAnd bear witness, all and some,\nAlas, freedom, where has it now become.\n\nWhere is manhood and gentleness also,\nWhich in a king, together both,\nShould by custom, have their resting place.\"\nAnd where is the honor that should also embrace\nA lord's heart, who of kingly right\nOf manly freedom, with all his full might\nShould refresh and comfort strangers,\nSo that afterwards they might report of him.\nLarge experience, manhood, and gentleness\nThat they have found in his worthiness\nFor if nobility were of his alliance\nAnd freedom also knitted with his regality\nSo long as it pertains to a king's honor\nHe should have charged, first of all things\nHis worthy lieges with all that pleases\nTo have shown the comfort and ease\nWith all their might and their busy care\nTo strangers that in the sea\nWere driven and dismayed\nAnd of our comfort, not be ill repaid\nFor if he, in any similar case\nBy fortune, which is variable\nBy sort or chance, which may not withstand\nHad arrived in Greek land\nMore honestly, like to his degree\nHe should have received us\nLike as it pertains to gentility\nBut since he, for anything I can see.\nHe has freedom / honor / and humanity\nAt one time made / out of his courage to flee\nChose dishonor / and let worship gone\nThere is no more / but we shall every one\nThat he has chosen / help to fulfill\nWhen power shall not / belie his will\nThis is to say / and truly it shall be found\nThat his deed / shall rebound on him\nSince of malice / he has this work begun\nPerhaps / or the summer sun\nThe messenger / has thrice gone about\nLet him trust / and nothing be in doubt\nWe shall him serve / with such as he has sought\nFor if I live / it shall be dear a bought\nAll thereof / I set as now no tide\nAnd in his land / I will no longer abide\nUntil I have less / better to sojourn\nAnd with it word / he began anon to turn\nWith manly face / and a stern cheer\nSuddenly / to the messenger\nWho from the king / was unto him sent\nAnd in this way / he shows his intent.\nMy friend said he / I have well understood\nThe message whole / that thou tookest on hand\nOf thy king / to bring unto us\nRight now unexpectedly, and yet it stands thus,\nI have understood his meaning every detail,\nPoint by point, and I have it plainly recorded,\nAnd the gifts that we have received on his behalf,\nIn our great need, I will remember,\nAnd take good heed to every thing that you have brought,\nTrust well that I forget not,\nBut impress it well in my mind,\nAnd with all this, how wonderfully we find,\nThe great bounty, in all manner of thing,\nWithin this land of Lamedon the king,\nHis welcoming and his great cheer,\nAnd the goodly sound that you bring here,\nNot according to our intent,\nFor God well knows that we never meant,\nHarm to him, nor plainly any damage,\nTo none of his, of no manner of age,\nAnd thereupon, in witnessing, we meant no offense,\nNor took it as by violence.\nWithin his realm, a woman or man,\nReport this if you can,\nBut we were driven in the sea,\nCompelled were, by necessity,\nTo arrive, as I have told you,\nOnly to rest here on the plain,\nWithout further delay,\nAnd afterward, to hold our way,\nOn our journey, and make no lingering,\nLike as you may record for your king,\nAnd tell him also, he will be thanked,\nWhen the time comes, by us or by some other,\nGo forth your way, & tell him thus, my brother,\nAnd then at once, as Ialon was in peace,\nThe manly knight, the worthy Hercules,\nWho had heard this thing from Poit to point,\nHe was brought forthwith, in such dismay,\nOf hasty rancor and sudden ire,\nWhich set his heart almost on fire,\nSuddenly, as he passed by a bake,\nOf high disdain, even thus he spoke,\nWith cheerful countenance to the messenger,\nAnd said, fellow, be no thing in the way,\nOf our abiding, but be right well assured.\nThat are Titan / his men return again\nWe shall depart / and to ship gone\nNot one of our men / shall leave within this land & God forgive us tomorrow\nAnd there upon / have here my faith to borrow\nFor we no longer / shall hold here our sojourn\nElsewhere where / we shall make our return\nTomorrow early / in the dawning\nOn pain of reprisal / and so say thou, thy king\nAnd within three years / if God grants us life\nMaugre who grumbles / or makes any strife\nUnto this land / we shall again return\nAnd cast / anchor a while / to rest\nTake heed thereof / and note well the time\nA new change / shall follow from this prime\nAnd then his power / shall not so greatly stretch\nOf his safe conduct / little shall we reckon\nI say plainly / as is our intent\nWe will not have / unto his commandment\nBut little regard / and we that day abide\nFor taking leave / shall be set aside\nBecause he has / begun a play\nWhich we shall settle / by God if that I may\nThat turn shall into his own shame\nAnd spare not to tell your king the same.\nThis messenger then began again to reply and said, \"Sir, you may not deny,\nOf honesty, my message to declare. I will not spare\nThe king's son, plainly, to tell\nWhere you list to go or dwell,\nYou may yet choose, who so pleases or displeases,\nYou have no cause with me to be angry,\nFor it does not concern you,\nIf you heed, by way of gentleness,\nOr manners, such arrows to sheathe,\nFor more honestly it were, your thinking, to let\nAnd keep secret till you are at your large,\nFor certainly, no part of my charge\nIs to strive with you or debate,\nBut better it is, by times, than to late,\nThat you beware, for harm that might fall,\nAnd for my part, I say to you all,\nIt would be pitiful, if you were destroyed,\nOr any man hindered, should or dare,\nSo worthy persons, in any manner wise,\nWho are as likely, to be discreet and wise,\nAnd lest, with words, as now I do you grieve,\nI say no more, I take my leave.\nThe night passed at the springing of the day,\nWhen that the sun began to salute the rosy rows,\nOf Phoebus chariot, there freshly spread,\nUpon the border of the orient,\nAnd Aurora, with heart and whole intent,\nWith the sweetness of her silver showers,\nHad bedewed the fresh summer flowers,\nAnd made the rose weep with new balm,\nThe sweet lovely and the marguerite,\nTo unfold their tender white leaves,\nHearts oppressed with gladness to delight,\nWho were dry before of might's restraint,\nAnd honeyed sockets among the green bushes,\nEnchanted had been,\nLong had passed Orion,\nOr Tithonus, beginning to make his return,\nWith the brightness of his beams merry,\nTo rejoice all our empyrean,\nFor long ago he had arisen,\nThis worthy Jason, in full haste,\nAnd his companion Hercules also,\nI charged have, you men, be busy,\nTo hoist up the anchor and be ready,\nAnd bid in haste every man to take,\nThe right way, to ship away at once,\nFor in haste this manly man Iason.\nThough he was not yet ready to begin a war on Troy, for he was not equal in number or multitude at that time. It was unlikely that he would win victory, as they were but few. And it is not healthy for a man to hew above his head, lest the chips fall in his eye. Therefore, from fear, they left the costs unpaid. They hoisted sail, the ship began to move. The wind was good, the gods were favorable, and Fortune, though variable, was their friend. And thus, we have come to Colchos, and to land, both all and some. We have arrived in a little space. For in this isle and this little land, you shall understand how there was a royal chief city in all that reign, most distinguished in dignity, worthiness, riches, and fame.\nAnd Iachonytes, named at that time for building,\nBoasted of large and courious streets,\nWell-dug ditches, strong walls, and towers round,\nOf great height and fortified above,\nMagnalia also, lest they be assailed,\nWith many palaces, stately and royal,\nFor there the seat was, most principal,\nThe king to abide there better than elsewhere,\nAnd it happened that he was there,\nCalled Cetes, as I read,\nFully renowned for knighthood and manhood,\nAnd around him a well-behaved retinue,\nLike those sitting to his degree,\nAnd everywhere, lands envious of his renown,\nSpreading from his high renown,\nAnd all around this mighty chief city,\nWhere Cetes held his royal seat,\nWere fresh rivers, their water clear as crystal,\nFair plains, as Guido bears witness,\nAnd healthful hills, full of lustiness,\nAnd many a lay, and many a lusty well,\nAnd there were also my minstrels.\nFull many a park, fair and fresh to see,\nAnd many a wood, and many a green meadow,\nWith various flowers among the herbs that grow,\nWhich on their stalks nature has depicted,\nWith various hues, both within and without,\nAfter the season, when summer came about,\nFor fishing, fowling, and hawking also,\nFor venison and hare, both two,\nThe place was, I,\nOf corn and grain, passing fertile and plentiful,\nAnd plenteous in all manner of things,\nFor there men heard the birds sweetly sing,\nIn time of year, in their harmony,\nThat the noise and sweet melody,\nOn fresh branches, delightfully rejoice,\nThese merry folk, whose hearts love had kindled,\nAnd had eased, of their pains sincerely,\nThat certainly, when those green were passed,\nAye from year to year,\nAnd May was come, the month of gladness,\nAnd fresh flora, empress of flowers,\nHad clad the soil, new at her disposal,\nThis noble place, was like paradise,\nAnd Ceres, goddess, of largesse and fecundity.\nIn this region, there was abundant flesh, fish, wine, vituals, and corn. The lioness, with her full horn, brought rain and snow upon the land. All estates, high and low, lived in sovereign sufficiency with all that nature could advance. This little isle, with its great gifts, was like what I have previously described. For there was abundance and all that could please any heart and provide all commodities. And so, Iason has come to this city, and with him Hercules, and following them all the pres. They were both arrayed magnificently and rightly called. The army was enclosed together, two and two. A people chosen, as it were, for the nones. With them all, of brawns and bones, every man was complete by proportion. Young of age and of good stature, of countenance sad and demure, each man had great pleasure in seeing the manner of their governance.\nSo young, fresh, hardy and meek, all at once,\nThey went to the palaces. With such a cheer,\nEach one had entertainment to see\nThe manner of their noble porte. So gentlemanly,\nThey behaved, that the people gathered everywhere,\nEnquiring about these strangers, like the Greeks' guise,\nThey behaved themselves in such thriftiness,\nAnd the people could not cease their desire,\nSurrounding them and pressing around,\nAsking what they might be,\nWho with such royalty,\nSuddenly entered our town.\nThus, every man rowed with his companion,\nThey were so rude to stare and gape,\nAs if on a mass.\nThis townish folk do so commonly,\nOf every thing that falls suddenly.\nBut how Cetes, like a worthy king,\nReceived them and received the matter,\nIf you wish, I shall tell you.\nWhen the king, truly understanding,\nHow the Greeks came to land,\nAnd how Jason was also with them.\nThe king, born of Thesalian royal blood,\nLikely to be his heir, if by grace he regains,\nThe adventures of Colchos,\nImmediately, in haste, he rises from his sea,\nDisplaying gentleness in all ways,\nHe welcomes them with full benevolence,\nAssigning one of his officers,\nTo await them night and day,\nCharging them in every way,\nTo have whatever may bring them ease,\nOr anything that may please or quench their thirst,\nEnsuring they have it in abundance and plentitude,\nEach of them according to his rank,\nThus he commands in all things,\nThis noble, worthy king,\nA mirror of freedom,\nThrough many halls and rich tours,\nBy many turns and diverse ways,\nBy many a marvelous gray stone,\nHas conveyed them on a full easy passage,\nUntil he brings them to,\nWhere he holds his dalliance,\nAnd there, with every circumstance.\nOf manly freedom he granted them cheer,\nIn his chamber bright and clear shone,\nWith gold and azure, many an image there in picture,\nHe had commanded his officers,\nOnly in honor of those who were strangers,\nThe young, fresh, lusty man Jason,\nBegan, by the king's license,\nTo declare the reason for his coming,\nBut first the king, with great tally,\nAscended into his royal seat,\nClad in gold, hung around,\nAccording to the custom of that region,\nA sight to behold, it was noble,\nStanding about, many a worthy knight,\nAnd many squire, and many gentleman,\nWell-seen, and the king right then,\nTo Jason standing in presence,\nHis majesty had commanded,\nTo sit down beside Hercules,\nAnd Jason then no longer wished to delay,\nThe reason for his coming to reveal,\nThe effect of which was this in few words,\nSave Jason, he began his tale,\nWell-prepared, and cheered like a man.\nConceived has, and noted well,\nFrom point to point, his mother every dell,\nAnd not forgot a word, in all his speech,\nBut even like a rhetorician, does teach.\nHe began his tale, so by craft convey,\nTo make the king, to that he would say,\nCondescend, and rather to incline,\nFor to assent, that he might fine,\nOf his coming, the knightly high enterprise.\nThus word by word, as I shall devise.\n\nRight worthy prince, present I this place,\nOnly with support of your high grace,\nAnd your goodness, most excellent and dignified,\nWith patience, of your favor benign,\nDisplease it not, that I may say and show,\nAnd declare, with words but a few,\nThe final ground, and cause of my coming,\nSo that you list, which are so noble a king,\nIn goodly wise, without more offense,\nBenignly to give audience,\nTo my request, and that you not disdain,\nGraciously to grant, that I may attend,\nIn this isle, if it may avail,\nThe slees of gold, freely for to assay,\nAs the goddesses, in this adventure.\nI am here to obey / in whom lies all plainly and fortune\nFor governing things in common\nIn war and peace, conquest and victory\nAnd of armies, the renown and glory\nDiscomfitting and bringing to outrun\nAll lies in them to hinder or to advance\nAgainst whose might, no mortal man may choose\nBut for all this, where I win or lose\nLife or death, depends on my labor\nIf you please, to do me this favor\nTo give me leave and no more delay\nI am accorded, fully to assay\nLike as the statute makes mention\nI desire to make none exception\nOn any side, favor to find\nBut as the righteous plainly intend\nWhatever falls, I shall them under my control\nLowly I beseech you, that you not prolong\nMy purpose now nor make any delay\nBut of your grace, set me a day\nMy enterprise, that I may achieve\nFor my abode, stands upon your leave\nSay but one word of granting at least\nAnd then I have the fine of my request.\n\nAnd when the king had heard attentively\nThe intent of Jason said so manfully,\nHe stayed alert and kept himself close a while,\nUntil at last, he began to smile\nTowards Jason, and said to him thus:\n\nJason said, \"Though you be eager,\nTo undertake this lofty enterprise,\nMy counsel is, as I shall advise,\nCautiously, to cast beforehand\nThe mortal peril, or lest you be lost,\nFor in this thing, there is a law set,\nBy custom, that may not be evaded\nNor remedied for favor nor for money,\nFor death in truth, whoever takes heed,\nIs the reward, plainly or they twine,\nO fall ye not, cast them the flees of gold to win,\nFor help is none, in manhood nor fortune,\nThe straight way, the way, is so demanding,\nSo dreadful also, and so full of rage,\nThat save death, there is no passage\nOf victory, the palm to conquer,\nFor truly, Jason, as I shall teach,\nFounded of old, by marvelous working,\nAre the statutes of this mortal thing,\nSo bound under my rule, I may not modify.\"\nIason, lest I be blamed for your faithlessness or destruction, I warn myself to make amends, so that no one can justly blame me. Though you may be young and willful, your life destroys itself without your consent. Since Iason has recounted all the perilous events from beginning to end, be warned and put no blame on me. For the surplus, it lies with you; you may choose and wherever you win or lose, no man can rightfully accuse me. No mortal man, whether high or low, can pass judgment on himself. Only the gods can grant him grace. Whatever man casts himself into danger, these diverse things are most fearsome. Iason, however you may fare, I have openly declared the peril and, for favor, spared you. In truth and right reason.\nFor you know well / it lies not in my power\nTo declare / or allow any man to set\nRegarding this matter / as you have heard me tell\nWhat should Ilenger / in this concern dwell\nIt would be in vain / for now you know all\nBeware of her / who turns as a ball\nFor at this time / you get no more from me\nDo as you please / I put the choices in the\nAnd with that word / the king rose up at once\nUpon the time / when he should go\nTo his meal / and Iason by his side\nAs you shall hear / if you wish to stay.\nThe time approaches & began to draw near\nThe officers / pressed forward with all their might\nTo make ready / with all their full preparation\nAnd in the hall / the tables were prepared\nFor by the dial / the hour they began to mark\nThat Phoebus should rise / in his chariot\nSo high a loftiness / that it drew to noon\nIt was time / for the king to go\nTo his meal / and enter the hall\nAnd Cetes then / with his lords all\nAnd with his knights / about him each one.\nWith Hercules and Iason,\nsettled in his royal seat,\nand every lord, according to his degree.\nBut first, this worthy man Iason\nwas assigned by the king at once\nto sit at his own table.\nAnd Hercules, who was such a great lord,\nwas also seated close by his side.\nThe marshal no longer wished to wait\nto assign estates where they should be,\njust as they were, of high or low degree.\nAnd after that, on a high platform,\nthe noise grew loud and nothing soft,\nboth of trumpeters and clarioners,\nand there with all, the noble officers\nserved sumptuously, the hall,\njust as the season, that time decreed,\nwith all delights, that could be reckoned,\nthe true fruit and abundance\nof kingly freedom, to both high and low.\nSo fully did it reign and snow,\nthat through the hall, was the manhood praised,\nof the king, and his renown raised,\nwhose gestures, truly, could be seen,\nwhen he pleased, to feast and celebrate,\nso like a king, and in such a thriving way.\nWith all deceit that man could devise,\nAt this feast and solemnity,\nThe Greeks might see the great nobility\nOf King Cetes and the worthiness\nAnd by report, bear witness\nWherever they come, after all their life,\nI want to know, by order to describe,\nEvery court, the diversities,\nThe strange dishes and the subtlety,\nThat were that day served in that place.\nHave me excused, though I lightly pass,\nThough I cannot, in order, convey,\nMy English, is too rude and also too plain,\nTo endite of so high a thing.\nBut forth I will rehearse how the king\nTo show his gestures, his nobility over all,\nHas sent in special,\nAnd bade she should forthwith be brought.\nThe which, in truth, though men had sought\nThis world through out, I do you plainly assure,\nMen might have found no fairer creature,\nMore womanly in demeanor nor manner,\nNor more demure nor sadder in her cheer,\nWhose beauty was not likely for to fade,\nAnd when she came, the Greeks for to glade.\nThe hall in truth, she walks up and down\nOf woman's head, and pure affection's own,\nTo make cheer, unto these new gestures,\nAnd thus Medea, with her rosy hue,\nAnd with the freshness of the lily white,\nSo intermingled of kind by delight,\nThat nature made in her face spring up\nSo equally the white with the red,\nThat the intermingling, in conclusion,\nWas renewed by proportion,\nSo finally, excess was none\nOf one nor other, for both were one,\nSo joined were, long to endure,\nBy the empress, who is called nature,\nFor she made her, like to her deceit,\nThat to behold, it was a paradise,\nIn very truth, to all old and young,\nSitting in the hall,\nTo her was born,\nBy succession, the heir of that region,\nAfter her father, by descent of line,\nIf she abides and endures after his fine,\nSince he,\nNo male heir, I can of read,\nShe was also, the book makes mention,\nWere unto years, of discretion,\nAble for age, married to be,\nAnd not withstanding, also, she.\nShe was one of the fairest, a woman of great beauty. None of them, however, had let her youth be spent on clergy. Her desire was set so passionately that in all liberal arts, she was expert and knowledgeable at the best. It was her nature to know what she most desired. Of such a woman, I have never told. At Elycon, she drank from the well, and in her time, there was none comparable. I found in truth none so able to conceive through study and doctrine, and to understand nature's disputes and terminology. She could also find the causes of all things, formed as they were by nature. She spent her time learning, and she knew of the firmament, the true course of the stars, and their movements, predicting what would fall. She was so expert in astronomy, but she mostly worked through necromancy. With exorcisms and conjurations, she used illusions. With her charms, she spoke in various ways, and with rites of diverse sacrifices.\nEncens and rechelys cast into the fire,\nTo show things like to her desire,\nWith goat's horns and milk and blood,\nWhen the moon was equated and stood,\nIn the fifth or sixth house,\nAnd was fortuned with looking gracious,\nTo choose an hour that was convenient,\nAnd fortunate, by enchantment,\nTo make and work various appearances,\nShe knew so well the heavenly influences,\nAnd aspects, both wrathful and glad,\nFor she by them made all things,\nThat pertain to such experiments.\nFor when her lust desired,\nBy her enchantments she could,\nMake the winds to blow,\nTo thunder and lightning and hail and snow,\nAnd freeze also to afflict men with pain,\nAnd suddenly she could make it rain,\nShow what weather she desired to have,\nAnd grieve men with sudden earth quake,\nAnd turn the day unexpectedly to night,\nAnd then at once make the sun bright,\nShow his beams full persisting and shining,\nWith golden horns to banish night's tenebrous reign,\nAnd raise floods with many dreadful wave.\nAnd when she could draw them back,\nEven young trees, to set root and bark anew,\nAnd afterward, make them revert to their kind,\nWith lusty branches, bloom and bud anew.\nAlso in winter, with flowers fresh in hue,\nAwake the earth and tap him in green,\nThat to behold, a joy it was to see,\nWith many colors, showing full diversity,\nAs white and red, green yew and persimmon,\nThe day's eye, with its rich crown,\nAnd other flowers, that winter made frown,\nUpon their stalks, freshly to appear,\nAnd suddenly, with a deadly mien,\nShe could summer into winter turn,\nCausing the day to dim with mists for to mourn,\nAnd old men, she could make young,\nAnd again, or any here was sprouting,\nShe could teach them, both in head and beard,\nFull hoary and gray, in craft she led them.\nAnd trees with fruit, she could also make bear,\nOf rind and leaf, to make men stare.\nHide the moon, and the bright sun,\nOr naturally, they would have run their course,\nTo them approaching, which they may not pass.\nFor if that Titan, with his course by kind,\nTransverses under cloaked line,\nThe eclipse does not follow, as authors define,\nSo that there be, by their description,\nFull conjunction of both,\nAnd the sun, with his beams read,\nHas his dwelling in the dragon's head,\nAnd the moon be set also in the tail,\nAs by nature then it may not fail,\nThat there must fall, eclipses of necessity,\nIn various books, as you may read,\nBecause of certain,\nIntersections of various clerks, and revolutions,\nThat made be, in the heaven a loft,\nWhich cause us, for to fail often,\nOf the fresh, comfortable streams,\nThat shade us from Phoebus beams,\nFor the moon has made division,\nBy this sudden, interposition,\nThat of our sight, the streams visual,\nMay not behold, nor I see at all,\nNor to our lust, fully comprehend,\nHow Apollo, in his chariot,\nIs carrying on, as we were accustomed to see,\nBut of all this, the great Thoth,\nKing of Egypt, tells the great causes why.\nWithin his book, comprehensively treating of eclipses and conjunctions, and why they occur through natural motion. But of Medea, this clerk asserts, to increase her name on every side, lest in his fables such things be told. Though he of poets was the source and wellspring, yet I beseech you not to give credence to such feigning or commit such a high offense. Since nature, which is so high a queen, should have no power to deny, I warn you plainly. Such things are cursed, superstitious, to do or work against nature.\n\nFor God Almighty, Judge of Judges all,\nHas set a law among planets perpetually to endure,\nWhich may not, as clerks may wish, be terminated\nOn any side, bow, or decline,\nBut as they were from discord or debate.\nEternally formed and created, through the finger of his wisdom, they are always moved in their intelligence, like as they are to his lordship bound. For never yet was an eclipse found, the moon not being in conjunction, as I have told, save in the passion. The which eclipse was against nature's kind. When God's son starved upon the cross, the son of life was darkened for our good. When heaven and earth with high conjunction have shown signs of lamentation, the earth's creatures turned their light to darkness, and dead bodies upward began to dress themselves from their tombs, again from death to live. Stone and rock, a wonder, gave way. In the temple, the veil was cut in two, and many signs were shown, wonderful and merciless. The great worthy Dionysius, who at Athens, as clerks of him write, was called Ariopagite. When he saw this noble and famous cleric, the bright day suddenly became so dark. Though he was apathetic in those days.\nAnd was infected with the right, of their laws,\nAs he who was most chief and principal\nOf philosophers, to reckon all.\nYet that time, astonied in his mind,\nSaid plainly, other than the god of kind,\nSuffers death, or doubtless,\nThis round world, which is so large about,\nShall be dissolved and brought to naught,\nBy sudden change, hasty as a thought.\nBy this clergy, he knew no better skill,\nFor God may, all change at His will,\nAnd has power of such coercion,\nUnder whose might and disposition,\nIs law of kind, constrained to say,\nFrom point to point, lowly to obey,\nIn every thing, that Him it please to order,\nOf elements, He may the course restrain,\nAs holy writ, witnesseth, you may see,\nHow at the request of worthy Iosue,\nThe bright sun, stood at Gibeon,\nA day's space, in one degree and shone,\nShowing his token, to his true knight,\nFinally, for to give him light,\nThat he might, by his high prowess,\nHis cruel foe, manfully oppress,\nWhen that he fought, this knight, this Iosue.\nWith five kings reigning in Amorree,\nThe pursuit and chase lasted so long,\nUntil they were taken and imprisoned for their trespasses,\nSentenced to death, as the Bible can tell.\nNow since God, in His high pleasure,\nFulfills the knight's request and prayer,\nWhat wonder then, in the passion\nOf Christ Jesus, incarnate for our sake,\nThe sun dims, though they grow dark,\nSince He holds dominion over all planets,\nAnd as He wills, it must fall,\nFor of Medea, Ovidius\nIn his fables recounts and writes thus,\nAs one who desires her name to be exalted.\nYet from the truth, for a while, he alters,\nAll the while she was a passing sorceress and the foremost name\nOf any minstrel.\nAnd how she came to meet, you shall hear,\nWhen her father had sent her forth,\nShe came immediately, at his command,\nBut before she came, I find that beforehand,\nTo make her beauty seem more,\nIn her closet, she took her finest attire,\nTo increase all that she could possibly be.\nNature's work with royal apparel.\nFor this woman willingly shall not fail,\nWho have abundant beauty and generous bounty,\nTo adorn themselves, they do their business,\nWith rich attire upon every side,\nI fear not, they can hide and conceal,\nAll the foul shall be covered and concealed,\nSo no flaw is seen outside.\n\nBut she was both fair and well-proven,\nAnd in her port, so womanly assured,\nHer coming gladens all the hall,\nFor it was joy to one and all,\nTo see the manner, though of her entrance,\nTo whom her father bade to take her sight,\nBeside Jason, him to entertain,\nOf womanhood and to comfort.\n\nBut alas, here lacked high prudence,\nDiscrete judgment, of inward providence,\nWisdom also, with peril cast before,\nTo trust a maid, of tender years born,\nOf unhappy, wanton disposition.\n\nFor this king, of his gentleness,\nHas commanded, to his confusion,\nTo his dishonor and destruction,\nHis own daughter, born to be his heir,\nWho was also fair and beautiful,\nSo suddenly descending.\nConsidered that is the cause of the end. Alas, why did he trust her with his affections, making her his seat of courtesy? There, she might by chance lightly catch or have occasion to do harm. Why doesn't he listen or take heed, nor avert in his discretion? Wisely, he should have cast caution before him in his reasoning. The unexpected change that is in womanhood, which every wise man ought to fear. For who was ever so mad or foolish that could rightly keep his good, giving faith or hasty credence to any woman without experience? In them there is neither trust nor certainty. They are so double and full of deceitfulness that it is hard for them to assure. For to them it belongs by nature from their birth to have alliance with deceitfulness and variation. Their hearts are so free and unstable, especially in youth, that clerks who write about them lament. All this I am sorry to write. They say that change and mutability are in womanhood.\nA proposition for women:\n\nThis is affirmed of them who were full sage, and specifically while they are tender of age, in their growing, and when they are young. Whose heart accordeth seldom with her tongue. For if the truth, inwardly sought, with the surplus and remnant of their thought, men may there find the true patron, of inconstancy, whose fluctuating nature is to and fro moving as a wind. That Hercules was not strong enough to bind, nor Samson so, as I believe, women's heart to make it remain. For as the blaze, the whirlpool of fire, so they flee to and fro in their desire till they accomplish it fully. For as matter, by natural appetite, kindly desires after form, till he performs his course by process, so this woman can refrain them not. They will not cease till all is tried. But would that matter, as matter is paid, be content with one form. When of his bounds, he has the term ended.\nAnd yet I do not wish to proceed further, but still await and will it not exceed, that by example all women would\nRest in one as they should\nAnd hold them paid and still their abide\nBut uncertain fortuning does them often slide\nFor they are not content with unity\nThey pursue always for plurality\nSo of nature to moving they are wed\nAlthough among them by signs outward shown\nThey pretend a manner of stability\nBut under that is hid the duplicity\nOf secretly that outwardly at the eye\nFull hard it is the treason to espie\nUnder curtain and veil of honesty\nIs closed change and mutability\nFor their desire is kept full close in mew\nAnd thing they had least for to sew\nOnly outward for to have a lord\nThey can decline with feigning and with fraud.\n\nTherefore Cetes, your wit was to bar the way,\nThat you before by prudence had not said,\nWhat should follow of this unhappy case,\nWhy were you bold for to suffer, alas,\nYour own daughter so fair and fresh of hue.\nWith strange gestures entered, she foolishly let her deal\nThrough your honor, what was lost in haste, and she to misfortune\nBrought to a strange land, with sorrow and much thought\nWhere she, to great scandal, was left all alone\nYou might well complain and make a show of sorrow\nAlas, the while, if your prudent sight\nHad grace to remember a right course\nAnd to have cast off, by discreet pursuit\nAnd weighed wisely, by measure on the balance\nThe fraud of women and the frailty\nIn whom seldom is any sincerity\nAs Guydo expresses in his Latin\nTherefore, Cetes, of recklessness\nYou have at once, in the increase of your woe\nWithout recourse, both forsake\nFirst your treasure and your dear daughter\nWho was so passing entering\nAnd also your heir, for when she was gone\nAs my Author says, there was none after your day\nTo occupy your royal scepter or your land.\nBut what was worth the great providence\nThe waker keeping or busy diligence\nOf mighty Mars, that god is of battle,\nWhat might it help, differ or avail\nAgainst the wit of woman or the sleight,\nWhose frauds are of such huge weight,\nThat as they please, the game goes on,\nTheir purpose holds, who so be live or loathe,\nThey are sly, so prudent and so wise,\nFor as this story plainly shows,\nThis Medea, by her engine and craft,\nFrom her father, his treasure hath robbed,\nThrough the working of her sly guile,\nAs you shall hear, within a little while,\nFor as she sat, at meat in that time,\nNext to her father and Jason by her side,\nSuddenly, her fresh rose hue\nFrequently changed and renewed,\nA hundred times in a little space,\nFor now the blood, from her goodly face,\nUnusually began to pale,\nAnd therewithal, she became dead and pale,\nAnd ever among, to renew her color.\nThe rose was meant with the lily, and though the rose had some delicate pace, yet the lily abided in its place until nature made them meet. And thus with cold and sudden heat, Medea was assailed and passionately troubled and travailed. For now she burned and now she began to grow cold, and the more she beheld this young Jason, the more she desired to look upon him. With his beauty and seemliness, she was set aflame. Every thing she saw, both in mind and thought, she impressed and forgot nothing. For she considered every circumstance, both of his demeanor and governance. His sons, crisp like gold, were before her, his knightly look and manly cheer, his countenance with many noble signs, his face also most gracious and benign. Most acceptable to her pleasure, for as she thought, it was sufficient for her alone to consider and look upon his person.\nIn that time, without any fear,\nShe took but little heed of food or drink,\nFor she had lost her appetite for food,\nTo look upon him brought her great delight,\nHe was so imprinted in her memory,\nLove had caught her so newly in a trance,\nAnd I observed, with his fury burning,\nThat she might not escape from his grasp,\nNor evade his stroke, in particular,\nFor she was old, body and soul,\nDirectly to Iason she turned,\nAnd kept her gaze upon him constantly,\nUntil she found an opportune moment,\nBut of wisdom she would not continue,\nLest men suspect her,\nBut as was the custom of women,\nShe kept herself close and secret,\nAnd by her face, no man could see\nWhat she intended, by any means,\nShe put them all out of suspicion,\nFor there were no outward signs visible.\nShe feigned rather, that men should think\nThe reason for her abstinence and silence\nWas only due to womanly shame and chaste fear.\nThat together in her heart were the two,\nThe which way these maids allowed,\nFrom food and drink, as it seemed,\nThus wisely she judged them,\nAnd so to cast in their open faces,\nAnd thus she blended them by discretion,\nFor her cheer could every thing excuse,\nShe gave no heed, fools for to muse.\n\nNo cheer unbridled, at that time her asterity,\nFor there was one enclosed in her heart,\nAnd another in her cheer declared,\nFor maidens have often spared,\nTo show out that they desire indeed,\nAs it falls, who so can take heed,\nThat while they flourish in virginity,\nAnd for youth have no liberty,\nTo specify that their heart would,\nThey keep them close, for they are not bold,\nTo show out the same, of their sentence,\nAnd thus Medea keeping always silence,\nNo word let pass by her lips,\nBut craftily, what she meant,\nShe showed with her eye,\nSo secretly that no man could spy,\nThe hot fire in her breast awoke,\nAnd in herself, right thus she began to speak.\nAs she is this fair and comedy man,\nSo much I would have God make him my knight,\nWhose face in sight appears so pleasant and agreeable to me,\nAssuredly he would be my knight,\nWho is most pleasing and delightful to me,\nWith a beard that springs, shining like gold,\nWell-proportioned and well-built,\nLiking me in every way so well,\nBy the will of fortune and her wheel,\nHe would stand in his grace,\nFor to me, upon his knightly face,\nIt is a heaven to behold,\nYet my heart feels cold,\nAnd yet truly it may be none other way,\nAlas, why has he not looked upon me,\nOr at least known my intentions,\nHow much truth I bore him,\nAlas, he takes no heed of it at all,\nAll for him I burn as does the gladness,\nAnd to be dead, I dare not disclose,\nAlas, my pitiful and woeful adventure,\nIs too sorrowful and my mortal pain,\nSo to be murdered, and dare I not complain,\nTo friend or foe, of my chance, alas.\nTo find help or succor in this case, and truly, yet as I shall devise, I mean nothing but in honest ways, like it shall openly be found. For I desire to be joined and bound with him in wedlock, and never from him twinned. For my meaning is without sin, grounded and set upon all cleanliness, without fraud or any doubtfulness. So clean and pure is my intention. Look at the manner and condition of these women who can so well feign, and show one, though they think two, and cover it up so craftily that nothing is said. With humble cheer and a playing face, they enclose their lusts by such subtlety, under the bounds of all honesty. Of their intent, though the treachery, with all the surplus, is under jurisdiction, and though they faithfully pretend and can their fraud wittily defeat, and flatter only the world to blend, with doubtfulness enclosed in the end. Yet always deceit is beneath the surface, under the sugar of feigned clean intent. As it were, sincere, in very existence.\nBut trust me well, all is but an appearance.\nThey can show one and another,\nWhose blue is lightly dyed into green,\nFor under flowers painted, of stability,\nThe serpent dares, of newfangleness,\nSo plain they seem, with words fairly closed,\nBut underneath, their covert wiles closed,\nFor what thing are most of their pay,\nThey will deny, and rather they swear nay.\nThis resembles Guyon, of women for ending,\nAlas, why would he, so cursedly write,\nAgainst them, or with them debate,\nI am right sorry, in English to translate,\nReprieve of them, or any evil to see,\nLeaver me were, for their love to die,\nWhy therefore I pray them, to take patience,\nMy purpose is not them to offend,\nThey are so good, and perfect each one,\nTo reckon all, I believe there be not one,\nBut that they be, in will and heart true,\nFor though among them, they choose the new loves,\nWho considers, they are nothing to blame,\nFor oftentime, they see men do the same,\nThey must them persuade, who refuse me.\nAnd if I could, I would excuse them\nIt doesn't suit a woman to live alone\nIt's not enough, but they have more than one\nPraying to them for grace to me\nFor as I hope to them, there's no distance\nThough my making be the same in all\nAs Guydo writes in his original\nWhere he missays, let him bear the weight\nFor it sits well that the vengeance bite\nOn him who has offended these women\nAnd if I might, it should be amended\nHe should receive duely his penance\nFor if he died without repentance\nI am disappointed in his salvation\nHow he could ever have remission\nBut he were contrite, his sin to redress\nIt may not be as clerks bear witness.\nAnd by my truth, and he were alive\nI mean Guydo, and I would confess\nSo bitter penance, plainly he should have\nThat to the time that he were pardoned\nHe should remember and plainly not start\nFor to repent him with all his whole heart\nThat he spoke so, to his confusion\nI will no longer make digression\nFrom my matter, but let Guydo be.\nAnd tell of Medea,\nWho had permission from her father,\nAnd to her chamber I came alone,\nWhen Jason and Hercules\nHad been conveyed to their chambers,\nRoyally arrayed after their meal,\nAnd every wall was covered in certain gold,\nIn a stately manner,\nIn this time, as you have heard,\nMedea went to her chamber,\nComplaining continually,\nShe gave birth to her pains,\nHer heart so deeply wounded by love,\nNot likely to be quickly calmed,\nFor in Southernness, the god Cupid,\nFuryous, had kindled such a fire in her side,\nIt was never likely to let up,\nSo violent and fierce was the heat,\nThat her pain continued to increase more and more,\nIn her breast, there was a great debate,\nA strong battle,\nEach one assailing the other so fiercely.\nAnd this contest, in earnest and in game,\nBrought love and shame together, unstewn,\nAll by the field was not parted even,\nFor love, in truth, was full of high renown,\nBold and hardy, like a fierce lion,\nNot fearful of spear, sword, nor knife,\nBut hot and hasty, to defend his life,\nEke surly, stout, and full of pride,\nChief champion, of the god Cupid,\nWho causes oft both fear and delight,\nFull many peril, for to take in hand,\nAnd caused the death of many a man,\nAnd made their wounds largely to bleed,\nFor of peril, love takes no heed,\nTo get him honor, by excellence of fame,\nBut in contrary, his enemy called shame,\nLike a coward, faint and heartless,\nAs he who never dares put himself in pres,\nFor lack of manhood, draws him ever a blank,\nHe is so dreadful, and fearful of the wrake,\nLike a child, young, and tender of age,\nFor he has neither heart nor courage,\nFor to assail, he is so feeble of might.\nAnd yet frequently he has stood in the sight\nOf many lovers, to let him proceed\nThrough false accusations of his brother's fear\nFor fear and shame, when they are allied\nOf one accord, have pitifully denied\nTo love, heart and courage\nThat he durst not express\nA word, for when love of manhood would speak\nThe wood fire from his breast to unleash\nUpon the point, when he should attempt\nComes shame immediately and utterly denies\nAnd causes love's horns to shrink\nTo abash his face and pitifully wink\nCowardly his cause to appear\nAnd thus is shame forward and contrary\nThrough the help of fear, lovers to fear\nFor certainly, if shame were not\nAs it is wont, both near and far\nLove in its laws often errs\nAnd wanders from honesty's chain\nOf his bonds, the bride breaks and reigns\nJust as a horse out of the traces at large\nFor little or nothing, lovers would charge\nTo follow their will and their lust to sow\nBut while shame remains within his breast,\nHidden from outward show, love keeps him low.\nFor shame, as clerks have written,\nDangers are banished, all strangeness and feigned disdain.\nHidden from assault, the castle was mine.\nIt was unnecessary, no siege to be laid.\nFor in such cases, long treaties are in vain.\nNature abhors such processes.\nBut now, alas, fear and shamefastness\nHave daunted love in a humble, lowly manner.\nAnd they have also, by their violence,\nSilenced him, despite his manhood.\nThey have been the cause of his great mourning,\nAmidst this same twine of love and shame.\nMedea stood there, in great disarray,\nUnable to endure the pain.\nSo hot she burned, this woeful creature,\nBetween both, I mean, love and shame.\nFor when love would anything claim\nOf his desires to declare outright,\nShame came at once and put him in doubt,\nAnd fear was ready his lust to deny.\nAnd thus she stood in Iupardye,\nBetween love and shame, in a trance,\nUnevenly hung in balance,\nFor shame was great, and love yet more,\nAs she well knew by her sighs sore,\nAnd by her stormy, cruel adventure.\nFor fear and shame durst not disclose\nThe fire that love hath within her breast enclosed,\nWhich was full hard for to be deposed.\nAnd thus she hung, even at wixe two,\nThat she knew not what was best to do,\nTill that fortune with her double face\nUnhappily had wrought to gain her grace,\nWith the whirling of her wheel about,\nThat causes wretches full low to lout.\nWhen they best believe to sit high aloft,\nBy experience, as men may see oft,\nBy her gery revolution,\nFor this lady of transmutation,\nFull oft time, false and full unstable,\nEnhances things to fools full grievable.\nWhiche, in the end,\nCan understand sugar, shrouding poison,\nFor ever-changing Fortune, as her manner is,\nReveals herself to wretches other than she is,\nWith fair cheer and the face of flattery,\nAs she who can, with a benign eye,\nFully deceive fools,\nThrough whom she sends them into great mischief,\nAt the end, and can no longer escape,\nTo unwary harm that at her tail does sew,\nJust as it fell long ago with Medea,\nGinning and grinding of her adversity.\n\nFor this lady, called Fortune,\nI granted had,\nA more opportune moment,\nTo show Iason,\nHoly in her heart,\nWho made her weep and grieve sorely,\nFor on a day after merry dining,\nWhen Apollo, with his beams shining,\nFrom the southern plain began to move westward fast,\nI sent her father,\nTo Medea, in haste,\nAnd bade her go\nTo Iason and Hercules,\nTo make them cheer, among all the company,\nAnd when she found opportune opportunity,\nTo her desire, and saw also in the place.\nThat her father was most occupied\nAs she who thought not to be seen\nAppearing, his great busyness\nToward Iason, she began to dress\nAnd he, in haste, with a full knightly cheer\nIn courteous way, began to draw near\nToward her, and saw there was no delay\nAnd when they were together met\nThis Medea, with signing first broke off\nAnd to Iason, even thus she spoke:\n\nIason, you of your high nobility,\nOf your manhood and of your gentleness,\nBoth assembled in your person here\nAnd of knighthood, first I require\nIn your concept and openness\nNot to arrogate, to presumption\nTo doubtfulness, nor to inconstancy\nOf womanhood, nor variability\nThat I am bold, and can for nothing spare\nMy meaning clearly to you to declare\n\nWithout further\nBeseeching first, to that I shall say\nWithout more of your goodness\nBenevolently, for to take heed\nAnd patiently to my words listen\nAnd what I say, to take it for the best\nIn your intent, and nothing you to grieve\nFor things two, my heart moves you to say,\nLove and gentleness is what I mean,\nClearly to express to your person,\nAnd nothing to advise or counsel,\nOr we part, like as you shall feel,\nFirstly of courtesy,\nIn truthfastness and of gentility,\nTo strangers every manner of man,\nIs bound and held, of very due right,\nTo make cheer and truly as of me,\nBecause Iason, whom I see in you,\nSo much manhood and such great worthiness,\nI will not be loath, with all my busyness,\nTo help and further, in all that may please you,\nAnd with that word, of heart she began to sigh,\nFor his sake, and said over more,\nFor you I feel, full great annoy and sore,\nThat moved are, without reason,\nOnly of youth and willful hardiness,\nThe flees of gold, to get if you may,\nThe which enterprise, whoever attempts,\nIs more perilous, plainly to achieve,\nIn very truth, than you could easily yield,\nFor doubtless, I do you well assure,\nThe final reward, of this adventure,\nIs not but death, save report of shame.\nFor there you think / to get a name\nThe end plainly / shall turn in contrary\nFor the gynning / so the fine shall vary\nFor wit of man / neither engine nor might\nThough he be never / so expert in fight\nOr have in arms / passing exercise\nWith all the sleights / of old or new empire\nOr though he be / best bred to endure\nOr what device there be / of his armour\nOr what weapon also / that he brings\nHardened with steel / trenchant or persisting\nYet at the last / when he has all sought\nWithout me / it is right may amount to nothing.\n\nTherefore Iason / I have compassion\nOn your youth / of pure affection\nThat of willfulness / you shall thus learn\nThat being of blood and line / so high born\nFor certainly / it may none other be\nBut if that you / take my counsel\nFor none but I may help or ease you\nAlas Iason / why will you not appease\nYour manly courage / in this case yield\nAnd to my counsel / be obedient\nThen I swear / you shall have victory\nBe remembered / and put in memory\nPerpetually, through your knighthood, win\nThe flees of gold, which is yonder within\nIn the isle, that stands here beside,\nOf which Mars is governor and guide.\nTherefore, at once, in your own consent,\nTo my counsel, fully consent.\nAt few words, if you list to speed,\nAnd leave your lust, and work after my rede.\nTo whom Iason answered with full humble cheer,\nMy own lady dear,\nI thank you in all my best wise,\nRight as fit forthence, as I may suffice,\nAnd as my power plainly may attain,\nMy heart's queen and sovereign,\nWhom you may holy I ensure,\nAll the while that my life may endure.\nTrust right well, me list not for to feign,\nTo live or die, at your lust restrain,\nAs him that is, your own true man,\nYou for to obey in all that ever I can,\nWithout change or any doubtlessness,\nWhile that I live, in very truthfastness,\nThat you list, of true affection,\nUpon my life, to have compassion,\nOf gentleness, and that you list to have,\nSuch cheer, my body for to save.\nI am bound to be your knight, in good faith,\nTo the end, and especially by your grace,\nIf you ask for counsel, I have never before,\nIn any degree, served your household,\nWith words full of goodness, your own man,\nRecomforts me, a thousandfold more pleasant,\nI have never before, no merit gained,\nNo desert, request, or prayer obtained,\nBut freely, with heartfelt enterprise,\nUnrequired, I weep and am so true,\nI assure you, by my faith, as fast,\nIn your service, I shall unto the last,\nParsley truly, without sloth or variance,\nAnd here is my truth.\nFinally, without hesitation,\nI speak right as I mean.\nI did not wish to flatter or deceive,\nFor my best interest, with death I shall conclude,\nWhen Parcas threatens to rend my life's thread,\nThis all and some, and thus I make an end.\nThou should wisely consider and be aware\nOf the adventure that you take in hand,\nAnd prudently understand the peril,\nAnd carefully cast and keep in mind\nThe mortal harm at the tale behind,\nWhich is much more than is credible,\nFor leave me well, it is an impossible task,\nTo begin in honor and also to end,\nFor those flee by high divine power,\nPreserved is he, and also with Mars' might,\nWhoever enters, therefore, to fight,\nIt would be hard for him to escape,\nThe fiery flame when the bullets gap,\nThat are of brass, trapped all in lead,\nMore to fear than lightning from heaven,\nBefore the dent of the great thunder,\nWhich has severed many a tour asunder,\nFor to ashes they must a man consume,\nWherefore I advise that you not presume,\nThe Ram to assail, lest you lose your labor,\nWithdraw your foot, yet still you may choose,\nBy good advice and discretion,\nYour honor safe and your high renown,\nWherever you list, of your willfulness.\nOnly of folly and of hastiness,\nTo this enterprise, proceed with heed,\nOr as you please, as I have advised,\nSave yourself from woe and all mischance,\nLikewise you shall, if to my ordinance,\nYou commit yourself and lowly lyst obey,\nWithout fraud, there is no more to say.\nAnd Jason, sitting at the table,\nOf Medea, imprinting every word,\nGrew for ire, almost unpacific,\nAnd said, \"Alas, and is this your intent,\nTo counsel me to leave this enterprise?\nCertes, it were to foul a cowardice,\nTo begin a thing I might not choose,\nFor every man would me reprove,\nAnd report to my confusion,\nThat I, of pride and presumption,\nTook on me, when I was at my large,\nSo high a thing and so great a charge,\nThat I durst not, for fear of mischance,\nAccomplish it, when it came to the preference,\nLeaver me were my own lady there,\nFor to divide and to put in were,\nMyself at once, and at words few,\nOn small pieces, to be all to hew,\nThan I should cowardly, forsake\nThis enterprise that I have undertaken.\nAs you well know, and let it be plainly in this case,\nWhatever happens or falls to me,\nTrust right well, it shall be none other,\nFor if I, of my coward heart,\nShould now depart from my purpose,\nMy life I would lead, and shame eternal would be my reward,\nThroughout the world, noted above all,\nIn every land, spoken of in particular,\nThat Jason has so highly undertaken,\nThat he, for fear, dares not make an end,\nThink right well, that it shall not betide,\nFor life or death, what mischief I endure,\nAnd upon that, my truth I assure you,\nAs surely as my life may endure,\nI shall perform that which I have begun,\nAnd though it may not be won,\nBut that I must with my death it be,\nI will not leave, for rather I have to die,\nThan live ashamed of cowardice and sloth,\nFor it seems to me, it is too high a price,\nA man to appear, or dare to show his head,\nWhen he has dishonored his honor,\nAfter time, when his name is slain.\nFor everyone should be rather fond\nOf dying in honor than living as a wretch\nAnd though this thing to my death stretches\nIt is welcome, I shall it well abide\nThis and such is what may befall me\nThen said she, indeed it is so\nThat you always desire to have a hand\nThere is no more, by anything I can see\nBut you had rather shortly for to die\nRather than live and have a shame\nAnd yet it is an earnest and no game\nWith such monsters unwarily to deal\nLike in deed, thereafter you shall feel\nWherefore, I am moved by pity\nAnd greatly stirred that you of your own free will\nWithout advice or discretion\nCounsel or good deliberation\nListed take on you this marvelous voyage\nFor your youth and also your courage\nGoverned are you as in this matter\nBoth of you, imparted are you, if you bear your purpose\nFor impossible is it to you to escape\nA sudden death for neither free nor bound\nBy craft of man has power to withstand.\nTherefore I think, from heart and good intent.\nTo cast away, or you be sent\nAnd to your turn, shape a remedy\nSuch route I have, that you should die\nFor my father, whom I love most\nRather than you should, thus be lost\nI shall offend, and utterly displease\nMy friends all, so it may do you ease\nFor I shall find, such amenable way\nAt the least, that you shall not die\nFor in this case, I think be your guide\nSo that for you, I shall set aside\nMy birth first, of the stock royal\nAnd over more, my heritage withal\nAnd my honor, shall be put back\nYou, to help, that there shall be no lack\nFound in me, so you will be kind\nAnd that you list, for to have in mind\nAs I discern, goodly me to quit\nConsidering first, that it is not apt\nTo save your life, that stands in jeopardy\nBut for all this, I shall it so ordain\nThrough my craft, only at twain's expense\nThat or we part, I hope all shall be well\nUpon this point, so that I may feel\nFaithfully, for joy, woe, or sorrow\nWith full accord of body and heart,\nTo my desire, I undertake to make a good end.\nThis truly lady said, Iason, though,\nI am assented, without further words,\nTo fulfill, with every circumstance,\nWhatever may be pleasing to you.\nThen she said, there is no more to say,\nBut first, of all, with faith and heart plain,\nWith all your might, and your best care,\nAnd measuring it out, that you prepare,\nThat you hereafter shall take me to wife,\nTo hold and keep, after all your life,\nSo that your deed accord with your heart's desire,\nThis is the fine and sum of my request,\nExcept only, that you shall ordain,\nIn your repair, to your father's reign,\nThat faithfully you shall me with you lead,\nAnd after that, when you succeed,\nAfter his day, into your heritage,\nWith heart ever one, and with one heart,\nYou shall to me be like true,\nAnd cherish me for change of any new,\nLike my estate, without variation,\nAnd while you live, have in remembrance\nMy kindness in your great need.\nFor there is no one alive,\nThat may confront the forces of the dragon and bulls both in fear,\nBut if it be of me that he learns,\nThe holy manner, how he shall go,\nLikewise to you, I think I specify,\nWhen it happens that we meet again,\nFor none but I can help certain,\nIn this case, as plainly you shall find,\nAnd I do not ask, but that you be kind.\nSouthly said Jason, all this shall be done,\nAs you decree, I will that it be so,\nAnd here I pledge, there on I assure you,\nO goodliest, of any creature,\nThat ever yet I saw unto my pay,\nAnd fairest also, in truth it is no denial,\nAnd of bounty, you are incomparable,\nFor of my death, you are so merciful,\nThat while I live, I say to you by my faith,\nMy heart means as my tongue,\nI will be found your own true man,\nFor life or death, in all that I can,\nSo that of grace, it be pleasing to you,\nTo perform your commands and grants,\nAnd work fully, to my salvation.\nAs you have said, in full conclusion,\nFor truly, you of all who bear life,\nHave a privilege, passing everyone,\nI do not wish to argue among flowers,\nAs the red rose, which in summer,\nAmidst the sweet leaves, has made,\nAfter it has withered,\nThe humidity, kindly to ascend,\nThe barren soil, to clothe and mend,\nAnd the branches, which winter made bare,\nWith sweet blossoms, freshly to repair,\nAnd the meadows, of many various hues,\nTempted have been, with diverse new flowers,\nOf various motley, most lovely to see,\nAnd wholesome balm, is shaded among you green.\n\nJust as the rose is fairest of all,\nSo nature set you alone,\nWhen she first made you, at her pleasure,\nAbove all others, to be prized.\nAs you who are, of bounty springing and welling,\nIn beauty, truly you excel,\nAll that live, for any comparison,\nNone may be made, and of discretion,\nYou pass all, as every man may see,\nAnd with all this, I find you unto me,\nThe most goodly that ever was born.\nI. Without you, I would be completely helpless and destitute. You have refuted all of Fredo's advances towards me. From you, I am fully bound, extending as far as my life reaches. For your sake, I would not even reject death. If I could agree with you, I would gladly see your help. If I negligently refused anything you desired, I would be marked as unreasonable and noted for wilful nicety. So foolishly, I would forfeit my grace. It would be a man's folly to chase away fortune when she is benevolent. Therefore, I wholeheartedly surrender my life and death to you. With all the others that I have sworn, I will persevere until my ending day. You are my true spouse, as I have said and sworn. And you have plainly commanded here before me. Obey all that pleases you until the time of my death. This and more, what should I longer tarry for?\nFrom this I swear / I shall never vary.\nAnd when she saw / his great steadfastness\nShe was / with great joy openly in her heart\nThat she was void / of every woe and pain\nFor he so humbly / to her lust obeyed\nAnd before she went / thus to him she said:\nIason said she / then I shall arrange\nA pleasant way / that we both may return\nSoon for to partake / of lighter fare\nTo perform / all that is to be done\nIn this matter / like to our intent\nWhere shall be made / a final sacrament\nOf our desire / that no man shall undo\nThough now thereto / we may no sooner find\nTowards Eve / it shall not escape me\nTrust me right well / a time for to prepare\nSecretly / that we may meet again\nFor I shall send / a private chamberlain\nTo you of mine / whom you shall convey\nUnto my chamber / by a private way\nA certain hour / without any delay\nTo our intent / that may be most agreeable\nUpon the point / when Phoebus with his light\nI westering is / and also the dark night\nHas with the darkness / of his shadowy black.\nOur empirical belief is that fortune often grants the opportunity to lovers, to fulfill and achieve their desires as they approach. I shall send to you, for our leisure, every thing necessary, so that each of us may speak with the other and declare our intentions. When we have spoken our fill, by leisure we promise to set a time, at which ever one may choose to attend. Always by night, when the day has passed. Mighty Jove, as wisely may He support me, from this point on I will be faithfully yours, as long as I live, waking and sleeping. To whom Josan humbly inclined himself and said, as far as one can imagine or any one can clearly comprehend, I will be yours to the end of my life. As a servant, I faithfully pledge myself, and though I can only say little, my true heart will never falter.\nAnd though I cannot paint nor comprehend\nMy sovereign queen's heart's procession until I am dead.\n Truly, I shall mean this:\nKeep my truth here while I have life and limb.\nIn the end, truly, you shall find.\nAnd for their speech and conclusion, they make this:\nMedea intends to take her leave\nFirst from her father, then from Hercules,\nAnd lingers not but forthwith goes\nTo her chamber, in haste she is gone.\nUp and down, she makes many a turn\nNone of her maidens knowing what she means\nCasting ways, her purpose to achieve\nAnd in her thoughts, she moves quickly\nAs she roams, in her dwelling\nOn any side, if there is obstacle\nOr any hindrance, which would grieve her greatly\nThis was her study, until it came to an end\nWhere I leave her, complaining in her sorrow\nWith many a thought, walking to and fro.\nThe midday hour has passed and slipped away\nTitan rides so fast, he has me in his chariot\nThe day's arc, from east to west, has been completed.\nHis fiery steeds had almost passed\nOur horizon and drew down full low\nHis golden way, which no man might know\nWhere he hid his fiery beams bright\nIn his descent, far out of our sight.\n\nAnd hear the evening begin to darken\nIn the twilight when the day began to fade\nAnd Evening with her streams glad\nThat are so fresh, so lusty and so merry\nBegan to comfort all our embitterment.\n\nWhen Medea, by herself alone,\nOf high desire began to make her mourning\nThat she so long remained after her knight\nAlways counting the hours of the night\nSo full of trouble and full of thought\nWhich had strictly searched out and sought\nA ready way to her purpose\nAll because she kept it in full secret\nAmidst her heart, quivering in fear\nUntil hope began to calm her\nAnd she should be truly merry and glad\nUntil fear again made her sober and sad\nLest her desire be troubled or hindered\nAnd thus she was set at rest.\nAmydes of hope and fear,\nShe knew not what to do.\nFor her desire and high affection,\nBurned so strongly in her open sight,\nDesire for Jason, she had,\nAnd fear came in at once,\nMade her fearful, lest she be seen,\nBut all her sorrow was helped and healed,\nOnly by fortune and the dark night,\nWhich made her full glad and light,\nFor comfort, only these two,\nAnd with good hope, which made her glad also,\nShe began at once,\nWhen the moon on heaven would rise,\nAnd when she, with her pale horns,\nWould shed her light upon hill and dale,\nShe began to calculate and consider the time,\nAnd found a quarter had passed after prime,\nAnd she, well versed in that art,\nSaw truly that the fourth part\nOf the moon was shaded with new light,\nAnd had passed in her course right,\nAfter the time of conjunction,\nThree signs full by computation,\nAnd completed were seven days of her age.\nAt the time she was burning in her rage,\nAnd through darted with Cupid's arrow,\nBegan to look and behold narrowly,\nAt every door and listened closely,\nIf any wight that she might espie\nOf all the court, either walk or go,\nOr any man roam, to or fro,\nSo she trembled, going up and down,\nWhen she heard any noise or sound,\nOr when she heard why spring any where,\nIt was venom, truly in her ear,\nShe wished all had been a bed,\nThis pitiful feeling, the long night she led,\nWithout respite, though no one could know it,\nUntil high midnight, that the cock crowed,\nAt which time, when all was hustle and still,\nFor to accomplish the remainder of her will,\nAnd every where made was silence,\nShe called at once to her presence,\nAn aged man, far in years gone,\nWho in such craft much help could bring,\nThriftily to bring.\nOf years passed, old experience\nHas given them such passing prudence,\nThat they in love, all the subtleties know.\nAnd she was made like a dog for the bow,\nTo whom Medea attends all her thoughts,\nFrom point to point, and forgets nothing,\nAnd charges her, in release of her pain,\nTo hasten at once upon her way,\nTo her chamber to convene Iason,\nAnd she, without delay, obeys,\nGone for him, a soft and easy passage,\nAs one who was not long since unlearned,\nAnd brings him at once, as you shall hear.\n\nWhen the cock, the astrologer,\nCame at midnight hour, clear-voiced,\nBegan to crow and did his busy work,\nTo beat his breast with his wings twice,\nAnd of the time, a minute would not wait,\nTo warn those in the place\nOf the tides and season of the night,\nMedea to await, ready was\nThe entrance to keep,\nAs one who delighted little in sleeping,\nFor there was no part of her thoughts\nAnd what Iason was, to her chamber brought,\nWithout her espying, of any kind,\nBut she alone conveys him right away.\nInto her closet, in all the haste, she had hidden him\nWith great and rich array, by her side, she made him take a look\nAnd first of all, this very same three lees\nWas suddenly turned to brass\nFor the veil to stare upon the moon\nIs walked out and has left them alone\nAnd when Medea had shut the doors\nDown by Iason, she sat\nBut first, I find, with all her might\nAbout the chamber, she set it alight\nWith great torches and cypresses full of ryal\nAbout on pillars and on every wall\nWhich gave light, like the sun's sheen\nAnd to a chest, wrought of crystal clean\nFirst of all, she takes her passage\nOut of which, she took an ardent image\nOf pure gold, lusty to behold\nThat by custom, of the old rites,\nTo mighty Jove, eternal and creator,\nWas hallowed and consecrated\nThis image, she devoted\nWith humble heart, to Iason first, she brought.\nAnd made him take an oath thereon, to his last, either for life or otherwise,\nThat he should take her, as his wife, from that day forth, during all his life.\nWith an unfaked heart and unwavering faith,\nAnd cherish her, as she was, in her estate.\nFrom that time on, I find that she had always flourished in virginity.\nAnd as my Author relates, she had kept herself clean,\nIn thought and deed, and never did amiss.\nFor she, with a heart so holy given,\nWas entirely devoted to Jason, and that forevermore.\nHe took her hand and swore fully, as you have heard me say,\nTo grant all her requests without further delay.\nTo keep them, while his life may last.\nBut alas, how soon he cast aside\nHis pledge, his faith, with which he was assured,\nAnd had his deceit, with flattery allured.\nSo cunningly that her innocence,\nHer true meaning, and her diligence,\nAnd all that she could devise,\nWere deceived by this man's falsehood.\nAnd though the truth was apparent above,\nDoubtfulness was so subtly in show,\nAs though he had truly been allied,\nWith true meaning, and so nothing espied,\nUnder fair cheer, fawning and false,\nWhat might she, a woman, in this case,\nDo more than for thy sake, except and regally,\nAnd all the lords, alike, forsook at once,\nAnd of pity, and of very goodlychede,\nLost her friends and her good fame,\nOnly Jason, to save from shame,\nAnd yet moreover, forsook her heritage,\nShe that was born of so high parage,\nAnd should have been, by succession,\nHeir by dissent of that Region,\nBut womanly, for she would have her quit,\nOf all yifere, she set not amity,\nBut at one hour, all she hath forsaken,\nAnd unto thee, she hath her holy taken,\nOnly for trust, thou shouldst have been kind,\nRiches and honor, I have left behind,\nAnd choose in exile, with thee to go,\nFrom all her kind, this celestial maid alone.\nAlas, I weep, for thine unkindness,\nWhat hath she not, from death and from distress.\nPreserved thee, and yet thou tookest no heed,\nWho should have died, or had she been thy rede,\nOf thy conquest, she was the very cause,\nThat I may not, shortly in a clause,\nWrite her bounty, nor briefly comprehend,\nEffectually performed to the end,\nAt words few, it may not be told,\nThrough whom thou hast, the rich f,\nManly conquered, which without doubt,\nUnlawfully was, that to bring about,\nFor when thou were in helplessness,\nShe was thy comfort, and singular refute,\nAnd with all this, thou mayst not deny,\nAll earthly honor, how she defied thee,\nTo conserve, out of heaviness,\nHer father, she hath,\nSo emperysshed, that pity is to hear,\nBy example, of which women might learn,\nHow they should trust, on any man,\nAlas, Medea, who so much can,\nBoth of stars, and of astronomy,\nYet saw she not, afore her destiny,\nLove hath her put, so out of control,\nThat all her craft, could not master her.\nShe was too slow, by calculation,\nTo cast before the constellation.\nOf her birth / and her unfortunate fate,\nShe saw it all / for too long, too late.\nBut I suppose her conscience was fallible,\nFor doubtless, to me it seems / not credible,\nThat if she had known it before,\nShe would not have been lured\nAs you shall see hereafter hastily,\nSo that the story recounts / by and by,\nHow it happened / of Jason and Medea.\nBut first, you shall see the order and manner,\nHow she acted / after he was sworn,\nThe same night / alas, she held back,\nHer maidenhead / and it was great pity,\nAnd yet she meant / nothing but honesty,\nAs I suppose / she went to be his wife.\nBut touching / that I hold as no dispute,\nAnd yet one thing / I dare affirm and maintain,\nThe meaning / of this same pair,\nWas not one / but wonder between them.\nFor all that she / truly meant kindness,\nOf honest thinking / no outrage,\nLike a maid / innocent in age,\nHe sought to fulfill / his fleshly false desire,\nAnd to perform / his foul desire,\nShe did every thing / to counteract his intent,\nAlas that she was / so debonair.\nFor trusting on his courtesy or quitting her of her gentility, so hastily to rewe on his sincerity, but women are of so tender heart, they will gladly, out of ruth and pity, when a man is in adversity, save his life rather than he should die. And so, Medea, shortly, I say, casting no peril after that shall fall, his desires and his lusts all holy obey with all her full might, and that so long, almost that the night has his course round about, at which time to her spoke Iason, and lowly said, my lady, it is time that we arise, for soon it will be prime. You may see well, the day begins to spring. For we may hear here how the birds sing, praying to you in all my best wise, how I shall work that you list devise, and earnestly every thing dispose. I beseech you, my fair rose, my enterprise to bring to an end, and then at first, hence will I wind, save that I think first with you to treat, in what way this country you shall let.\nAnd into Greece/ return with me, for it is a land of great felicity. Trust well/ and be nothing afraid, into that reign/ with me I shall lead you, After my conquest/ if it be that I win, Therefore I pray you/ begin graciously, How I shall work/ in all the haste you may, For in good faith/ it will be day soon.\n\nTo whom she spoke/ saying as you shall hear,\nMy own Jason/ more dear to me than myself,\nAs in conclusion/ I am assented,\nWith full affection/ of my wits and all my heart,\nInform you/ how you shall avert\nEvery danger/ of the little isle,\nIf it be your desire/ to abide a while.\n\nAnd up she rose/ in all the haste she may,\nAnd to a chest/ where her treasure lay,\nShe went anon/ and brought him in her hand,\nA rich image/ of silver that she found,\nWhich truly was/ of marvelous entail,\nWhose power was/ and virtue to avail,\nEffectually/ against both intent,\nAgainst all magic/ and enchantment,\nAnd to withstand/ the force of Sorcery.\nFor it was made by astronomy. In hour chosen and equated for the nones by old clerks. Once upon a time, who they were, flourishing in their ages,\nWho made such images, as did the king called Tholomee,\nAnd so to Jason commanded Medea,\nTo bear this image on him privately,\nAs you have heard, to work effectively,\nIn every thing, as she did assign,\nAnd then she took to him at once,\nA rich ointment, made in manner of an ointment,\nTo anoint him with, that he be not burned,\nThat was more rich and precious than balsam,\nAgainst the maladies of every fire and flame,\nAnd after that, she took to him anon,\nA rich ring, wherein was set a stone,\nThat virtue had, all venom to destroy,\nThat on no side it might him not annoy,\nThe which stone, had also this might,\nThat if a man could it bear in his hand,\nNext the skin enclosed,\nThe strength of sight should be deposed,\nOf them that would gaze or behold.\nFor whoever ever, in his hand it holds.\nBy the virtue that was infallible,\nthe story says he should be visible,\nthe which stone, wise clerks call,\nAchates, most virtuous of all,\nAnd it is found, truly in Cecyle,\nOf which stone, whylom wrote Virgil,\nHow that Venus to Aeneas sent,\nFirst when he into Carthage went.\nAnd after this, she took to Iason,\nA certain bill, written like a book,\nThat might much aid,\nAnd wisely bade him not fail,\nIf he cast himself, graciously to speed,\nFirst of all, the scripture that he read,\nOr he the Ram touch in any way,\nHim charging also before this high enterprise,\nWith humble heart and devotion,\nThat he kneeling, say that orison,\nThat up and down was written on the bill,\nPraying the goddesses lowly to fulfill,\nHis request, and mercy for to have,\nOf very pitie, from mischief him to save,\nAnd after that, for his chief succor,\nShe took to him a violl with Lycorus,\nAnd bade him manfully, without fear or dread,\nWhen he comes, unto the bull's rede.\nIf he shapes himself / knightly to escape,\nAs fast as he sees them gaping,\nInto their jaws, casting himself as bait,\nUnless a little of them frighten him,\nFor their joys, together it shall seem,\nThat on no side, they shall not avoid,\nTo buy his lust, in whatever country they're in,\nDoubtless, maugre all their pain,\nHe shall make them so daunted and tame,\nThat wherever he pleases, in earnest and in play,\nHe might make them bow and incline,\nAnd do them bow, both back and chin.\nThe jaws / shall there hold him so firmly,\nThat a single one, they shall not depart,\nTo offend or annoy any one,\nAnd when she had thus / given instruction,\nIn every thing, plain doctrine and information,\nHow he shall escape / the dangers that lie ahead,\nIf he takes heed and works diligently.\nAnd then they agreed / it was for the best,\nTo part / or men from their rest,\nA wakeful one / for it drew towards day,\nAs they well saw / by the morrow gray.\nAnd lest men had suspicion.\nOf high prudence and discretion were Twelfth night and Rodney Morwen. They took their leave, with Saint John the Borough saying, \"Farewell.\" They kissed often, as lovers do. And so he went, and she was left within. In hope to meet again some day. Jason then, as fast as he could, began to prepare his journey to accomplish. Thinking he would soon take his leave. And in what way, within a little while. In the manner of my rude style. My purpose is truly and not to spare.\n\nWhen the rows and the rays red,\nEastward to us full early spread,\nEven at twilight, in the damning,\nWhen the lark of custom begins to sing,\nTo save in her heavenly lay,\nThe lusty goddess of the morning gray,\nI mean Aurora, who before the sun,\nIs accustomed to chase,\nThe darkness of the dim night,\nAnd Phoebus with comfort of his light,\nAnd the brightness of his beams shone.\nHadde we overgilt the high hills green\nAnd flowers also against the morning tide\nUpon their stalks, the leaves widened\nWhen Iason with all his company\nTowards the king swiftly came\nWhoever he found like to his estate\nWith scepter in hand, pompous and elated\nHigh in the sea, seated regally\nSurrounded by his chivalry and lords\nAt that time, this young champion\nUnder a vow standing of the Ram\nWith stern face before the king came\nBeseeching him of his magnanimity\nThe same day to grant him license\nTo arm himself and make no delays\nConcluding plainly that on that day\nHe will in the field be found\nTo achieve, as he was bound\nOf old promise, and not a point decline\nFor life nor death till he performs and finishes\nHoly the ancestors unto the fleas that long endure\nThe king inquiring no longer him prolong\nBut graciously grants the end of his enterprise\nAnd then the king, in full solemn wisdom.\nConsidering the sum of his demand to Jason, he spoke and said, \"He shall command that my request be performed in haste. I am most grievously distressed by your wilfulness. Lest your death be imputed to me, and thereupon blame and reproach be set upon me for withholding your manly youth from such injustice, which would be a great injustice and prejudice to my estate and name. Afterward, men would blame me through false reports and wrong opinions that I did not allow your destruction. Therefore, I advise you, let not my counsel be despised. It is better with honor in certainty to return to your country than wilfully to take hold of a mortal thing that no man can withstand. This is my advice, and it is fully my admonition. Take heed to it, be wise that you are, lest you repent when it is too late. And if it be so that you will relent, hold to your purpose and not do as I advise.\"\nAlmighty Mars, I pray thee to speed\nWhatsoever falls, and I also pray\nTo all the goddesses, safe and sound\nThy body restore, this all and some\nOf me thou gettest no more.\n\nWhen Jason had heard the king,\nNeither dismayed nor in anything,\nIn knightly wise did he show reverence\nHighly thanking his royal excellence\nFor from his grace and benevolence\nUpon his death, he wished to have pity\nFully concluding, touching his battle\nThat neither red nor counsel\nIn any way, his purpose should withdraw\nBut like the statute, plainly and the law\nRight as far forth as fortune will him ever\nWhatsoever be the tide of his adventure\nSetting aside every fear and dread,\nHe plainly said that he would proceed\nTo perform what he had undertaken\nIt were in vain, more skills to make\nOr to allege more thereagainst\nAnd Jason, openly and plainly,\nAt his departing, said to the king\nIn audience of his lords all.\nWhat ever of me is fallen, or who ever of malice towards me, I firstly excuse you all to the world, and to the gods I make amends. Though I die, you are not to blame, nor shall any man reproach it to you. For what I do is freely at my will, against the advice of your high prudence, and life or death, here in your presence. Holy of heart, and never for to fear, I commit myself to the gods and fortune, as they please for me to ordain, against whose will I shall never comply. Nor them nor you put in any blame, whatsoever befalls, honor, joy or shame, and of this thing thus an end I make. And for this time, I take my leave of you, and of all those who stand about, and one by one he took them by the hand, and in what way he began to dress himself, I think it fit to express to you.\n\nWhen that Titan had, with his fiery heat,\nDrawn up the dew from the leaves wet,\nTowards mid-morning, as I can discern,\nUpon the hour, when the clock is nine.\nIason, a manly and knight-like figure,\nArmed in steel, with a cheerful and light countenance,\nGanarre called out to him, asking what had happened,\nAnd said to his companions, \"May God be with you all.\"\nHe was in the boat, while they remained on the shore,\nAlone when he reached the land,\nAnd in the water had left his vessel behind.\nHe first recalled, with all the circumstances,\nThe craft of Medea, and how he should keep his observations,\nAnd held it well in mind.\nThen, manfully as I find,\nHe set forth and went on a knightly journey,\nToward the brass bulls that were forged,\nBut at the very point when he began his journey,\nMedea grew pale and wan.\nIt was a rout to see what she made,\nFor tears streamed down her cheeks,\nFull pitifully she distilled and wept,\nAnd all her veils were forded with her black hair,\nAnd this sorrow she made for his sake.\nLike a woman, fearful and in doubt,\nWhile he brought his arms manfully about,\nTo sob and sigh, she could not be at peace.\nThis was her life, which she had led for him:\nAnd to see how he would defend himself,\nShe went at once, by Greek's command,\nTo a tower, into a high pinnacle,\nWhere she might have no obstacle,\nNor hindrance, to have a sight\nOf him who was her own chosen knight.\nAnd ever among words, she broke in:\n\"O Iaso,\nIf you knew what woe I feel,\n Truly I believe it would not grieve,\nTo be true with all your whole heart.\nAnd God I pray, this journey at the least,\nMay this time turn for the best,\nAnd keep you safe and sound in every member,\nAnd give you the might, fully to remember,\nAs I taught you, and in the same form,\nEverything fully to perform.\nOnly this day, your honor to announce,\nWhich to see would be all my pleasure.\nFor certainly Iason, if the filler errs,\nFarewell my health, and all my worldly bliss.\"\nAnd farewell to me, my mirth and my solace,\nMy welfare, my fortune, and my grace,\nAll at once, my heart's sincere sufficiency.\nLo, this was her governance,\nFrom the time that he first had the land,\nAnd when he came,\nWhere the bulls cast their fire and form,\nAt their mouths, wondrous large and huge,\nAgainst whom, for his chief refuge,\nHe saved himself, that he were not burned,\nHe was anointed with an ointment,\nOn his body, that kept him from harm,\nFrom that fierce fire, so full of rage,\nAnd the smokes, dark and most horrible,\nWhich to escape was almost impossible,\nFor any man, of what estate he be,\nWithout comfort and counsel of Medea,\nBy whose doctrine, Jason can so work,\nThat he is escaped,\nFrom the fire's dark mist,\nWith the blazing flames.\nThat all the eyes, so cloudy, did make.\nShe had him made, so discreet and sage,\nOnly by virtue, of that image,\nWhich he bore about his neck.\nHe was so prudent and aware that when the bulls had most fiercely gaped,\nHe had always escaped their malice. For the infection of their troubled eye,\nHe had vanquished it and was in no despair. In effect, against the foul fume\nThat would consume a man, the image was a preservative. It defended him\nAnd saved his life, and more surely kept him out of fear. Often times the writing he read,\nFor the virtue of that orison was to him full protection,\nSo that he did not fall into any distress. And after that, for greater caution,\nHe took the licorice that was in the vial, and with it,\nJust like a manly man, he took the bulls all at once,\nAnd forgot not so warily to cast it,\nThus their jaws were made fast, and by the virtue\nSo mightily engaged, he therethrough utterly eschewed\nThe infection of the sinus. And when the eye began to clear and the heaven.\nAnd the mysteries were wasted on them,\nWith manly heart he drew by the horn\nThe stern bulls and by violence,\nHe drew them forth, in whom was no defense,\nAnd yoked them, as was the manner,\nAnd with the plow he made them go a pace,\nNow up and\nBut humble and meek, and ready at his will,\nAll his desires plainly to fulfill.\n\nAnd Iason then, like a champion,\nBegan in haste towards the dragon,\nThat was a beast great and monstrous,\nFoul and horrible and right venomous,\nAnd was armed in scales large and thick,\nOf whom the breath was more perilous and wicked,\nWas than the heir of any pestilence.\nFor his venom was of such violence,\nIt was full deadly and mortal,\nAnd at his throat there issued out with all,\nA flame of fire as from a furnace mouth,\nOr like the lion that down by the south.\nOut of the gest this dragon is wont in tempest to smite,\nRight so this dragon truly for to write,\nOut at his mouth had a flame blazed,\nWherof Iason first a little mashed,\nWas in his heart of that dreadful thing,\nBut when he remembered on his ring,\nFear and dread were laid aside and gone,\nFor in that ring there was set a stone,\nFull rich and noble and right virtuous,\nOf which as great Syydorus teacheth,\nAnd in my author also I find,\nMost commonly comes out of Inde,\nAnd must be kept chaste and wonder clean,\nAnd of color surmounts every green,\nWhose virtue is all venom to destroy,\nAnd to withstand that it may not annoy,\nOf dragon, serpent, adder, and snake,\nAnd especially if that it be taken,\nAnd I held in the opposite,\nOf any worm, even against its sight,\nWithout abode, in truth he may not choose,\nOf his venom, the force he must lose,\nHow strong it be or violent of rage,\nBut to the stone it does full great damage,\nFor when he has, his virtue does as blue.\nOn small pieces, it begins to rive, and in it itself abides no while. In the land called Cecyle, there is a worm named Bufo. Whoever wishes to tame this malady's maker and utterly express its venom, they take a quill, my author bears witness. When they will work or a large can, and in the end, this stone they let then. And lie right against the worm's head. They hold it till it is dead. For truly, this is its nature's virtue. That no venom may last or endure In the presence of this rich stone, and as I find Bufo right away, through its might, a twin breaches even. Only by kind, which no man may restrain. For the goddess, called nature, who next to her lord all things in cure, has given virtue to her - grass, herbs, and stone. Which no man knows but her herself alone. The causes hid, she holds in her hand. That man's wit cannot understand. Openly the might, of her working. So Iason, by virtue of this ring.\nAnd through his stone, he might have easily\nBrought the dragon to submission,\nIn whom he found no manner of resistance,\nTo withstand his force or make a difference,\nNeither by venom nor any other strife,\nWherefore he had taken away his life,\nIn manly fashion, and in the field displayed,\nAnd Jason then, full glad and well rewarded,\nWith his sword, spent on him many a stroke,\nAnd laid on him, as men hew on an oak,\nHis bright scales were so hard and durable,\nThat it was unlikely, he might endure,\nTo dismember him and strike off his head,\nAnd then immediately, in the same place,\nHe began his teeth, out of his head to tear,\nAnd right forthwith, in the selfsame place,\nHe began them to sow, just as men do corn,\nUpon the land that was before sown,\nOf which seed, there sprang up a wondrous grain,\nBright armed knight, standing on the plain,\nWho immediately, with sharp swords drawn,\nEach one attacked the other, to hurt and wound,\nUntil each had cruelly slain his fellow,\nThis was the final law of their fate.\nThat none of them should rejoice in victory, or remember the death of others. For all this, they made an end. And after this, Jason went to the Ram with all his diligence, in which he found no power or difference. No manner of strife or rebellion, and mightily he drew it down and set his hand upon every horn. And slew it first and then had it shorn. Out of its fleece of gold, so passing rich, there was no treasure like it in this world. And after that, he made no delay, but took his boot and in all the haste he could, rowed forth to the other island. Where Hercules and the men were, all the while, upon the bank with many another. And every one I find that was blue, only for joy, when he arrived. They began to thank, to cheer their gods all, so graciously that it fell to my share. And that the fleece he had so knightly won, shone as clear as the summer sun. Which he brought with him to land, his fathers all remaining on the shore.\nAnd when Apollo, of his days' arc,\n Had in the west almost run his mark,\n And fast began downward to decline,\n And on the waves full watery began to shine,\n Yet ere he was passed the Ocean,\n Iason came, with many a manly man\n Of his herds, to the presence of the king,\n As he that had achieved every thing\n That longeth to the conquest of the Ram,\n And Cetes then, as soon as ever he came,\n To make him cheer, outwardly had paid,\n All by heart, that it was but feigned,\n For he was sorry, without any fear,\n Of the excessive speed, and the good pace\n Of this Iason, that he the flees had won,\n But like in truth, as these feigners could,\n When they listed, craftily to compose,\n To show outwardly a faithful true face,\n And the venom enclosed hole within,\n As in meaning, there were no manner of sin,\n Right so the king, with look and full heed clear,\n Made unto Iason outwardly right good cheer,\n And began to him to speak in few words,\n Of friendship, & many signs he showed.\n As though his conquest every delight.\nFrom point to point he was well pleased,\nAnd grateful that he had been so fortunate,\nTo the end that he had continued,\nAnd rejoiced in speech and countenance,\nThat fortune favored him so,\nAnd conveyed him to his palaces,\nDay by day, richly feasting,\nAlthough it was nothing done from the heart.\nFor this reason, he felt great pain,\nThat of his treasure he had been deprived,\nAnd had forsaken the rich flees,\nTo his damage and confusion.\nThus there was a great dispute,\nBetween his face and the meaning of his thoughts.\nAs often happens, many a man,\nIn meaning false and double,\nCan cover the trouble of high malice,\nAnd falsely kindle the hidden fire\nOf burning envy,\nSo well did he hide them that they could not be seen,\nAnd knew their meaning to be false and fraudulent.\nAlas, through this, full many an innocent person\nIs deceived, not knowing what they mean.\nAnd namely such ones that not but truth believe,\nAnd every cheer that men to them make,\nOf Innocence, for the best take,\nAnd in no way, think not but well,\nRight so certain, this Jason every deals,\nHas taken in grace, what the king has wrought,\nNot adversing, the grumbling of his thought,\nFor truly it grieved the king full sore,\nThat he the Ram, has lost for evermore,\nBut when that he, utterly I say,\nThough he grumble, that there was no gain,\nBut finally, of necessity,\nAt that time, it might none other be,\nAnd plainly saw, that he may not choose,\nBut that altogether, the fleas he must lose,\nWhether it were, that he were left or loathe,\nHe feigns cheer, as he were not wrath,\nFor only he, of his gentleness,\nNo sign outward, of grumbling did express,\nBut day by day, of very courtesy,\nHe cherishes Jason and his company,\nAt which time, about envy-ridden,\nFrom every party of his realm,\nThe people came, to stare and to gaze,\nUpon the Ram, as it were a mass.\nThey look and wonder what pleases them on whose domes is but little trust. They often change and turn to and fro. Whoever wisely takes heed of this, The common people change as a phase. Today they wax and tomorrow wane, as does the moon, they are so changeable. Whoever trusts them will find them unstable. Some were glad that Jason has fared well, And some sorrowful and like it never ended. And some said they wondered how he might Again the dragon or the bulls fight Or how that he against the force of Mars Out of the Isle might alive emerge. Another said that perhaps By craft was wrought this discomfiture Out by charm or some sorcery. Thus each of them, according to their fantasy, Began to deem of him all the long day But at last, making no delay, Full glad and light, Medea descends down From her chamber and outwardly feigns Sadness of countenance, as if she knew nothing. Men could not conceive by her aspect Her secret meaning, for she so womanly Disappeared.\nThat she avoided, by discretion,\nAll fantasy and suspicion,\nThat no man could, of her working, judge,\nNothing but well, for as it seemed.\nBy port and cheer, there was no cause why,\nAnd so, by process, she drew privately\nToward Jason, for she was not to learn,\nAnd secretly bade him in his ear,\nIn all ways, that he not leave\nTo her chamber, for to come at ease,\nFor matter, they had, to treat,\nWhich he shall know, at leisure, when they meet.\nAnd so, anon, when entered was the night,\nSole by himself, without torch or light,\nTo Medea, he has the way take,\nAnd she abode, sleepless, for his sake.\nWonder deeply, desiring, as I guess,\nWith him to treat, of some holiness,\nTouching matters, of contemplation.\nFor she was smitten with a devotion\nOf fresh Venus, to hold a memory,\nWith him alone, in her oratory,\nNot openly, as hypocrites pray,\nIn divers angles, joining on the way,\nOf the people, for to be commended.\nBut they not so, has the night dispensed,\nFor vain glory, nor none other praise.\nBut thinking of no fraud, this twain alone,\nSecretly, without light, or sun or money,\nThe long night had led them without rest,\nAs they thought, it was not for the best\nTo speak of sleep till it was prime,\nThey cast themselves to lose as though no time,\nAnd thus the night together they spent,\nI am dull for to comprehend,\nThe observations of such religious men,\nProlix in working and compendious,\nYou judge yourself, you get no more from me,\nFor well you know, in every faculty,\nWho has knowledge and experience,\nMen will give credence to him,\nWherefore I say, you that are wise and can,\nAsk not me, who am so rude a man,\nTo judge a thing and especially when,\nIt passes my knowing also and my wit,\nFor my imagination is dulled,\nTo judge in practice or in speculation,\nWherefore I pass by and let it slide,\nAnd furthermore, if you wish to abide,\nPlainly to tell of Jason and Medea,\nWho agreed and assented that she with him,\nShall go to Greece.\nWhen he went, shortly this the end,\nUnknown was her father, and every other,\nSave he alone, who had sworn\nTo be true, both in deed and in love,\nTo her and to no more.\nAnd when Jason, after his journey,\nRichly refreshed, was in Colchos before the king,\nWith all that might please him,\nAnd among them passed, was and gone,\nHe with his Greeks agreed,\nIntending soon, if he might,\nWith Medea to steal away by night\nThat much treasure and the rich flees,\nAnd in full accord, also of Hercules.\nBut O Medea, you hesitate too long,\nYou are too wise to cast,\nWhat should fall when you take your journey,\nFor how he in mischance forsook,\nAnd how he was false and unkind,\nFor all his oaths to you I find,\nAnd how you, both at eve and morrow,\nYour fatal chance and pitiful sorrow,\nBy weeping after, and began yourself to rend,\nUntil death made a woeful end.\nIt was in vain / to make rehearsal\nI wote nothing / that it might avail\nNor how Jason / unredeemed for the nones\nReceived has / penalty talliones\nOf the goddesses / for his disnaturedness\nFor he in mischief / and in wretchedness\nMade also an end / through the cruel hate\nOf fell Mars / lo, here the mortal fate\nOf these two / that made their end so\nBut as I suppose / like as write Guydo\nFor their beginning / was not virtuous\nAn end follows / full contagious\nAlas if they had / taken heed before\nThen had they not / in mischance been lorn\nBut who will not / before his mischance see\nMay not eschew / to have adversity\nIn the end / plainly to divide\nFor even like / right as a medicine\nAvails not / when the sick is dead\nFor what may help / the stomach or the head\nLetuary employ / or potion\nOr any resource / or confecction\nHerb or stone / or that leeches know\nWhen that the corpse / is laid in earth low.\nOr when a beast / is turned to carry on\nMy Author says / that it is but vain\nFor his recovery, upon any halt, he would lay a salve, in earnest, according to his fancy, it helps not, nor does any remedy, For that performed, in its due time, has more virtue than when it comes late, A righteous case, in earnest, seems similar, Of worldly trust, false and fully mutable, He casts no peril till it falls, In place of sugar, often casts gall, Blended with lust, which is present, Of the future, sloth and negligent, They do not wish, before no mischief cast, Until in the snare, they are ensnared fast, To provide, they are graceless, Full unprudent and wilful reckless, To cast peril, or if it be tide, They sow their lust, their reason goes aside, As it befell, in the past, Of Medea and Iason also.\n\nBut however, concerning Iason, that may be,\nThe great damage, and the final harm,\nFor lack of wisdom, she would not avert,\nWhat would fall, when she began her journey,\nBut since she wrought, only of willfulness.\nWithout counsel or assistance, I no longer wished to lament her harms, be they little or nothing, as it now might avail her nothing. Let her be alone, she complained her damage. I well knew that touching her passage, it was not taken in good time by the moon. In haste, she began to change an hour that was not fortunate. Colchos forsook her and was sailing away with the ship. And in all haste, by Iason's bidding, Hercules and all his company entered the ship's border. Only because the wind was good, they entered without delay at a word. And so, by agreement, they stole away by night with all the treasure they could catch, and with them they took an abundance of provisions. And immediately, they began to sail Toward Greece, and all this while Medea was glad and in good spirits. She and Jason sat together, and Hercules, of gentle disposition, was with them.\nHer duty was to comfort him,\nFairly and for the sake of love,\nAs these lovers could make it seem,\nUntil they had fully enjoyed their pleasure.\nTheir lust fulfilled, then varied desire,\nAs it was proven by Jason utterly,\nWho had forsaken her unkindly,\nThis Medea, in pain, sorrow, and woe,\nSaid no more words of her Guydo,\nMade no other mention of him,\nBecause I believe, in my opinion,\nThat her sorrows' end and every detail\nWere openly and clearly recounted,\nIn Metamorphoses, and written down plainly,\nWhere Naso records, in certainty,\nHer death was not only her sorrow,\nBut also a part of the unkindness\nOf this Jason, and he is told plainly how,\nMedea, her two sons slow,\nWere like their father in appearance,\nAnd he is told also what put her most in rage,\nHow falsely he loved another,\nCalled Cerise,\nAnd in his temples, whoever takes charge,\nMay behold and read her deadly sorrow,\nAnd how she bought her truth dearly.\nOf Medea, you shall get no more, in this book, nor of her adventure. I will now do my best to turn my style to Jason, and relate how the war he made on Lamedon was like, as is openly described after he was received in Greece.\n\nFirst, when Jason and Hercules, along with many others,\nlanded, in the land and reign of Thessaly,\nKing Pelleus with all his knights\nopenly declared that he would not fail\nTo meet his newcomers at his army's assembly.\n\nAnd when they met in countenance and made it outwardly\nAs whole and as complete as he had sovereign happiness\nOf his kingdom and his high prowess,\nOf his renown and his manly head,\nOf his excellence and his good speed,\nAnd that fortune had caused him, with such noble fame,\nTo return from Colchis with honor,\nAll his face was utterly contrary\nTo his intent that he ever came again.\n\nBut despite this, with a face that was whole and plain,\nHe welcomed him, against his heart.\nI am an assistant designed to help with various tasks, including text cleaning. Based on your instructions, I will do my best to clean the given text while preserving its original content as much as possible.\n\nThe text provided appears to be in Old English, so the first step is to translate it into Modern English. I will also remove any unnecessary line breaks, whitespaces, or other meaningless characters.\n\nHere is the cleaned text:\n\n\"Full astonished that he ever endured\nThe adventures of Colchos, perilous and victorious,\nBut he hid his treason craftily.\nHe set aside all delay,\nAnd received Iason with full benevolence.\nFirst, he resigned his heritage:\nScepter and crown and kingdom at the least,\nTo complete the sum of his desire,\nJust as he was assured by his bond.\nIason took all into his hands,\nAnd in a lowly manner, first thanked him with all his heart.\nAfter that, he prayed him knightly to speak,\nEager to hear what he wanted to say,\nOf a matter that troubled his heart sore,\nDay after day, growing more and more.\nHe begged him to grant him audience,\nTouching a wrong and a violence,\nDone to him when he meant no harm,\nIn Troy land, to Colchos as he went.\nThis is to say, the king of Troy town,\nWithin the bounds of his realm,\nWhen I and mine were in great adversity,\nWith wind and weather to drive in the sea.\"\nVs came to refresh, to land did arrive,\nNot with intent, nor to strive,\nBut for rest, us, after all our woe,\nA little while, and forth anon to go,\nFor we truly, no manner harm nor thought,\nBut he unwittingly, of very malice sought,\nAgainst us first, in haste bidding,\nTo void his region,\nNot resisting, that we come in peace,\nLike as my brother knows Hercules,\nUnto no might, doing no distress,\nWherefore we pray, to your high noblesse,\nTo our purpose, for to condescend,\nThis the final end plainly,\nThat we be set, in full conclusion,\nHoly to work, to his destruction,\nLike our avow, when we thence went,\nIf it be so, ye goodly lords, assent,\nAnd all at once, strongly and not spare,\nMaugre his might, to Troy for to fare,\nSo that we may find in you favor,\nUs to refresh, with gold and with creation,\nAnd only eke, of your courtesy,\nUs strength also, with your cavalry.\nAnd Pelleus, without more delay,\nAnon as he this matter understood.\nAssented is of heart and will also\nIn this voyage, I will go with them\nAnd all the worthy ones of that realm\nKings, dukes, and lords renowned\nThere is not one who says no\nTo go with them and help as they may\nAnd of this journey, Hercules, the worthy conqueror,\nIs in a hurry, making his way\nToward Sparta, an isle belonging to the Greeks\nFully obeying their commandment\nIn which Pollux and Castor, the mighty brothers two,\nWere rulers at that time and bore their crown\nLike noble warriors and brothers were also to Alcyna\nAnd as poets like to feign,\nJupiter, in all his splendor,\nBegat them all three\nWho excelled in beauty above all others\nAnd for Alcyna, like books tell,\nConceived was, in the isle of Tyndaris,\nJoining the land of Cecyle\nTherefore, of some, I find that she is\nNamed after the isle, Tyndaris.\nOf their birth, I no longer wished to write, but for this I think of Hercules to write,\nWho has beseeched these noble kings\nWith mighty hand, to do their best endeavor\nOnly to grant, with him, to go\nTo Troy's ward, shortly this shall end\nAnd to assent, they say not one no\nWith all the power that they catch may\nAgainst what time that he lists to assign\nAnd Hercules, with cheerful kindness\nThanked them for what they had granted him\nThen he went, in all the haste he could\nTowards Messene, the strong, mighty land\nWithin which, the noble prince he found\nThe knightly man, the worthy Thelamon\nLord and prince, of that region\nWho in arms was, one of the manliest\nThat was alive, and equal to the best.\nAnd when he knew that Hercules had come,\nAnd received him in all manner of thing\nLike as it seemed, to a worthy king\nAnd when he truly knew his intent\nWithout further ado, he immediately assented\nWith him to go to Troyans to harm\nAnd Hercules, goodly took leave.\nAnd you are to Thesalya again,\nTo Pelleus, and tell him certain things,\nHow I have fared, begging him also,\nIn all haste, that it may be done,\nTo send letters, and call his lords,\nAnd assemble his worthy knights,\nThroughout his land, both near and far,\nSuch as he knows, who are expert in war,\nAnd them also, who are of wise counsel,\nFor the wisdom of the old is more than force,\nWithout experience.\nBut when manhood is joined with wisdom,\nIt may be of double advantage,\nAnd those who have long been accustomed to travel,\nLikewise, it is plain to suppose,\nCan help most in disposing our journey,\nFor to age, experience and wit belong,\nTo youth, force and hardiness sit,\nAnd when both are of one intent,\nFully agreed, to work by consent,\nWith a quarrel, grounded upon right,\nThrough help of grace, he has treble might,\nThose who fear not, with spear nor shield,\nIn knightly way, to hold a field,\nFor of knighthood, the fame nor the glory.\nNor in arms or conquest, nor victory,\nBe this assured, upon multitude,\nBut on manhood, so grace concludes.\nTherefore, let us, for to avenge our wrong,\nFirst with right, make ourselves strong,\nAnd our force, manly to show,\nOf knights chosen, taken out a few,\nAnd devoid, encumbrance of number,\nAnd so we shall, our foes best encumber,\nAnd of all that, that Hercules hath said,\nKing Peleus, was right well provided,\nFor he thought, his counsel was right good,\nAnd Hercules, without more abode,\nIs in great haste, with his men gone,\nTo approve, that called is Phylon,\nIn which there was, a duke of noble fame,\nAnd as I find, Nestor was his name,\nFull renowned and strong in chivalry,\nAnd he was also, nearly of alliance,\nTo Hercules, and of the same blood,\nAnd when that he, plainly understood,\nThe whole purpose and cause of his coming,\nHe granted him, without more delaying,\nTo go himself, with him on this voyage,\nWith all the worthy, of his baronage,\nAnd to be ready, against a certain day.\nAnd Hercules, as fast as he may,\nReturns home to Thesalia,\nWhere Gadareus, the navy,\nIs holy and ready appointed,\nWell armed and richly adorned.\nPelleus first takes the sea,\nAnd every lord, according to his degree,\nIs shipped and ready to go,\nWith Hercules and Jason also,\nTo fulfill their manly behests,\nTowards Troy, the city to spy,\nAnd after that, without delay,\nThey set sail upon the wind.\n\nWhen the sweet showers,\nOf April, to the root,\nFull lowly distill,\nHercules' lusty lechery,\nWith many a wholesome shower,\nRaises the virtue,\nOn the flower.\nAnd Phoebus was ascending in his sphere,\nAnd on his breast, his beams clear,\nOf the Ram, full coleric,\nHaloed in veer, the equinoctial,\nWhen May calends enter in truth,\nAnd Zephyrus, full ageable and smooth,\nThe tender branches inspire,\nAnd do spring,\nAnd every bush is lusty blossoming,\nAnd from the hill, the water is renewed.\nOf snowes white, Phoebus has dissolved,\nAnd the balm, vapor upward flown,\nInto the air, of herbs soft grown,\nThe root's virtue, hidden 'neath winter's cold,\nHas wielded its might, and its force beget,\nFrom earth, in herb and every tree,\nShade in the branches, its humidity,\nAwakened only, by the sun's heat,\nAnd with the moisture, of the sweet rains,\nWhen silver wells shed out their streams,\nIn rivers' gilt, with the sunbeams,\nAnd for he had brought back, with new green again,\nHer linens spread, upon every plain,\nAnd nightingales, that all the wooed thronged,\nFull amorously, welcomed in their song,\nThe lusty season, fresh and desirous,\nNamely to hearts, that are amorous,\nAnd the sea, its color and bluish hue,\nFrom trouble of wind, or wavy bolting,\nAnd from tempest, is sure to escape,\nThe same season, Greeks forth their shape,\nTowards Troy, earls, dukes, and kings,\nTheir ships, stuffed, with all manner of things,\nThat to war, might them most avail,\nAnd right away, they began to sail.\nWhen all was ready, without further delay,\nEach ship rode by another on the water,\nAnd when the wind at their pleasure began to blow,\nIt was a joy to see them go by row,\nThose that made them fast, to hasten in their way,\nSo that in short time they came to Troy,\nAnd in the harbor called Symonte,\nWhen Phoebus was westward beneath their orisons,\nI was afraid that men might not see him,\nGreeks escaped all peril of the sea,\nCast their anchors, and thought for the best,\nIn their ships, the same night to rest.\nAnd in the morning, when the lark sang,\nThe worthy Greeks, so many and so strong,\nBegan to land, in all the haste they might,\nOn Trojan ground, and their tents they pitched,\nBefore the town, with great diligence,\nFor they found no manner of resistance,\nAnd all this while they set good watch,\nOn every side, lest there be deceit,\nUntil the hour that the sun brought light,\nHad in the morning shaded his rod,\nAmid the field, upon every tent,\nAt which time, all of one accord.\nThe Greeks were all assembled. By the king's command, Iason and Hercules, along with many other worthy men, were present. And when all the lords, both great and small, were seated, Pelleus began to declare his will.\n\nO noble and worthy, of high estate and low,\nWhose knightly fame is reported far and wide,\nThe Greeks have never begun anything\nThat they did not end in victory,\nFor they have crowned themselves with what they took in hand.\nSuch is their fortune, both at sea and on land.\n\nTherefore, you, who are worthy of renown,\nYou can remember King Lamus,\nAnd the wrong he did to you,\nWhen none of you thought to harm him in return.\nHe must be avenged shortly; this is the end.\nFor we have come to destroy them and to avenge.\n\nSo let us set upon them without further delay.\nBut first, I advise that we pay heed to three things necessary for this endeavor.\n\nFirstly, by advice and good discretion, for our defense and salvation, prudently make our wards, so that none of ours be harmed today for lack of provision.\n\nSecondly, do our diligence with all our might and whole intention, to labor to the complete destruction of our four foes, for our own glory.\n\nThirdly, that we may rejoice in victory over them plainly at the last, and after this, you may well cast,\n\nIf we, through our knighthood, through our hardiness,\nMay vanquish them, we shall so greatly enrich ourselves,\nConquer them to our possession.\nFor it is known that Troy town,\nOf all abundance, as it shall be found,\nOf gold and treasure is exceedingly rich,\nOur ships, truly as I believe,\nWill not be able to receive nor sustain\nThe abundance that is there within,\nIf it so be that we win the City,\nAs God grants us, if it is His will,\n\nAnd also fast, as the king commanded, still.\nThe noble knyght / the stronge hercules\nIn the presence / of that worthy pres\nSayd his counsayle / was hyghly to co\u0304mende\nFor wyse begynnynge / is preysed by the ende\nBut to effect / our purpose for to brynge\nMy counsayle is / in the mornynge\nTofore or we / discured ben by daye\nThat we vs arme / in all the haste we maye\nAnd on this felde / that we do our payne\nFor to deuyde our mayne / into twayne\nAnd of the tone / shall kynge Thelamowne\nBe gouernour / of his hye renowne\nAnd of the other / kynge Pelleus shall haue\nThe gouernaunce / wysely them to saue\nAnd I myselfe / and Iason here my brother\nShall secretly / go with all the other\nVnder the Cyte / or the sonneshynes\nAnd in the busshayle / and the thycke vynes\nWe shall vs hyde / and kepe vs there full koye\nFor Lamedon / that is kynge of Troye\nAnone as he may / here and espye\nOf the Grekes / with his chyualrye\nOut of the cyte / wyll Issue out anone\nWith you to fyghte / & venge hym of his fone\nBut whan he cometh / to our shyppes warde\nNestor and Castor shall be in the first ward. Nestor will have need of help from Castor if necessary. Pelleus will lead the third ward. Iason and I will hurry to the city, unknown to them. I doubt not we will win it soon. Do it by counsel, and it will benefit you. Here is my truth, you may not fail. To conquer the city yonder before us, this is all and some you get from me no more. And they agreed with all their strength and might. They armed themselves in steel, shining brightly. Against the sun, at morrow when it rises, they worked fully, as Hercules decreed. And Lamedon, when he heard of their coming, went out with many a noble knight, flourishing in youth and eager to fight. And all those who could bear arms or show strength assembled in the field. Each one depicted his arms upon his shield. Brought or beat upon his coat armor.\nThan Lamedon, with all his best cure, sets them in order and makes his wards. He takes his way in the field toward the Greeks as any knight. Fully purposeful, he intends to abide and fight. He was not aware of those behind, nor did he cast it in his mind, the great deceit or treachery that was planned for him. But forth he went, with his wards set. And the Greeks met him at once. With bold heart, they were not startled at all. Duke Nestor, first sturdy as a wall, in whose manhood was never found lack. Full knightly, he was upon horseback. He rallied his men and his knights. They pressed in with many worthy Greeks. With Lamedon, they sturdily met. At that time, they felt it was most unwelcome.\n\nAnd in the front, there were many manly men. With sharp spears, they first ran together. And with swords sharp and keen ground, that day gave many a wide wound where they met on every side through plate and mail.\nAnd basinettes yield to the crown\nThe noise of strokes in the air grew still\nAnd of the blood that was shed anew\nThe green soil changed its hue\nFor it was stained clearly into red\nUpon which full many a man lay dead\nAnd many a worthy one lost his life\nAnd certainly in this mortal strife\nThe Greeks had discomfited each other\nNeither had Castor come to their aid\nThey of Troy so manfully bore the brunt\nThat many a Greek knight was slain in turn\nBut when Castor enters the fray\nWith his knights so fiercely he assails\nThe worthy Trojans, they with spear and shield\nGreeks again recover the field\nMany a one lies slain on the green\nGirt through the body with sharp spears keen\nThey of Troy in this mortal struggle\nWere driven back till came to their aid\nIn haste, worthy Lamus\nWho entered in like a wild boar\nAnd made way on every side\nAnd where he made his sword to glide\nThere was but death so manfully he wrought.\nThat none dared approach, he made his way around him,\nIn the ranks he sought out his foes,\nThat day he wrought marvels in arms,\nBy his manhood and worthiness he brought them to such distress,\nThat they fled before his sword as before death,\nMercilessly he slew so many of them,\nOf which slaughter the Greeks were confounded,\nUntil Pelops came to their rescue,\nIrus and wild with rage, as if he would quench the great pomp of Troy,\nHe unhorseed many one and slew all that stood before him,\nAnd rent apart many a war horse,\nAnd made shields for himself to ride apart,\nSuch a sight was a great wonder,\nUntil his people saw him lamed,\nFor Pelops brought them back from defeat,\nIn his heart he felt great pain,\nBeseeching them to return again,\nAnd show their might and endure like men.\nAnd so he made them recover the field.\nUntil Duke Nestor knew that Lamdon,\nKing of Troy town,\nWas amidst the field,\nAnd straightway,\nAgainst him, a full great pace he rode.\nAnd when the king first espied\nHigh disdain, rancor, and envy,\nIn knightly wise he turned again.\nNothing astonished him but high disdain.\nWith irate heart, emboldened all with pride,\nHis horse\nThen ran out the very red blood,\nAnd to Nestor, like one in a trance,\nHe rode anon and his spear broke.\nBut he, full knightly, kept his horse steady.\nAnd dealt a full blow,\nThrough shield and breast, he gave him such a wound,\nThat from his horse, he felt nothing,\nBut roared so angry, his heart did rot,\nThat he unhorsed, must fight on foot.\nIn this confusion, he was in great part.\nUntil one Cedar came to his rescue.\nHe, made knight that same year,\nYoung, fresh, and lusty, of noble mien,\nSitting at that time on a noble steed.\nAnd when he began to take heed,\nAnd saw the king on foot in disastrous fight,\nHe spurred on in all the haste he could,\nTowards Nestor, and with a spear hit him,\nFrom his saddle, that he made him fall\nBefore King Lamdon, but he at once,\nLike a champion, recovered himself,\nAnd each one spent many a stroke on the other,\nWith sharp swords, keen for the bite,\nEach on the other, began to feign and strike,\nUntil Nestor, with a scornful face,\nRaised his visor, and all at once,\nSmote a rich circle, from his basinet,\nOf large pearls, going enameled,\nWith crest, and all his fiery steeds,\nHe fiercely beat down.\nWhile Nestor thus stood before him,\nHis face was all painted, with blood.\nThat certainly, the Greeks, with great multitude,\nHad rescued him, had he not been brought down,\nBesieged as he was, on the earth,\nAmong the horses.\nBut Castor thought, that he would not let,\nTo be his help, as he beheld, a fear.\nAnd he took a mighty spear\nAnd to Cedar, whom I spoke of late,\nHe began to ride and prick in great hate.\nBut before he came and took him doubtless,\nA Trojan knight named Segnerides\nCame, a cousin to Cedar, when he had seen\nOn a courser rode alone between,\nAnd with a spear he struck Castor so\nThat with the stroke it broke even in two.\nTo whom Castor, without more resistance,\nHad with a spear beside the breast been struck.\nSegnerides gave a mortal wound.\nIt was unlikely to have sounded.\nTherefore Cedar caught such envy\nThat he immediately fell into melancholy\nAnd of spite boiling in his heart,\nSegnerides, when he saw such pain,\nMaugre who grumbled among the field,\nOf very might from Castor took his shield,\nAnd through guile of rancor and of rage,\nHe wounded him beside the face,\nAnd his horse also he caught,\nAnd to his squire he manfully dragged.\nThis worthy Castor, who was in such disarray,\nWas in danger of being taken by the Trojans though.\nFor him on foot / had to go\nBut Pollux / with many knights manly and bright\nMore than seven hundred / in shining steel armed\nThe rather came / Castor to receive\nWhich after them / so eagerly followed\nThat maugre them / Castor, when he found\nHe took him from out their hands / forcefully\nAnd restored him / to his horse again\nAnd after that / this Pollux in certainty\nWith anger and fiery ire / against the Trojans set a fire\nThat all at once / he set upon them\nAnd in his way / by fortune as he met\nA Trojan knight / called Elyatus\nYoung and fresh and eager / in arms\nA seemly wonder / and but tender in age\nThe king's son / also of Carthage\nAnd new to Lamedon\nWhen Pollux / has the lion's fiery look\nWithout pity, mercy, or compassion\nHe slaughtered them / cruelly in the ranks\nThat Lamedon / when he began to take notice\nFelt his heart bleed / inwardly\nWhen he saw him / even upon the death\nHe pitifully yielded up his breath\nUpon the plain / as he lay before him\nFor which immediately / he made a horn sound.\nAt that time, seven knights in rich array came in a great hurry. They avenged his death mercilessly and cruelly. The Greeks had here and there been grounded. Here lies one dead, there another wounded. They couldn't take them with them. They made them turn back so mortally that it ended in confusion for them. Finally, that day, Lamedon had the triumph and the field was gone, save that out of the town a messenger came to the king. He told him with a pitiful face how the Greeks had taken the city. When he saw this, the wo he made would have made a pitiful heart as blue with sorrow. He knew not which party to turn to. But in a while, he, staying long, saw the mighty Greeks strong and in the city another host behind. Almost out of his mind with worry, he went backward as he beheld.\nTowards the city, he saw come into the field\nFirst Hercules and with him Iason,\nWho by their cunning had won the town.\n\u00b6And in haste, this cruel Hercules,\nThe mighty giant, beyond compare,\nLike a lion, scornful and furious,\nOr a tiger, enraged and frenzied,\nBegan anew to assail the Trojans,\nAnd with his sword, pierced plate and mail,\nWhose labors were fully matched and feigned,\nAnd from long fight, weariness ensued.\nAnd he came in, lusty, fresh, and green,\nWhose force they could not sustain.\nFor as he rode among them here and there,\nIn cruel fashion, he severed them asunder,\nAnd put them in this high disgrace,\nOut of rule and governance.\nSo that the king oppressed all with sorrow,\nOf his wards, destitute and alone,\nLeft in misfortune, and all unlucky,\nAnd of comfort, fully disconsolate.\nThis Hercules, with despotic look,\nWith sharp spurs, his steed cruelly took,\nAnd cruelly rode to Lamandon.\nAnd to the earth fiercely bore himself down.\nAnd upon him, in all the haste he could,\nDown from his horse, suddenly a light,\nAnd mightily rent from his basinet,\nAnd with a sharp, ground and whetted sword,\nStruck his head; there was none other grace,\nAnd cast it forth, in the selfsame place,\nAmong the horses, by cruel violence,\nWithout pity or any reverence,\nIn rage, seized his horse again,\nAnd like a lion, running on the plain,\nBared and shed what came in his way,\nAnd many Trojans that day made their death,\nLike sheep, were scattered far and wide,\nAll destitute of governor or guide,\nCould not quickly reach a conclusion,\nFor the Greeks, with double multitude,\nEncircled them, turning them blue with fear,\nWhich soon ensued, there left none alive,\nThe field they had,\nAnd to the city, they took their way,\nAnd all the treasure and riches of the town,\nThey took at once to their possession,\nWhoever grumbled or were left or loathed,\nWhat they found, plainly went with them,\nIn the temples, they did great offense.\nTo the goddess, doing no reverence,\nAnd unto ship, every thing they bear,\nAnd children sucking at their mothers breast,\nThey murder and slew without more restraint,\nThey waste and burn, and consume all,\nAnd without, they break down the wall,\nExyone, the king's daughter dear,\nThat was passingly entering,\nBy his life, I mean Lamdon,\nMeek and benign, of condition,\nHercules has just taken her,\nShe pitifully began to quake,\nBecause she was, surmounting in beauty,\nAnd treated her, as he would,\nNot like a king's daughter should,\nFor since he got her that day by victory,\nFor his worship, and his own glory,\nHaving regard to her high degree,\nHe should rather, of knightly honesty,\nAnd of knighthood, have wedded her therefore,\nWith that she was of gentle blood, so kindly born,\nWan of false lust, against all goodlyness,\nDishonestly, and in sinful way,\nOf royal blood, not like the high empire,\nNor the doctrine, of nature's right,\nNor like nurture, of a gentle knight.\nConsider her birth and her lineage,\nHer green youth and her maidenhood,\nSo good, so fair, so womanly,\nA king's daughter, born of high lineage.\n\nNow, through,\nThere was born, of full vengeance,\nA hot spark, after envy's flame,\nThat through the world, the fire multiplied,\nWhich was not light, to quench its heat.\nFor she,\nWith new flame, whoever takes heed,\nIf it does not smoke, it is more to fear.\nAs in this story, hereafter shall be known,\nAnd what this town was burned and brought low,\nBoth tower and wall, with the soil made plain,\nAnd nothing stood, of all that might be,\nSo utterly the Greeks oppressed them,\nMaking all waste, like a wilderness.\n\nFor good and treasure, and riches,\nWith many a joy, full pleasing of delight,\nTo their ships, out of the town they led,\nAnd in short time, homeward they sped,\nWith treasure stuffed, and abundance of good,\nAnd when they saw, that the weather stood,\nThe wind also, at their lust they had.\nThey set sail and went home with their load,\nEveryone and many a maid from Troy,\nAnd saying forth within a little space,\nThey had escaped from the sea by grace,\nAnd arrived on land merely,\nAt their coming, the Greeks were utterly joyful,\nAnd especially in Guido, as I have heard,\nTheir ships were laden with gold,\nWhose heart they were wonderfully glad,\nAnd because they had conquered and so few lost,\nOf their men, they thanked their gods all,\nAnd of the grace that had come to them,\nFor what the treasure was that they had brought home,\nMany poor were made rich from nothing,\nThroughout the land there was such abundance,\nSo much good and so great a su,\nThat no one had among them any need,\nAnd they led many days this blessed life,\nFrom year to year, by revolving fortune,\nAnd for their manhood and their high renown,\nTheir honor ran round the world about,\nSo that many lands doubted to offend them.\nFor their knighthood and for being so wise,\nAnd until the story pleases to repeat,\nIn this manner I'll proceed further,\nWith your favor, of your goodwill,\nI will rest for a little while,\nAnd then, with your grace, I'll be reborn,\nTo accomplish as I undertook,\nAnd here ends the first book.\nI now make, with trembling hand, a plea,\nYe all, alas, for hasty motion,\nNo pity nor compassion,\nFor roughness, I humbly entreat,\nYour mercy, both near and far,\nWhere you find that I fail or err,\nTo correct, you are further flown,\nTo your grace, I wholly commit.\nThe envious order of Fortune's mood,\nIn worldly things, false and fleeting,\nWill not suffer us in this present life,\nFor she is blind, fickle, and unstable,\nAnd of her course, false and full of change,\nShe who sits highest can bring him low,\nAnd with her face, which is twofold,\nShows most fair when she is least to be trusted.\nEvery day in her court is new,\nOf which I truly affirm, no mortal man can be prepared.\nFor she unveils, deceitfully smiling,\nWith counterfeit and feigned countenance,\nWith looking plain and cheerful flattery,\nUnusually can she bewitch a man's eye,\nAnd beguile him, this is the truth,\nWith a face blandishing and smooth,\nWhom she has brought from high degree, she falsely smiles,\nAnd makes him more,\nAnd yet sometimes most varying in hue,\nShe pretends to some to be true,\nAnd to some, favorable,\nAnd to some, false and deceitful,\nShe can raise one and bring another down,\nThis false lady of transformation,\nTo some she gives renown and victory,\nAnd makes them flourish in honor and glory,\nAnd to some she appears with false fame,\nAnd guiltlessly puts a man in blame,\nTo some she is goodly and benevolent,\nAnd of disdain, she can also be malevolent,\nAgainst another, she can make him seem lowly,\nAnd from their sight, she can cast kings.\nAnd she, for all their high tours,\nCan plunge worthy emperors,\nFrom the hill of prosperity,\nInto the vale of adversity.\nThe rich empress of rancor and disdain,\nAnd the poor, she can enhance again.\nThis false goddess, with her eyes blind,\nSets one before another, goes behind.\nOne she can exalt in riches,\nAnd another plunge into poverty.\nIn whom no man may have security.\nShe distills some with sugar and honey,\nAnd fills the bottle with it.\nWith bitter gall, myrrh and ale,\nShe thus this wanton and reckless\nLady, like one who is forward and perverse,\nHas in her cellar drinks of various kinds.\nFor her, of fraud and fallacy,\nShe ministers pompment, balsam and ypocras.\nAnd suddenly, when the sweet is past,\nShe can give him a cast,\nTo conclude falsely in the end,\nOf bitter eyesalve and egregious wine,\nAnd corrosives that fret and pierce deeply,\nAnd narcotics that cause men to sleep.\nThis queen, of unpredictable nature,\nWhose joy ever finds an end in mischance,\nApproaches those she can with sweet,\nBut the bitter she can ensnare,\nIn her reign, this queen of change,\nWhose joy ends in deception, plainly at the last,\nOf any estate, this double lady,\nOf unstable character,\nSee here an example, of King Lamedon,\nWhom she has brought to confusion,\nFor little cause, and for nothing at all,\nHer cruelty, he has paid dearly for,\nTherefore I advise, every man,\nTo begin a quarrel, where none is needed,\nFor little fire, smoldering under ashes,\nMay be kindled, that it will out break,\nInto such a flame, men may it not bring peace,\nHe who endures best, shall have his ease,\nTherefore you, kings and lords, every one,\nMake a mirror of this Lamedon,\nAnd be well aware,\nTo do no violence,\nTo strangers, when they do none offense,\nWhen they come, into this region,\nDo not suffer them, by none,\nTo have any wrong.\nFor in your own thought, though you be strong and mighty among your lords all,\nAnother day may perhaps come, when you, little thinking of it,\nMay be quit and thanked in another place,\nIf by chance you meet such a one.\nTherefore, when you may encounter any such,\nDo them good cheer of your courtesy,\nAnd prudently consider in your mind,\nThat to a lord of gentleness it becomes,\nTo every stranger, to have him welcome.\nThere is nothing that can save a lord's honor more,\nThan to refresh them freely and entertain,\nThan they may afterward report good of him.\nBy whose contrary conduct much woe has been wrought,\nBefore this time, if it is well sought.\nThe first Troy was utterly destroyed,\nAnd the people, in sorrow and woe, were cloyed,\nDriven into exile, far from their city,\nLiving in bondage and captivity.\nExile led Exyone, as you have heard me tell,\nInto Greece, to dwell with Thelamon.\nFor whom there was, as Guido can you teach,\nRevenge so great and wretched after taken.\nOn either side, in truth,\nIt is too much trouble in this book,\nIf you earnestly wish to read,\nTake heed, for gladly I declare,\nThe resolution of fatal things,\nBy disposition, is so envious and always mourns,\nThat in this world, wherever we go,\nWe truly may encounter in our thoughts,\nThat for the value of a thing of nothing,\nMortal causes and wars first began,\nAnd strife and debate, here under the sun,\nWere moved first, from small occasions,\nThat caused after, great confusion,\nNo man can end the harms half,\nFor a cause, there is enough might,\nEach is ready, to destroy the other,\nA man for little, will strive with his brother,\nBlood is unkind, which greatly is to fear,\nAlas, why won't they take better heed,\nFor old Troy and after the new,\nThrough small enchantments, who knows the truth,\nWere finally brought, to destruction,\nAs old books make mention,\nAnd many worthy and many noble knights,\nSlain in the field, by duty.\nKings princes, at the siege did deed,\nWhen Atropos, to break their lives' thread,\nI want to tell, the mischief and the woe,\nBut I lack knowledge, and I feel so,\nMy pen quakes and trembles in my hand,\nDesiring that my lord dread on sea and land,\nWhose worthiness, throughout the world, does spread,\nMy making rude, shall behold and read,\nWhich of color, fully naked is and bare,\nWho, but if he, of his grace spare,\nFor to disdain and lust to have pity,\nFear I tremble, that he should see.\nBut only mercy, it does his heart embrace,\nBid me presume, fully in his grace,\nSeeing in him, most virtuous and good,\nMercy annexed, unto royal blood,\nAs to a prince, nearness and distance,\nAye before right, pity to prefer,\nThrough the support of his high nobility,\nI will my style dress,\nTo write forth, the story, by and by,\nOf new Troy, in order carefully,\nAs my Author, in Latin, Guydo wrote,\nPraying the reader, where my word may miss,\nCausing the meter, to be halt or lame.\nFor to correct and save me from blame,\nLet him not wait after the curious,\nSince in rhyme, English has scarcely,\nI am so dull, certain that I cannot,\nFollow Guy, that clerk, that curious man,\nWho in Latin has set his words so,\nThat I cannot be like,\nTo show his style in my translation,\nWord by word, like the construction,\nAccording to the manner of grammarians,\nNor like the style of rhetoricians,\nI took not on me this story to translate,\nFor me to further, Clyo came too late,\nThat in such craft has great experience,\nI leave these words and follow the sentence,\nAnd truth of meter I set also aside,\nFor of that art I had as though no guide,\nMe to reduce when I went wrong,\nI took no heed neither of short nor long,\nBut to the truth and left every one,\nBoth of making and of meter be,\nNot purposely to vary much,\nNor for to be diverse or contrary,\nUnto Guydo, as by discordance,\nBut me conform fully in substance.\nOnly in concluding, I cannot boast of the way I have gone in showing the flowers of his eloquence or painting. I have no excellence in various hues, nor can I use noble, fresh, and gay colors richly. I must proceed with sable and black, and in enewing where I find a lack, I ask mercy or I will begin anew. At the same time that Troy town was destroyed and King Laomedon slain through cruelty, Hercules also perished under his eye. He had a son named Pyramus, who was manly, discrete, and prudent. At that time, he was absent from Troy when his father lost his life. He, at that time, lay with Hecuba his wife and his sons about a castle, trying to get it if they may. Those who had mightily labored for him had falsely disobeyed his father.\nAnd unto him was rebellion long\nAll were against Priam, with great strength and might.\nThey had assailed him often and many times.\nHis strength upon them, like a knight in story.\nTo get in arms, worship and honor,\nAnd them to daunt, like a conqueror.\nHe cast himself fully, or that he depart.\nDay by day, his life he began to yield.\nAt their walls, to prove his might,\nWith many barons and many worthy knights.\nFor he yet had, his young lusty blood,\nAnd was in age, flourishing in knighthood.\nAnd at assaults and such strife,\nOn with the first, to assert his life.\nTo hearten his men, he lusted not to be behind.\nFor fear of death, truly as I find.\nBefore the castle, high and thick-walled,\nAnd by his wife, who was called Hecuba,\nThis Priam, had full worthy of degree.\nFive sons and young daughters three.\nOf which the eldest, Ector, was called,\nWho also was, as Phoebus, in his sphere,\nA natural day, goes his circle about him,\nSo far from him, without any doubt,\nReported was, the renown and the name.\nHe was the root and stock of chivalry and very sovereign flower of knighthood, the source and well of worship and honor, and of manhood I dare well express. An example and mirror, and of high prowess, gifting and grounding, and with all this endowed, a wonderfully benign and lowly man in demeanor. Discreet also, prudent and virtuous, his deeds and acts marvelous, remembered long since for he alone excelled everyone. In old authors read, and you may find of his knighthood how they make mention. The next brother, named Parris, was given by nature to heralds, of shape and form, beauty and semblance, so excellent in his time that without any fear he passed all that I can recount. And he was also a full manly knight, but most he used when he should fight, in his hand to bear aloft, for such an archer no man could know. To seek both far and near.\nThat of shooting was his peer, as it was found when he had a do. Alexander, called Dephebus, was the third son. He was a worthy knight and a chivalrous man, with a full great renown. He was a man of high discretion and wise of counsel, as my author tells us.\n\nThe fourth brother was called Helenus, sad and discrete, of high prudence, and a man of great science, renowned particularly in all the liberal arts, for he was expert in them.\n\nThe fifth son was a worthy knight, fresh and lusty, youngest of them all, and as Guydo says, Trojans called him. A manly man, found in battle, desirous of his woman to assail. One of the best in his time, he was called Ector the second. Through Troy's book, within the war, he was often taken upon him. Of his knighthood, many high enterprises. As the story hereafter shall describe.\n\nAnd in his book, like as Virgil writes.\nThe poet old/ By sovereign style, how King Priam/ Had also by Ecuba/ other two sons,\nNamed Polydorus and Ganymede,/ In his green youth,\nWhen the Greeks' coming was/ To Troy's ward, in all haste,\nHe sent forth Polydorus/ Beside a king/ Of full great trust,\nTo keep him till the time/ He saw what conclusion/\nWould fall of the town,/ And what fine/ The war would take,\nThat upon them/ The Greeks did make.\nBut that king/ For false covetousness/\nOf his treasure, as you have heard deceit,\nWhen he saw/ Fortune's variation/\nToward Priam/ And his unhappy chance,\nLike a tyrant/ And murderer also,\nHe cut the child's throat/ A two,\nAnd after that,/ He cruelly,\nMade his men/ To bury him privately,\nThat no man might/ His treason understand,\nBeside a deep sea/ Under the shore.\nThe other son,/ Also named Ides,\nIn Virgil called Ganymede.\nWhom Jupiter, in a forest, encountered\nOn a day, as he went hunting,\nAnd bore him up above the clear stars,\nMade him in heaven his butler,\nEternally with him to dwell,\nIn place of Hebes, his own dear son.\n\nThe first daughter of King Priam\nWas called Creusa, as Virgil writes in his Aeneid,\nAnd she was wedded to Aeneas,\nAs this story and this same Aeneas relate,\nHe was wonderful in his nativity,\nOf whom the father I find doubtless,\nWas in his time called Anchises,\nWho begot him on Venus the goddess,\nFor after her he had such fairness,\nThat never man yet I see\nA man more passing in beauty.\nOf whom this story tells many wonders,\nFor it is he to whom Virgil gave,\nIn his Aeneid,\nThe book in worship of Aeneas\nCompiled, as you may see,\nOf his knighthood and many strong battles,\nBy him achieved or he won Italy,\nAfter long time, that the royal town.\nOf Troy was brought to confusion\nAnd his conquest, if you please take heed,\nIn this poet you may, in order, read,\nAnd in arms wrought, in all his age,\nHis coming also to Carthage,\nFrom Troy-ward, in a little while,\nAll this you may, in verse, behold.\n\nAnother daughter, it is found,\nKing Priam had, of the second birth,\nCalled Cassandra, of full great sadness,\nAnd in manner, a divineress,\nIn every art, had experience,\nOf things future, full prescience,\nTo tell beforehand what that shall be,\nWhose fame spread in costs wide,\nWhich kept chaste, in virginity,\nAnd ever in prayers and honesty,\nShe led her life, and in devotion,\nAfter the rites and religion,\nOf paganism, used in those days,\nThe observances, keeping of their laws.\n\nThe third daughter, named Polyxena,\nYoungest of all, and ever a maiden,\nShe kept herself, and honest in her law,\nUntil the time that Pirrus had her slave,\nOf shape of fortune, was never by nature.\nWrought nor shaped a fairer creature,\nAs I find, this noble king also,\n Had thirty sons, the book says, and no more,\nHardy in arms, and noble found at all,\nThese were called his sons natural,\nAnd they were all, I except none,\nWorthy knights, and manly men each one,\nTheir names, whoever desires to know,\nHe shall find written upon an arrow,\nAfter this story, every one begins,\nBeginning firstly, at the eldest brother.\n\nWhile Priam lay before the castle,\nTo get it if he may,\nAnd around, he sought many ways,\nThe unfortunate tidings were brought to him,\nHow the Greeks had taken Troy,\nAnd slain his worthy father, Laomedon,\nAnd the city of old foundation,\nPitifully was turned up so down,\nThe worthy lords and gentle men each one,\nTaken and slain, and I left not one,\nAlive through the Greeks' cruelty,\nAfter the ruin, alas, of their city,\nAnd Hecuba, his own sister dear,\nLed into exile, with her eyes clear.\nThe king, in his heart, was deeply sorrowful and didn't know what to do. His sudden grief overpowered him, causing him to sob and weep, unable to find any relief from his high distress. He thought his heart would burst from the anguish. And yet, fortune, so deceitful and merciless, showed him what she was capable of. With a heart full of envy, she wrought her worst upon him, revealing her cruel and unforgiving nature. The king was astonished by this tale of woe, and his desire to die grew stronger. With a pale, heavy face, he inclined his head.\nThis life he led and clad him all in black,\nAnd suddenly he broke the siege,\nAs if no longer to remain there,\nBut with his people he began to ride.\nPitifully they went with him to morn,\nTowards Troy they turned once more.\nAnd when he had found the city,\nHe levelled it with the soil and ground,\nThe high walls, once thick and long,\nI brought down, those that were made so strong.\nHis towers and palaces, principal,\nSo excellent and royal, so famous, rich, and noble,\nI found turned into wilderness.\nHis people slain, his sister led away,\nFor very woe, he knew not what to say,\nFor the constraint of his adversary,\nAnd for his harms that would not be cured,\nFor in that time he was fully sure,\nOn no side there was no recourse,\nWherefore he can but sob and weep,\nAnd from his breast sighs sought full deep,\nBroken out with a visage wild and fierce,\nAnd thus, alas, in this furious rage,\nPitifully, all his host and he.\nWithout reply, three days and more,\nTill at last, the dark skies black,\nGan in party for to slack,\nAnd the tempest, some delegates withdrew,\nAnd of their weeping, bloodysshe gan the wave,\nAnd when the flood of woe, is over past,\nThe ebb of joy, must follow in haste,\nTo sorrow ever, it would their hearts rend,\nAnd at a term, every woe must end,\nFor though for friends, men ever weep and wail,\nAfter their death, there may no recovery prevail,\nWherefore the king, after all his care,\nHath sought a way, the city to repair,\nAnd cast himself fully, if it would be,\nTo make reverture, of necessity,\nAnd manfully, after all his tenure,\nWhen that the air,\nGan to wax clear,\nOf the mists,\nOf his cloudy sorrow.\nAnd that some quiet,\nAdawed the morrow,\nOf heaviness,\nAfter the dark night,\nChased away,\nWith a bright sun,\nNew joy,\nFor ever the fine of woe,\nMust be gladness,\nWhen that sorrow is gone.\nAnd so Pyram,\nAfter a certain space,\nWhen his sorrow,\nGan light and lite pace.\nAnd in all his painful death,\nHe went wisely to draw out his heart,\nAnd from his eyes, the waves grew clear,\nImmediately he wrought, as you shall hear.\nThe sorrow abated, and the old sighs,\nBy long process, like as I told you,\nThis worthy king, named Priamus,\nIn his heart now, so desirous,\nUpon the plain, that was so wild and waste,\nHe built so strong a town,\nAt his command, a city to be called Edefy,\nWhich shall utterly defy\nAll enemies and his mortal foe,\nWith rich towers and walls of hard stone,\nAnd all around, the countries envyron,\nHe made seek, in every region,\nFor such workmen as were curious,\nOf wit inventive, of casting marvelous things,\nOr such as could craft, of geometry,\nOr were subtle in their fancy,\nAnd for every one who was good and deceitful,\nMason, hewer, or crafty quarreler,\nFor every righteous and passing carpenter,\nWho might be found far or near,\nFor such as could carve, or hew,\nOr such as were able to serve.\nWith lime and stone, to raise a wall,\nWith battalions and crests, magnificent,\nOr those who had, knowledge in their heads,\nAlabaster, other white or red,\nOr marble gray, to pull it smooth and plain,\nTo make it even, of veins and grain,\nHe sent also, for every image-maker,\nBoth in design and every portrait-painter,\nWho could draw, or with color paint,\nWith fresh hues, that the work not seem feigned,\nAnd those who could, with countenance delight,\nCreate an image, that will never fade,\nTo counterfeit, in metal or stone,\nThe subtle work of Pygmalion,\nOr of Apollo, who, as books tell,\nExcelled in imagery, all other things,\nFor by his crafty working curious,\nThe tomb he made, of King Darius,\nWhich Alexander, on high, raised,\nOnly for men, his fame to praise,\nIn his conquest, by Perseus when he went,\nAnd thus, Priam, for every master sent,\nFor each craftsman and passing joyful,\nTo make knots, with many curious flowers,\nTo set on crests, within and without.\nUpon the wall around the city,\nOr those excelling in practice of any art, called mechanical,\nOr had a name flowing or famous,\nWere afterwards sent to come to Pyramus.\nFor he intends, this noble worthy king,\nTo make a city most royal in existence,\nBroad and wide, and it would be delightful to besiege,\nFor war, proudly about it was contended,\nAnd first, the ground was searched out,\nFull deep and low, so that it failed not,\nTo ensure, the foundation,\nIn the place where the old town\nWas first built, he set the walls,\nAnd he, of land, many miles out measured,\nAbout in compass, to make it large,\nAs the masters who took charge designed,\nTo have the setting and the site,\nFor healthy air, to be more delightful.\nAnd when the soil, defiled with ruin\nOf old walls, was made plain as a line,\nThe workmen began this City to found,\nMightily, with stones square and round,\nThat in this world was unlike it,\nIn workmanship or in building rich.\nI cannot speak of craft or curious masonry. The master and founder of all that work were, doubtless, skilled in geometry, using square, compass, or keeping measure by level or line. I am too uneducated to define or describe this work in every part, for lack of terms suitable to that art. But I dare affirm, in truth, that in all this world, there never was his equal, who wrote it in this city, as my master Guydo has in his book. It might continue in prosperity, in high honor and felicity, free from all assault, perpetually. It was raised in worship of Neptune and named Troy, like the first one, which was through Greek labor. The length was as follows: three days' journey, like the latitude. I have never heard mention of such another foundation, so huge in circumference or of such great largesse or passing beauty.\nSo it was fitting to the sight, and as I read, the walls were high. Two hundred cubits, all of marble gray. Marbled without, for laudes and assay. To make it more pleasant of delight, among the marble was alabaster white. Minted in the walls, and round the town about, to make it show, within and without. So fresh, so rich, and so delectable, that it alone was incomparable. Of all cities, that any mortal man ever saw since the world began. And at the corner of every wall was set a crown of gold, with rich stones inlaid. That shone full bright against the sun's sheen. Every tower breached was so clean, of choice stone that were not far apart. To behold it was very wonderful. Thereto his city, surrounded, had six gates to enter into the town. The first of all, and strongest, also the largest and most principal, of mighty building, alone peerless, was by the king called Dardanides. And in story, like as it is found.\nTymbria was named the second, Helyas the third. Cetheas, the fourth gate. Troiana, the fifth; Anthonydes, the sixth. Both strong and mighty in war and peace, with square towers set on every side. At their corners, workmen had set up great images of pomp and pride. With stern, fell visages, they had carved rich entailments. Made of stone, these images never fail. Curiously enarmed for battle, and through the wall, their faces let forth. At every tower, great guns were set. For assaults and sudden adventures, and on towers, figures were raised. Of wild beasts, as bears and lions, tigers, boars, serpents, and dragons, and hearts with their broad horns, oliphants, and large unicorns, bugles, bulls, and many great griffins. Forged of brass, copper, and laton, they cruelly made fell menaces with their faces on their feet. Barbecans and bulwarks huge, afore the town, made for high refuge. If need were, readily and also late.\nAnd portcullises strong at every gate,\nThat none need challenge, no charging charge,\nAnd the locks thick, broad and large,\nOf gates, all of bright brass,\nAnd within, mighty shrinking was,\nOf strong iron bars, square and round,\nAnd great bars, pitched in the ground,\nWith huge chains, forged for difference,\nWhich none would break, for no violence,\nIt was hard through them to win,\nAnd every house, built within,\nEvery palace and every manor,\nOf marble were, throughout the town,\nOf crafty building, and working most royal,\nAnd the height was, of every wall,\nSixty cubits, from the ground measured,\nAnd there was none, it surpassed,\nIn the City, but of one height each,\nIn very truth, both of poor and rich,\nIt was hard, of high estate or low,\nHouses or palaces, to distinguish,\nSo equally of timber and of stone,\nTheir houses were, raised each one.\nIf I should rehearse, by and by,\nThe corbel knots, by the craft of masonry.\nThe fresh engravings line up right as borders,\nAnd the housing full of bakewynes,\nThe rich coining the lusty tablements,\nVynettes running in casements,\nThough the terms in English would rhyme,\nTo record them all I have no time,\nNor language picked for the nones,\nThe subtle joining to tell of the stones,\nOr how they put in place of mortar,\nIn the jointures copper gilded clear,\nTo make them join by level and by line,\nAmong the marvels freshly to shine,\nAgainst the sun when his light smites,\nTo make the work gleam on every side,\nAnd of this town the streets large and wide,\nWere by craft so prudently provided,\nAnd by workmen set so and divided,\nThat wholesome air amidst might inspire,\nEarly in the morning to those who desire,\nAnd zephyrus, who is so comforting,\nFor nourishing things vegetable,\nIn time of year through every street,\nWith sugared flavor so lusty and so sweet.\nMost pleasantly in the eye, the citizens delighted\nAnd with his breath, comforted them\nWhen they listed to walk themselves to disport\nThrough the town, craftily pursued advancement\nBy great aid and discrete order\nBy compass cast and squared out by squires\nOf polished marble upon strong pillars\nLong and wide and high were designed\nOn the front of every street's side\nFresh allures with lusty high pinnacles\nAnd imposing outward, rich tabernacles\nVaulted above like cloisters\nCalled deambulatory walks\nMen to walk together, two and two\nTo keep them dry when it rained\nOr them to save from tempest wind or thunder\nIf that they wished, shielded themselves there under\nAnd every house was covered with lead\nAnd many gargoyles and many hideous heads\nWith spouts through and pipes as seemed fitting\nFrom the stone work to the canal taught.\nVile filths low into the ground sank\nThrough grates pierced of iron pierced through.\nThe streets paused, both in length and breadth,\nIn checker wise, with white and red stones,\nAnd every craft, that any manner man\nIn any land, devise or reckon can,\nKing Priamus, of high discretion,\nHas ordered to dwell in the town,\nAnd in streets separated, here and yonder,\nEach one from another to be set apart,\nSo that they might, for more commodity,\nEach by himself, work at liberty.\nGoldsmiths first and rich jewelers,\nAnd by themselves, crafty broderers,\nWeavers also, of wool and linen,\nOf cloth of gold, damask and satin,\nOf velvet sendal and doubled samite,\nAnd every cloth that men delighted to seek,\nSmiths also, who could forge well,\nPollaxe swords & sharp spears,\nDarts, daggers, for to maim and wound,\nAnd quartered shields, sharp and square ground,\nThere were also crafty armorsmiths,\nBowyers, and swiftly by fletchers,\nAnd such as could make shafts plain,\nAnd others also, who did their best pain,\nFor the war, to make also traps,\nBright banners and royal coat armors.\nAnd by decree/ Standards and penalties\nAnd for the field/ fresh and gay terrain\nAnd every craft/ that could be reckoned\nWas in this city\nAnd through this town/ sorrowful and excellent\nIn the midst/ a large river ran\nCausing great comfort to them\nWhich on two sides/ had parted the city\nSwiftly flowing/ with clear, fresh streams\nAnd high Xamtus/ as Guido teaches us\nAnd as I read/ upon this flood\nOn each side/ many a mill stood\nWho needed/ their grain and corn to grind\nTo sustain them/ in story as I find\nThis river also/ abundant in fish\nDivided/ by curious workmen\nSo craftily/ through casting sovereign\nThat in its course/ the streams might attain\nFor to reach/ as Guido does come\nBy Archy's strong/ its course to reflect\nThrough conduits/ pipes large and wide\nBy certain means/ artificial\nThat it made/ a full purification\nOf all ordure/ and filth in the town\nWashing the streets/ as they stood arrayed\nAnd the gutters in the earth low\nWere in the city no filth seen,\nFor the canal was so clean scoured,\nAnd devoided in such secret way,\nThat no man might spy or devise\nBy what engine the silts were borne away,\nBy course of the river,\nSo cleverly was every thing covered,\nWhereby the town was utterly assured\nFrom engendering of all corruption,\nFrom wicked air and infection,\nThat often caused mortality and great pestilence,\nAnd by example of this flood, there was made cypress at Rome,\nAnd wrought by Eneas.\nMy Author says, I note if it be so.\nAnd to enhance this royal chief city,\nKing Priam had about in the country,\nSearched with all his whole intent,\nIn provinces that were adjacent,\nIn borough towns and in small villages,\nYielded out of all manner ages,\nAnd of throes, peoples full diverse,\nAnd such as were vacant and dispersed,\nAbout Troy in any region.\nHe made his entrance into the town\nGreat multitude, young and old\nIt delighted him as I have told you\nAnd those before him, foreigners\nHe made citizens of Troy\nHe did this discreetly, as you have heard\nAnd when they began to multiply.\n\nKing Priam, of high affection,\nAfter the building of this mighty town,\nHad in his heart a fancy\nTo magnify his new city\nAnd to keep it in remembrance\nHe fully intended to make some observation\nTo mighty Mars, stern and fierce in hue\nAnd especially with certain new plays\nOn horse and foot, in many various ways\nTo give his men knightly exercise\nEach to put the other to the test\nIn just contests and tournaments\nTo prove their strength when they met\n\nThese plays were founded first in Crete\nAnd in that land, of high and low estate\nThey were dedicated in Mars' honor\nAnd in Palestine, on wakes at night\nOther plays were for men to test their might.\nOnly on foot, with many a soldier point,\nAnd some of them were naked and intent,\nTo win a prize, they did their full intent,\nAnd there was found, by clerkes prudent and bright,\nThe cheese, the play most glorious and wondrous,\nSo subtle and so marvelous,\nThat it were hard, the matter to discern,\nFor though a man studied all his life,\nHe shall ever find diverse inventions\nOf wards making and new alliances,\nThere is therein so great diversity,\nAnd it was first found in this city,\nDuring the siege, as Guyon says,\nBut Jacobus de Vitriaco\nIs contrary to opinion,\nFor like him, he makes mention,\nAnd asserts fully in his advice,\nHow Philometer, a philosopher wise,\nTo a king to put an end to his cruelty,\nFirst found this play in Caldee,\nAnd from thence it was sent to Greece,\nAlso in Troy, by great assent,\nThe play was found first of dice and tables,\nAnd of casting the chances deceitful,\nThat have caused oft of great debate.\nFor if one is now found fortunate,\nTo win a while by favor of his chance,\nOr he beware with sudden variance,\nUnhappily, he is put back,\nAnd another that stood upon the wreck,\nAnd of loss was plunged in distress,\nThey rose to the high riches,\nGladness of one is to another rage,\nA dauntless, hazardous, and passage,\nIf one has joy, another suffers woe,\nLike as the bones run to and fro,\nA hundred syllables in a day they vary,\nNow blandishments, & now they are contrary,\nNo man with them is assured in joy,\nAnd firstly, I recommend that in Troy\nWere sung and read many fresh comedies,\nAnd other ditties that were called tragedies,\nAnd to declare briefly in sentence,\nThe difference between both two.\n\nA Comedy has, in its beginning,\nA prime face, a manner complaining,\nAnd afterward ends in gladness,\nAnd it the deeds only do express,\nOf such as are in poverty plunged low,\nBut Tragedy, who so lists to know,\nIt begins in prosperity.\nAnd it ends ever in adversity\nAnd it also does the conquest treat\nOf rich kings and of lords great\nOf mighty men and old conquerors\nWho by fraud or fortune's showers\nAre overthrown and humbled from their glory\nAnd once upon a time, this memory was hallowed\nOf tragedies as books record\nWhen they were read and sung as I find\nIn the theatre, there was a small altar\nAmyddas set, that was half circular\nWhich, to the east, was directed\nUpon which a pulpit was erected\nAnd therein stood an ancient poet\nTo rehearse by the sweet art of rhetoric\nThe noble deeds that were historical\nOf kings, princes, and of these old emperors\nThe great empire also of conquerors\nAnd how they gained Martyr's high honor\nThe laurel green for the fine of their labor\nThe palm of knighthood deserved by old date\nOr Parcas made them pass into fate.\nAnd after that, with cheer and pale face\nWith style inclined, began to turn his tale.\nAnd to sing, after all their losses,\nThe fatal stroke of Antropos,\nAnd tell also, for their worthy heads,\nThe sudden breaking of their lives' thread,\nHow pitifully, they made their mortal end,\nThrough false fortune, it all will soon perish,\nAnd how the fine,\nOf all their worthiness,\nEnded in sorrow and high trust,\nBy deceit or false treason,\nBy sudden murder or poison's vengeance,\nOr conspiring, of fretting, false envy,\nHow unwarily, they met their end,\nAnd how their renown, & their high fame,\nWas suddenly made hateful,\nAnd how their honor, through it all declined,\nAnd the misfortune, of their unhappy fate,\nAnd how fortune was to them unkind,\nAll this was told, and read by the poet,\nAnd while he, in the pulpit, stood,\nWith deadly face, all devoid of blood,\nSinging his dirges, with Muses all to rent,\nAmidst the theatre, hidden in a tent,\nThere came out men, grieving for their dear ones,\nDisfigured, they wore visages of grief.\nPlaying by signs / in the people's sight,\nThe poet sang / with great height,\nSo that there was / no manner of discordance,\nAt seeming his ditties / and their countenance.\nFor like as he / a lofty theme expressed,\nWords of joy / or of heaviness,\nMeaning and there / beneath of them playing,\nWas always answering / from point to point,\nNow sad / now glad / now heavy & now light,\nAnd face changed / with a sudden sight,\nSo craftily / they could them transform,\nConforming them / to the chance plentiful,\nNow to sing / and suddenly to weep,\nSo well they could / they kept their observations,\nAnd this was done / in April and in May,\nWhen flowers new / both on bush and hay,\nAnd flowers fresh / begin to spring,\nAnd the birds / in the wood sing,\nWith lust supplied / of the summer sun,\nWhen these plays / in Troy began,\nAnd in the theater / hallowed and held,\nAnd thus the rite / of old tragedies,\nPriamus / the worthy king began.\nOf this matter / no more tell I can.\nBut I will forth / this story write.\nAnd on my mother's side, boisterously I pondered,\nHow Hector, diligent and fiercely burning,\nDesired and in his heart earnestly,\nTo build a palace and a rich hall,\nWhich should be his chief dwelling place,\nHis royal seat and sovereign mansion.\nWhen he began to approach his work,\nHe built it high upon a rock,\nTo assure it in its foundation,\nAnd named it the noble Ilium.\nThe sight of which, justly circular,\nBy compass cast round as any sphere,\nAnd he who would truly account for the ground,\nIn the theater first must enter,\nTaking the line which passes through the center,\nBy geometry, as long as it pertains to that art,\nAnd treble it with the seventeenth part,\nHe finds might, by experience,\nThe whole measure of the circumference,\nWhat land also plainly contained was,\nWithin the strong wall.\nThe crest of which, where it was lowest,\nWas in height full six hundred paces,\nBuilt of marvels, royal and strong.\nAnd many other rich stones amongst\nWhose towers were raised up so high\nThat they reached almost to the sky\nThe work of which no man might amend\nAnd he who liked by Greek mythology ascended\nHe might see in his inspection\nThe bounds of many regions and provinces that stood around\nAnd the walls within and without\nEnduring with knots carved clean\nDepicted with azure, gold, cyanide, and green\nThese very works, when the sun shone\nUpon the gold among the stones\nGave light without any shadow\nAs Phoebus does in his midday sphere\nThe work of window and also of the fenestrals\nWrought of beryl and of clear crystal.\nAnd amidst this Ilion\nSo fresh, so rich, of foundation\nWhich clerks yet in their books praise\nKing Priam made a hall to raise\nExcellent in beauty and in strength\nThe latitude corresponding with the length\nAnd of marvel, outwardly was the wall\nAnd the timber most noble in particular\nWas half of cedar, as I rehearse can.\nAnd the remainder of the rich Eban, which I dare specify,\nCan be joined with stone through the craft of carpentry.\nFor those of timber have the sovereignty,\nAnd to tell of this Eban tree, as books state truly,\nIt comes from Ethiopia and India,\nBlack as jet and will soon become,\nWhen it is quarried, harder than any stone,\nAnd everlasting and enduring,\nNot corrupted by water nor moisture.\nFurthermore, it was paved with great diligence\nWith stones, square by level and line,\nAnd of masonry and passing excellence,\nAbove which rose a sea,\nCuriously made of stones and pearl,\nCalled the chief and principal seat of the realm,\nBefore which was set, with great delight,\nA board of Eban and of very white,\nSo equally joined and so clean,\nThat in the work there was no joint seen,\nAnd seats were made on every side,\nOnly the estates were divided by order.\nAlso in the hall, as it was fitting,\nOn either side of the table was an ebony tree and this king's royal seat. In the party opposing it, I raised a dormant figure, high in the hall, in the other style. It was as straight as a line, in the opposite, of pure metal and clear stones. In breadth and length, a rich altar, on which there stood, of figure and visage, a wonderful image of massy gold. To be honored in that high seat, only in honor of Jupiter the great.\n\nAnd the statue, for all its great height, was fifteen cubits complete. A golden crown was upon its head, with heavenly sapphires and many rubies red. Encrusted around were other precious stones. And among them, I found white pearls, large and round, and for most chief, all darkness to confound, was a carbuncle, king of stones all. To comfort and gladden the hall, and to enlighten in the black night, with the freshness of its rosy light.\nThe value was inestimable for this image,\nAnd richesse plainly comparable,\nFor this figure, by division,\nWas of shape and proportion,\nFrom head to foot, so masterfully entitled,\nThat in appointing, the workman failed not,\nIt to perfect, by crafty excellence.\nPriamus honored him above all goddesses,\nIn all mischief, to call and name him,\nFor in him was his whole affection,\nHis sovereign trust and devotion,\nHis hope also and his affiance,\nHis health, his joy, and his assurance,\nAnd his welfare and prosperity,\nHe had committed to his delight,\nWishing in heart, truly assured,\nFrom all mischief thereby,\nAnd differed in each adversity,\nAnd held his reign in high felicity,\nAnd in honor continually to shine,\nWhile Jupiter, through his divine power,\nProtected him and his,\nThis was his trust and full opinion,\nAnd thus this work, finally achieved,\nPriamus rejoiced with full joy,\nThat he his city and noble ilion.\nThis worthy man, Pryam, reigned sovereignly in quietude in his royal seat in this new Troy for many days, where I leave him. He rejoiced in his legs and lived in joy. Proceeding further, I come to the effect of my matter. O hateful harm, which most is to be dreaded, kindled long ago, the spark of old hatred, the root of debate, the ground of envy, and the cause of all offense. O flame of malice, which has made fresh sores to fester. When you are once in a heart, which for disdain of mercy may not let a man live in equity, but deludes him and leads him astray, awakening ancient malice with your venom and poison. This envious serpent, which was slain long ago, has through this address awoke Pryamus.\nI. Meditated greatly / to live in tranquility\nII. And measured himself / in his iniquity\nIII. Against the Greeks / avenged, to be\nIV. For where he / in peace held his reign\nV. With his legs / in supreme joy\nVI. Without annoyance / or any disturbance\nVII. This serpent / with new remembrance\nVIII. Without advice / or discreet arrest\nIX. So hot a flame / kindled in his breast\nX. Of old envy / with fresh rancor meant\nXI. That likely is never / to be quenched\nXII. For Priam now / in his intentional sight\nXIII. Cast and compassed / revolving up and down\nXIV. How strong he was / in riches and men\nXV. How noble and mighty / was also his city\nXVI. And abundant / shortly to conclude\nXVII. Both of plenty / and of multitude\nXVIII. Of men of arms / and of chivalry\nXIX. Which stirred him / to have fantasy\nXX. Alas the while / to his unhappy chance\nXXI. That to be dead / he takes vengeance\nXXII. Upon his foe / the fire of hot envy\nXXIII. So burned him in ward / by malice\nXXIV. Standing in purpose / that no man may change\nXXV. Of his damages / avenged be some day\nXXVI. And of murders / that they on him have wrought.\nAnd when he had found a convenient time,\nHe summoned all his lords and knights,\nExcused was none, not even those of high degree.\nThey obeyed with great humility,\nHis command was obeyed without delay,\nEach one came again on a certain day.\nHis sons were also present, except Ector, who was absent at that time.\nIn the strong and mighty region of Panomye,\nWhich was in subjection to King Priam through his worthiness,\nTo amend things and redress,\nEctor had gone into this Panomye,\nFor certain reasons, as he believed was best,\nTo set them in quiet and rest.\nFor he was always just and prudent,\nSo well advised and so patient,\nAnd so renowned in his governance,\nThat he was reluctant to do vengeance.\nInstead, he might have easily treated,\nTo reform things, both small and great.\nFor reluctant was this noble, worthy knight.\nFor any haste to execute right\nOr causeless by rigor to condemn,\nAnd in this while, full worthy and solemn,\nKing Priam of lords great and small\nWithin Troy held a royal court,\nAs he that likes for no cost to spare,\nAnd earnestly his meaning to declare,\nHe in his sea his lords envious\nBegan thus to show his heart's motion.\n\nO worthy lords that be now here present,\nFaithful and true of heart and intent,\nIt is not unknown to your discretion,\nThe great damages and oppression\nWhich the Greeks have wrought upon us,\nWithout cause, for a thing of naught.\n\nThis other day, as who says but late,\nThat as I think, so new is yet the date,\nThat it was fresh, remembered in your mind,\nTo your blood, if that you be kind,\nFor I suppose no forgetfulness\nMay put away the mortal heaviness\nOf old harms which ever renew again,\nIn my memory I say to you in certainty,\nAnd as I think, plainly in your thought,\nThat ever is green and never dies nothing.\nHow they have slain our progenitors,\nOnce so noble warriors,\nOur city burned and brought to ruin,\nAnd falsely robbed it,\nTurned all into wilderness,\nAnd carried our riches to Greece,\nMy father slain, named Lamedon,\nWithout cause or occasion,\nAnd took from him his gold and treasure,\nWhich seems to me a foul error,\nWe might of right amend this well,\nAnd desire to justly avenge,\nBefore the gods, of such high offense,\nOnly of reason and conscience,\nAnd passing all their mortal cruelty,\nThere is one thing that most grieves me,\nThat they unfairly, against kindness,\nNo reward given to worthiness,\nTo the birth, nor the royal blood,\nOf her who is so fair and good,\nI mean my sister, called Exyon,\nWhom they alas, to their confusion,\nDispersed and kept not equal,\nFrom day to day, in dishonor,\nThrough her honor and name, born.\nFor they are blind / to heed or admonish the root of their kindred,\nThey are so induced / and she, of such high estate,\nHas spoken,\nI suppose / that others of low degree,\nAre dishonestly served / by you,\nYou may think / and truly,\nHow wives, maids, and others / in that company,\nWith allies / are named and used at their lust,\nOn the Greeks / I have no better trust,\nFor they spare not / blood nor age,\nAnd thus they live in / torment and servitude,\nWithout thought of mercy or pity,\nWhich touches you / as well as me,\nAnd as it seems / to equity and right,\nYou ought each one / with all your full might,\nTo seek away / the wrongs with which you are offended,\nAnd that we work / all by one assent,\nAnd proceed / like to our intent,\nOf their malice and cursed cruelty,\nAll at once / avenged to be,\nAnd that we be / in heart will and thought,\nOf one accord / and never vary.\nFor right and reason, require vengeance on him who does the wrong. Though it be that it abides long, I trust also in the goddesses' righteousness That they shall help us in our harms to redress And favor us in our innocence To chastise them that wrought this offense. Also, you know how our city Is strong and mighty & of great certainty With towers high & walled for the war That also far as it shows, shines sun or star There is none like it for to reckon all That may in force be thereto perilous You know also, as it shall be found With chivalry, how that we have abundance Expert in arms and of old assayed That for fear, never were dismayed And we have plenty also of victuals Of friendship too that will not fail us With all their might to do us succor Wherefore I advise, without more delay To set upon them, since we are able And now is the time, it seems to me For manhood bids, make no delay To avenge a wrong, what that may be.\nFor in differing is often great damage\nTo work in time is double advantage\nFor to our purpose lacketh never adequacy\nAnd through our ability we are assured well-being\nBut let us not be hasty or rash in working\nAnd war also stands in danger\nFor any of mart, doubtful is the outcome\nI recommend first to the Greeks that we send\nTo find out if they will amend our harms\nWithout strife war or more debate\nThan we can say that we are fortunate\nAnd if they are contrary to reason\nTo concede to this conclusion\nTo grant our asking of equity and right\nThen we have a cause for proving our might\nBut are we not to proceed by rigor?\nWe shall to them offer all measure\nAs far as right and reason require\nAnd of disdain if they list not here\nThen our quarrel is divided of willfulness\nYrooted is upon slyness\nAnd if we ask amends first in patience\nGod and fortune I hope will not assent\nIn the end we shall not repent.\nAnd it is better by peas to have redress\nThan to begin a war without wisdom\nTherefore, let us our unfortunate adventure\nPatiently suffer and endure\nAnd in our port, be but humble and plain\nUpon answer, what that they will say\nFor though it be in my intention\nI am imputed by just occasion\nTo proceed from you, to avenge\nI will all put out of remembrance\nAnd let slide by for forgetfulness\nThe wrongs do and void all heaviness\nTowards Greeks, and ask of them no more\nBut that they will Exyona restore\nTo us again, which is to me most dear\nOnly to stop all debate and war\nFor the surplus of our mortal life\nWe shall dissemble and prudently endure\nOur harms old, forth in patience\nIf you agree, say here upon\nFor if this sound is despised by them\nAnd they list to reason not obey\nThen we may justly seek another way\nTo have redress; for now there is no more\nSave I purpose to send Anthenore.\nA man, discrete and observant,\nParticularly skilled in treaties,\nWise and eloquent as you know,\nPassingly prudent,\nWhen the king had finished speaking,\nEach council member consented,\nThat Anthenor should undertake this journey,\nHe made ready in haste,\nWithout delay, and would not refuse,\nTo take on this embassy,\nWell advised, in his discretion,\nHe took or went, obtaining information,\nFrom place to place, of this great charge,\nHe cast himself to stand, steadfast,\nWithout error, as one who could do good,\nHe understood the outcome clearly,\nFor every thing, he weighed in his mind,\nOr that he went, and forgot nothing,\nFor a word, he failed not,\nHe set sail, and began to ship,\nAnd in a short time, he and his company,\nArrived in Thessaly,\nAt a city, called Minusia,\nWhere by chance, was King Peleus,\nAt the same time, and Anthenor was there,\nTo the king, they went, the right way.\nThis Troyan knight, whom Guydo had received at first face with benign reception, but when he knew the cause of his coming, he had in haste, without further delay, gone to Author with a fierce visage. This Troyan knight, who had never startled Adel, remained full demure and composed. He was not hasty or rash to speak, but waited with a steady gaze and calm face to speak to Pelleus with a manly mien. He said in effect:\n\nThe worthy king, called Priamus,\nSo wise, so noble, so famous,\nAnd of knighthood passing excellent,\nFirst sent to you in a good way\nOut of Troy, his royal chief city,\nHis full intent and message here by me.\nIf it is so that you do not disdain,\nPatiently to give audience,\nRemembering first in your consideration\nThe harms not long ago\nAnd the wrongs that you wrought also\nCruelly in Troy land on his progenitors.\nWhat injuries and destruction, causeless,\nWithout occasion, you showed, of cruelty and mercilessness,\nYou destroyed his city, killed his father named Lamedowne,\nBurned and beat down his palaces, houses, and towers,\nAnd carried away his riches and treasure,\nLeaving neither palace, house, nor tower spared,\nIn your slaughter, woman, child nor man,\nNone could escape from your sword's destruction,\nAnd yet one thing that most moves him in his heart,\nHis sister, called Exyon, is held and kept by King Thelamon,\nDishonestly, against all gentility,\nTo great dishonor and great villainy,\nOf her kindred, as you may see,\nTreated nor cherished like to her degree,\nTherefore, since you are so wise a knight,\nYou ought to advert, and to have a sight,\nTo such things, of just affection,\nAnd consider, in your discretion,\nOf gentleness and equity,\nHow such wrongs might be amended.\nTherefore, Pyramus, of great wisdom,\nAs he who fully, with all his busyness,\nOf heart and will, desires peace and rest.\nSendeth this to you, begging that you will do your best diligence to make this small recompense to him, so that he may have restoration. Through your knightly mediation, may his sister obtain this without longer delay. The remainder he will let be. Strife and war only to avoid. He desires fully to show peace and quiet of whole affection and to pursue measure and reason. And finally, as you may see, all occasion of war to flee. Consider this, for this is the full meaning of my message.\n\nWhen Pelleus plainly understood,\nOf sudden ire he waxed in heart wroth,\nAnd fell, fierce and melancholy,\nAnd of rancor right melancholy,\nSo he might not temper nor appease\nThe hasty fire that seized his heart.\nFor he anon, in full despising wise,\nThreatened Pryamus and despised,\nAnd of malice set his son at naught,\nWith all the means Antenor had sought.\nAnd also this Troyan knight he menaced,\nAnd bade in haste he should vacate his place.\nUpon peril, after falling,\nHe immediately went out of sight,\nAnd in haste, he and his men\nTook to the sea without delay,\nBeginning to sail out of Thesalya,\nAnd in their haste, they quickly reached\nUp at Salempe, a mighty strong city,\nWhere by fortune, Anthenor found King Thelamon,\nAnd to his palaces, he was conducted,\nI find this to be the first instance,\nWhen he had arrived,\nHe was welcomed into his presence,\nBenignly, without offense,\nFor Exyone was present in those days,\nOf adventure, standing by his side,\nAnd at the queen's reverence,\nAnthenor took the better seat,\nAccording to custom, King Thelamon\nHarbored deep hatred and indignation,\nTowards every Trojan he could see,\nParticularly towards them,\nFor he harbored envy and rancor,\nWhich in his heart could never abate.\nBut despite this, he granted audience to Anthenor,\nWho came before him in full sobriety.\nHis tale begins, as I shall relate. Sir, with your grace's support, I ask for a suitable moment to declare the reason for my arrival. I will recount, without further delay, the entire matter briefly, to make it known to your magnanimity. Signifying, without displeasure, that Pyramus, who governs Troy, has sent word to you. He requests, firstly, that you forget all other wrongs and deeds. He implores you, of your high nobility, of equity and gentleness, to restore Exyona, whom you hold, speaking plainly, not fitting her condition. Therefore, he prays to end all debates and erase every harm from memory, for the sake of knightly honor and your own glory. Send her home and grant delivery, graciously, without hesitation. Whom you have held for so many long days, neither tarries nor sets any delays. Let no sloth be found in you.\nFor it is too great a rout to record how you have used her. It may not be goodly excused that we let this lightly pass. So, you benevolently provided to send her home as I have said. Here is the charge that was laid upon me without further delay: What good answer will you send in return?\n\nWhen Thelamon had listened to his tale,\nTo hasty ire he grew pale,\nThe fiery coke had made him so mad\nThat from his face, the blood had paled,\nWithin his heart, he began to fret and bite,\nWith a look askance and turned up the white,\nOf high disdain, with a face despising,\nWith a pale smiling and laughter furious,\nHe began to rake out the feeble mortal fire\nOf fretting hate that burned in his desire,\nAnd shortly made to Anthenor this objection,\nAnd said, friend, whatever you may be,\nI marvel greatly, and wonder is to me,\nWhat adventure or sudden new thing\nImprudently moves now your king\nTo me to make such a sound.\nThou were a fool when thou took on hand\nUnhappy or unfortunate for me to bring\nThis embassy For I with him have no business\nNor he with me, and look thou say him so\nFor we are not acquainted but allied\nNor I anything plainly delight\nIt is briefly said if thou list to hear\nTo do for him nor at his prayer\nFor I have no joy nor feast\nTo do right nothing sothly at his request\nI well know that but a while ago\nI was at Troy myself and others\nTo reform a thing that was amiss\nThrough your offense, thus it is\nFor certain thing wrought by Lamus\nAnd by our manhood we won there the town\nAnd slew the king & all that was with him\nIn knightly wise him meeting in the field\nAnd for that I, as everyone might see,\nDid enter first into that city\nIt was granted to me in sign only\nOf my high victory without contradiction\nBy all the Greeks to have possession\nOf her that is to me most enterable.\nExyona, whom you claim here,\nBut be well sure, your asking is in vain,\nFor truly sure, and be right well certain,\nYou will not get her not at one word if I may,\nFor there shall first be made full great strife,\nOr I will leave her, lasting all my life,\nWhoever grumbles or there against strives,\nIt would not be fitting, me to leave her so,\nFor whom I had so great a care,\nOr I got her with spending of my blood,\nAnd whoever is angry, therewith or wroth,\nI will keep her, as it shall be found,\nFor whom I had so many mortal wounds,\nAt Troy town, or that I won her,\nAnd in good faith, as far as I can,\nShe shall not lightly from my hands cease,\nFor she alone stands so in my grace,\nFor her beauty and her seemly appearance,\nFor her bounty and her goodly appearance,\nThat if I shall, my reason soon finds,\nShe is indeed the most feminine,\nThat ever I saw, and without fear,\nOf port and conniving, and of womanhood,\nShe has alone, in very existence,\nThe sovereign and the excellence.\nThat Pyramus for as long as you can say,\nWhile I live, keep her not again,\nBut he will take her by force, with many deadly wounds,\nWith sharp swords, & square spears ground,\nFirst there will be such a strife,\nThat it will cost many men's lives,\nOr she will be restored,\nTake this for certain, you get no more from me,\nWhen he pleases, he may well begin,\nBut I suppose he will gain but little,\nNone other way, but as I told you,\nAnd you know what, a great role I hold,\nTo put you so far in Ilium,\nTo execute this embassy,\nThe manly Greeks, so boldly offend,\nBeware therefore, that he sends no more,\nUpon your life, for rancor nor for pride,\nNow go your way, for if you linger,\nSothly in my sight,\nYou know the prize, of it I have the height,\nYou fear not, who is left or lost,\nThan Antenor alone, to ship he goes,\nAnd to sail, he lists not to delay,\nTowards an island, that is called Achaea,\nAnd when he has taken the land.\nAt his arrival, he found\nThe worthy kings Pollux and Castor,\nAnd right away, this Trojan Anthenor\nWithout abode, came to their court,\nTo deliver to them his message:\nAnd when they were present,\nHe spoke thus:\n\nThe noble king of Troy has sent his will to you through me,\nBeseeching you in a humble manner,\nThat you are pleased to grant his request\nFor equity's sake, to condescend\nAnd goodly help a certain wrong,\nConcerning his sister called Exyon,\nSo that he may have restoration\nOf her again, through your discreet advice,\nFor since you are so manly and so wise,\nIt is likely, in his opinion,\nThat by your good mediation,\nShe may be restored gently.\n\nTherefore he prays, with all his heart entreats,\nIn a worthy manner, to do your duty,\nThat you hold yourselves so knightly and so sage,\nAnd he will plainly put aside\nAll the old wrongs, in suspense,\nFor he desires, of knightly high prudence.\nTo stem war / and to warn him of this\nFor he is neither reckless nor rash,\nBut ever in his works diligent,\nTo cast beforehand what shall befall,\nAnd things future, advancing from afar,\nAnd see what peril there is in war.\nWill he conform / and rest,\nFor he conceives / that it is best,\nEvery man / unwilling to sew,\nAnd prudently / also to avoid,\nOf debates / each occasion.\nLo here the fine / of his intention\nWhich I commit / to your judgment\nAnd Castor then / of yre impetuous,\nFor haste / could not abide,\nHis cruel heart / so swelled with pride,\nBroke out at once / with a despotic face,\nAnd said friend / I know of no truce,\nThat Greeks did ever / do to your king,\nTo ask amends / it is a wonder,\nThat never / did he do so,\nSave that we made / a manner of recompense\nOf a wrong / wrought by Hector.\nThe first / sought occasion\nAgainst Greeks / in an ungodly way,\nThat caused us / to rise up\nAll at once / and manfully set upon him,\nIn due right / to quell.\nLike his decree, we have plainly served him,\nAnd nothing wrought but as he deserved.\nTo atone for his offenses, he now begins to late,\nFor we expect more, his mortal hate,\nThan other peers, accord or unity.\nAs he will find, effectually, afterwards,\nIf it happens that he deals with us,\nThe bargain shall be fully abandoned,\nAnd over more, I speak now to thee,\nIt likely is, as it seems to me,\nThat Priamus, the lover, did not value,\nThe worth, I suppose, of a mite,\nWhen he sent, upon his message,\nAnd you, of folly, did great outrage,\nTo take upon thee, so high a perilous thing,\nTo bring such tidings to the Greeks,\nWhere through thy life, is put in jeopardy,\nBut I counsel thee, hasten to repent,\nAnd Antenor, for his part, set sail,\nAnd with the wind, began to sail anon,\nTowards an island called Pyllion,\nAnd in all haste, when he did arrive,\nHe brought him forth, to the court, as blue.\nDuke Nestor, in every way, held his household royally, as a king. Antenor, sad and anxious, sat before Nestor on his seat. When he was moved to speak, he told his tale openly and plainly, from beginning to end. It was in vain to repeat it more, for he had always concluded it in one way, as you have heard, concerning Exyone.\n\nBut Duke Nestor, with a face showing nothing, was like ashes within. The color was inwardly fretting him so much that his blood was drawn down to his heart. This sorrow made him so painful that he shook in every joint and limb. He could not restrain his hand. Melancholy, seeking to be avenged, made him like a lion, so wild and angry.\n\nFar from himself, he was alienated, and inwardly consumed by rancorous passion. With a reversed look and furious in sight, he could not compose himself. He felt such great anger and adversity within himself and amidst all his cruelty.\nOf sudden haste, at once he broke in\nAnd even thus to Antenor he spoke:\nO thou, said he, with all thy white words\nAs I suppose that thou knewest full well\nTo whom thou hast told thy tale\nFor I marvel how thou art so bold\nTo presume my ears to offend\nAnd for Priam, so proudly to pretend\nA manner title in thy king's name\nThe worthy Greeks, for to put in blame\nAnd unjustly of foul hardiness\nRequire of them for to have redress\nOf Injuries wrought upon us\nBoldly affirming of false presumption\nUpon Greek wrongs outragious\nWhich in my mind are so odious\nSo fretting also, so biting and sneaking\nFor to delight, that I may not sustain\nIn my hearing, lo, hateful is the sound\nThat ne'er the honor of my hereditary crown\nRefrained me, I should in cruel wise\nExecute swiftly justice\nThrough the rigor of my mortal law\nWith beasts wild, first to do the draw\nAnd thereupon, for thy feigned tale\nDismember all on pieces small\nIn spite of Priamus the king.\nTo teach others or bring new tales, presumptuously, to any lord but the one I knew, this should be, for your presumption, your last reward and final recompense, without mercy, like I have decreed, and in all haste, depart from my sight, for it greatly offends me, to have it in my presence. Through disdain, it causes my displeasure. Antenor thought it best to leave, it was not healthy for me to stay longer. But wisely, for rancor or pride, he cast off what was best, and to his ship, he began to repair, and in all haste, without delay, he took to the sea, and sailed homeward fast, But suddenly, the wave boiled, the sea rose, and the clouds turned black, For the tempest to appear and the wind to wake, The heavens were wonderfully agitated, With dreadful fire from the bright lightning, The thunder struck, the tempest drove, And the mast began to sway, Now it was again in danger, now on the verge of drowning.\nThe fell weather grew so fierce that they didn't delay, but upon death,\nAt the very point of yielding up the breath,\nFor they saw no other remedy,\nAnd among them all began to call and cry,\nTo their gods and vows make,\nAnd devoutly, to undertake,\nEach one like one of age,\nIf they escaped, to go on pilgrimage,\nLike the rites of their pagan wise,\nTo the gods, to do their sacrifices,\nSo that among everyone,\nFor all the tempest, perished was not one,\nBut before Troy, within a short space,\nThey arrived, everyone by grace,\nEscaped safely, from every jeopardy,\nBoth Anthenor and all his company,\nAnd to the temple, he took the right way,\nAnd in his prayer, there he lay long.\nWith many another, also for his sake,\nThanking their gods, it made them so escape.\nEvery peril and tempest of the sea,\nAnd after this to the king goes he,\nWith his lords, about him royal and grand,\nIn his palaces and princely hall,\nSat and abode, solemnly they remained,\nTrue report of this embassy is given,\nThis Antenor first made mention before the king,\nBy just relation, of his exploit,\nAnd in what way, and how uncourteously,\nHe was received by King Peleus,\nOf the threats and scornful words,\nThat he suffered from King Thelamon,\nBeing as fierce as a wild lion,\nAnd afterwards he also complained,\nOf the scorn of the two brothers,\nOf his rebuke and his great fear,\nAnd at Nestor, how he fared,\nThat with his life he might yet escape,\nAll this he told, and then made an end,\nOf his journey and also of his return,\nThen Pyram was in despair,\nEither by force or by adventure,\nEver again to recover his sister.\nFor he conceives, in his advice,\nBy clear report, of expert evidence,\nThat the more he is kind to them,\nThe more unfairly they retaliate against him.\nAnd where he shows debonair behavior,\nThere he finds the most contrary response.\nSo ungratefully they repay him,\nShowing by signs that they set light to it.\nBy his friendship, for all he could discern,\nHe was deeply sorry for his heart's sake.\nHe was compelled, rightly, to proceed,\nTo have redress, only by rigor.\nFor the profit of peace might have no favor,\nTo be admitted, only by righteousness.\nThrough high contempt, of hasty, willful spite,\nFor every means of measure was in vain,\nSave only war, engendered by disdain.\nBegun and caused, all of old hatred,\nWhich began at once, such a flame to breed,\nOf new envy, in the king's breast,\nThat Priamus is so filled with ire and rancor,\nAnd with disdain, so deeply grounded and sharpened,\nThat wherever he loses or wins.\nUpon Greeks he will begin a war,\nAnd Iuppiter manfully as a knight,\nHis life his death, because he had right,\nAnd cast him first a navy to send,\nInto Greece his form to defend,\nAnd like a knight his force to haunt,\nIn knightly wise he cast him to daunt,\nThe pomp of Greeks and their stubbornness,\nAnd finally their pride to oppress.\n\nBut say, Pryam, what infelicity,\nWhat new trouble, what happenings,\nOr from above what hateful Influence\nDescended unexpectedly,\nTo make thee,\nWhat sudden sort, what ungracious fortune,\nWhat chance unhappy, without reason,\nWhat willful lust, what bold audacity\nHave put thy soul out of tranquility,\nTo make thee weary of thy prosperity?\nWhy hast thou favor in bitterness more than sweetness,\nThat canst not live in peace nor in quiet?\nThou art troubled by willful motions,\nOvermastered by thy passions,\nFor lack of reason and of high prudence,\nDarkened and blind from all providence,\nAnd full of barbarity to cast before and see.\nThe harms following your adversity\nYou were too slow/wisely to consider\nFor want of sight/made to the sidetrack\nThrough mist of error/falsely to foresee\nBy paths wrong/from the right way\nTo avoid reason/of willful haste\nWhere was your guide/where was your mistress\nDescrecyon/so prudent and so led\nA foolish one/that should have led\nFrom the traces/of sensuality\nThough it seldom/in man's power be\nBy suffering/himself to refrain\nWhen sudden Ire/doth his heart strain\nYou should before/better cast your chance\nWrought by counsel/& not put in balance\nYour sykerness/alas why did you so\nAnd have simulated/some deal of your woe\nAnd cast your change/well before the prime\nTo have forgotten/wrongs of old time\nAnd thought before/in your adversity\nThat often falls/in experience\nThat while men/do most busyness\nVengefully/they their wrongs to redress\nWith double harm/or that they are aware\nThey fall again/in a new snare\nAnd damages that were forgotten,\nBy false report, of rumor fresh and green,\nAre renewed through swift fame,\nThat flees so far to hide all lords' names.\n\nNamely when they, to a purpose bent,\nOnly of head and see not the end,\nFor pride and sudden heat,\nThey void themselves out of all quiet.\n\nAdversity not to work honestly,\nNor the proverb that teaches commonly,\nHe that stands sure haste him not to move,\nFor if he does, it shall him afterward grieve,\nAnd he that walks surely on the plain,\nIf he stumbles, it is but in vain,\nBut if so be he is careless,\nTo put himself wilfully in adventure,\nAnd of himself to recoil,\nTo eschew peril, I hold him a wretch.\n\nFor truly, Pyramus, thou were reckless,\nTo commit thy quiet and the peace,\nSo dreadfully enduring, by no date,\nTo cruel fortune or to fickle fate,\nWhose manner is, of custom commonly,\nThat when a man trusts most sovereignly,\nOf this goddess blind and full unstable.\nShe is most deceitful to him,\nHe should abate from his royal seat,\nSuddenly make him down to fall,\nAnd with a trap throw him on the bake.\nWhoever strives for gain shall have little success,\nShe is so cunningly with her gynne's snare,\nThat she can make a man from his welfare\nWith her pantler, which is fraudulently engaged.\nWhen he least expects it, for to be remembered,\nTherefore no man should have any affiance,\nIn fortune nor in her variable affiance,\nLet no one yield his ease more upstart,\nDesire the play, for it will afterwards depart,\nTo turn his chance, either to well or woe,\nFor seldom in one does she carry on the game.\nAs you may see, by the example of Priamus,\nHe is so desirous of folly,\nTo work with his head and follow his own will,\nTo trouble, alas, the calm of his tranquility.\nAs in this book, it will be found hereafter,\nHe and his city plainly to confound,\nAnd utterly to his confusion.\nAfterward, by long succession,\nIt shall be read in story and in fable,\nAnd remembered with delightful dites.\nTo please you who will read this, by example they may beware and learn\nOf hasty lust or voluntary action,\nTo begin a thing where no certainty depends, as strife, war, and debate,\nFor in such play, unwarily comes checkmate,\nAnd harm I have done, to late is to amend,\nWhose fine is often other than they intend,\nIn this story, as you shall afterwards see,\nLet Pyramus always be your mirror,\nHasty error by times to correct,\nFor I myself will directly address,\nAfter the manner of his rude traces,\nThe remainder of this story to conclude.\nThis worthy king, ever of one mind,\nGrowing more and more, fired with fervor,\nHas sent his briefs and letters,\nTo his lords to hold a parliament,\nAnd them commanded in all the haste they may,\nTo come at once at their assigned day,\nFrom every ward and party of the town,\nTo assemble in noble Ilium.\nChief of his reign, and when they were all present,\nWith him present, this noble king alone,\nBefore them all, as soon as he can.\nHis will declares, and I shall begin. Sirs, because you are wise, it need not take long to recount the reason for your coming. But I mean to tell you briefly, in a nutshell: I sent a knight of mine, whom the Anthenorians call, to recall Exyon. His mission was in vain, for the Greeks received him uncurteously and disdainfully. They threatened and rebuked him, putting him in a position to be killed. Unable to escape, they heaped offense and blame upon him. The situation has been growing worse daily, and we have decided to take action. They have offered us war and strife out of high contempt, rancor, and anger. They threaten us with malice and harm.\nThey have no intention / merely in their thoughts\nOther redress or amends make\nBut utterly with war / to awaken\nWhose joy is fully / increased by our grief\nSo would God they were / with repentance\nContrite in heart / to cease all mischief\nThat likely is to fall / and the grief\nOn the other part / that it might overslide\nBut they alas / with rancor and pride\nAre swollen anew / to threaten more and more\nBut God defends / half the sorrow\nBy misfortune / ever should fall\nAs they intend / upon any of us all\nBut since they have / thus shaped it for us\nWe must resist / their malicious will\nThrough God's might / out of necessity\nIn our difference / it will be none other\nAnd best I hold / to our intent\nTo work and do / all by one assent\nSo we shall soonest achieve / our purpose\nWhere is discord / there may no quarrel prove\nFor on that part / where hearts are not one\nVictory may / in no way go\nChief of conquest / is peace and unity\nRight as discord / is of adversity\nOutside of hearts / makes remedies sure\n\"You cause discomfiture. Therefore I advise, with one will and heart, let us set ourselves to inflict Greek suffering. Truly, if you wish to see, I dare affirm that we are stronger than the Greeks in every respect. We have perfectly the art of arms and are a counted people of knighthood, crop and root. We have plenty of men, on horse and foot. Each one is arrayed well in his degree. And our city is also strong to withstand the enemy. You counseling, let us order at once. First, let us assemble our navy holy. And stuff them strongly with our chivalry. And into Greece, let us send them hastily. The proud Greeks, manfully to offend, and of just cause, and by title of right, let us wage war against them with all our full might. Their towns burn and their fields waste. With unfained heart, also urge us on to quench them as they deserve. For my advice, we shall save none of them. But cruelly take vengeance on them. Fear none and let there be no mercy. Though they before, by fortune, were victors.\"\nFor he who was once brought down,\nRemounts often to high renown,\nBy the change and the variance,\nOf war and strife, that ever are in balance,\nFor he that is, this day assured of wellbeing,\nTomorrow he is, cast down from the wheel,\nThe victor often put in adventure,\nAnd vanquished, by discomfiture,\nOf him that he had before victory,\nNow up or down, in arms he stands not,\nIn Mars' chance, no man him assures,\nBut as it comes, let him take his leave,\nFor Mars, by his influence,\nCan give a man, a while, excellence,\nTo win a prize, like a conqueror,\nAnd suddenly, as a summer flower,\nHe can his honor make to fade,\nFor when that he, his aspects pleases,\nFor a man, lusts to write,\nHis renown old, goes away as willingly,\nAfter a flood an ebb, follows always,\nAs men deserve, praise them for a day,\nFor though Phoebus, this day shines merry,\nTomorrow he may, his beams decline,\nThrough the thickness of the mists trouble,\nRight so of Mars, are the chances double.\nNow up and down, now low, now aloft,\nAs fortune, who changes often, lists,\nMakes a man ascend, and unwarily descends,\nStands him in honor, to advance,\nAnd with favor, sets him up high,\nEstablishes him, with a twinkling of an eye,\nHer play is unstable, turning as a ball,\nWhile one goes up, another falls,\nShe raises one and lets another shout,\nFor every man, when it comes about,\nMust take his turn, as her play requires,\nWho is expert, and her frauds teach,\nShall with her sugar, find gallant men,\nAnd her honey, aye with bitter spice,\nIn peace and war, in honor and fame,\nIn dignities, in renown and shame,\nTherefore, no man should let his hope grow too large.\n\nFor though the Greeks, in ancient times, were aloft,\nIt may hereafter, happen to them unsoft,\nTherefore, each one, show your worthiness,\nNamed as you are, of strength and hardiness,\nAnd to fortune, openly commit,\nLet no fear, your manly hearts quell.\nBut stand and be in plain meaning, and then let us see what we will say. And at once, they raised their voices in praise of his sentence. One by one, they expressed their manly agreement to dispose of their goods and riches. Their bodies were put in jeopardy. There was not one who would deny it. He thanked them all and gave them leave to go where they pleased. For he had dissolved his parliament. Every man had returned to his manor. The king alone remained in Illowne, by himself, inwardly pondering how he might bring about his purpose. In truth, he thought of nothing else. Byng Pryamus, making thus his moan, as I told you, in a chamber alone, he cast about in many ways to formulate his conclusion and fulfill the fine points of his intent. He first prudently sent for his sons to come to him in haste, both for those who were born in baste.\nAs they were to assemble together for a purpose similar to what you will here, to have a council against the Greeks to make an arrangement. Firstly, they were to do this privately among themselves, and when they were in order, each one took his seat according to his age and degree. Ector, the foremost in chivalry, returned home from the panegyric. He was most acceptable in everyone's grace. Next, his father took his place.\n\nWhen Priam, his elder, espied him, with sorrowful signs casting up his eyes to them all seated around, he began to declare his heart's intention.\n\nBut before he might express his will, he overwhelmed himself with tears. His heart's woe was so outrageous that for weeping and furious sobbing, he could not utter any word nor speak to them for distress, nor openly reveal his inner meaning until at last he declared it in few words. He began to lament in all his pitiful distress. Thus, he expressed his meaning.\nMy dear sons, so loving and so kind,\nAs I suppose that you have in mind,\nAnd remember discreetly, and advertise,\nAnd embrace fully, in your heart,\nHow the Greeks, against all right and law,\nWith cruel sword, murdered and enslaved\nOur worthy ancestors, of full high renown,\nAnd destroyed, burned, and beat down\nThe first Troy, with its old walls,\nAnd how unwisely, they hold,\nMy own sister, called Hecuba,\nTo full great shame and confusion,\nAnd high reproach, to your worthiness,\nThat seems to me, of very kindness,\nAnd of nature, you ought to be moved,\nAnd inwardly, in your heart, grieved,\nTo suffer her, in hindrance of her name,\nSo to be treated, for your elder shame,\nAlas, why won't, you do your duty,\nThis high contempt, knight, to rectify,\nYou, to avenge, upon their cruelty,\nRecall to find, of her iniquity,\nSince you are, so mighty and so strong,\nCertainly it seems, you tarry too long,\nFrom day to day, that you so delay,\nIn knightly way, to begin a war.\nYour force and might, manly to assay, I am truly sorry that you delayed, Desiring to comfort me, In their hate, burn as hot as fire, Upon them, like as you may see, Of fretting ire, avenged to be, And they, alas, take no heed, While your renown doth so freshly shine, To my lust, your hearts to decline, Considering, as it is fitting, How I have fostered you and brought you forth each one, From tender days, that you could go, As tenderly as I could or might, To which thing, in your inward sight, You should avert, always new and new, And of nature, on my sores, rewe, To remedy, my adversity, Which touches you also well as me, Since you know how sorely it grieves me, You should shape my harms to relieve, And suddenly, as he thus mourned, Toward Ector, he turned his face, And said, \"Ector, my trust and all my joy, My heir also, like to reign in Troy.\"\nAfter my day and be successful, and named art the very sovereign flower of worthiness and manhood, and all thy brethren in knighthood excel, and in arms like a conquered, called the stock of worship and honor. I heartily pray, though you sit still, be willing now to fulfill my purpose. To execute that I desire, for finally, in the end and in name, is full my faith, to bring this about. Now take on this and be no thing in doubt, to be chief prince and also governor, of this purpose and utterly support, into thine hand this journey I commit, wholeheartedly, so that thou neither confirm by good advice, to perform up the fine of my intent. For of reason, best to it sits, who art so prudent and so full of wit, strong and deliver, flourishing also in youth, of whom the fame throughout the world is known. Young of years, old of discretion, eager to love, passing of renown. Unto whose will, thy brethren shall obey, and stop.\nNow descend and grant my request, and answer as soon as you can. And which king has pronounced his sentence? This worthy Ector, an example of gentility, spoke softly as becomes courtesy. His answer was given with a sober countenance. The effect was as follows:\n\nMy own lord and my father, graciously, if it pleases you to hear, after the force and the great might, and the bonds of her large chain, it sitting as the dove inspires, and according to every man's desire, of wrongs done to have amendment and to her law rightly applied, namely to such as with nobility, kindness has endowed and set in high degree, for great reproof is and shame when any wrong is done to their name. For every offense must be considered justly, measured according to the quality of him that is offended and also according to the person by whom the wrong is done.\nIn war or contest, in debate,\nGreater grief is to endure pain or mischance,\nOr wrongs inflicted, unjustly to suffer,\nOr injuries caused by malice,\nIs more offensive, by wise counsel,\nTo one who is renowned and born of gentle blood,\nThan to one who is but a wretch.\nTherefore we must greatly reproach and condemn,\nOnly for knighthood, our worship to enhance,\nTo right past wrongs,\nConsider our state and high nobility,\nAnd in what dignity we strive for worthiness,\nWhen beasts of reason, rude and blind,\nDesire the same, by instinct.\nAnd for my part, I trust in this,\nYou have no son who would be as eager as I,\nFor vengeance against the Greeks,\nHere is my truth, I say to you faithfully,\nI burn for their blood as does the gladness,\nI value their blood more than any other reward.\nAs I am the eldest in age,\nAmong your sons, I am most enraged,\nI am agitated within, justly for knighthood.\nWith my right hand I will shed Greek blood,\nAs they find or believe, when the time comes, the truth will be seen.\nBut first, I advise you, wisely in your mind,\nTo cast before and leave not behind,\nOr begin discretely and prudently consider,\nNot only the beginning but the end,\nAnd the middle, what way they will turn,\nAnd to what fine fortune they will lead,\nIf you thus do, you may not succeed,\nFor this counsel in my opinion,\nIs worthy little by discretion,\nTo have a prize that does not come quickly,\nThe course of things, by order carefully,\nWhat way they trace, to woe or delight,\nFor though a beginning may have its appeal,\nYet in the end, plainly this is no fable,\nThere may be things following, which is not commendable,\nFor what is worth, opposing fortune.\nWhat causes after, strife and great debate,\nWhy then, in truth, principles are to be feared,\nBut men well know what fine outcome will succeed,\nFor a beginning with grace is well fortuned.\nWhen the end and middle are alike continued,\nBut when it cannot be contained in wellbeing,\nIt is better to abstain,\nThan to put doubt that stands firmly,\nFor he who has adversity,\nBut humbly to your royal estate,\nOf heart I pray, let not offend at all,\nThat I am bold to say my motion,\nIn good faith, of no intention,\nI move nothing you to do offense,\nBut only this, that your magnification,\nProceed not from head willfully,\nNor move spirit you foolishly,\nTo begin a thing that after will you end,\nFor lack, that you see not to the end,\nNor take heed in your advice,\nTo consider, by good providence,\nHow Greeks have in their subjection,\nEurope and Africa with many regions,\nFull large and wide, of knighthood most famous,\nAnd of richesse, wonder plenteous,\nRight renowned, also of worthiness,\nWith your support, that I dare well express,\nVery perilous is to displease them or disturb.\nFor if we disturb our quiet,\nWhich stands in peace, greatly is to fear.\nFor though all Asians help us in our need\nIf it be looked on every part rightly\nThey are not equal to Greeks might.\nAnd though my Aunt Exyon\nAgainst all right be held by Thelamon\nIt is not good for her redemption\nTo put us all to destruction\nI would not buy her back so dear\nFor many of us here sit\nAnd other more might for her sake\nDeath under\nWhich were no wisdom like as it seems to me\nAnd it may happen also how that she\nIn short time her fatal course shall find\nWhat had we won then and she were gone\nBut enmity, thought sorrow and woe\nSlaughter of our men, death and confusion\nWherefore I would, without dissymilation,\nWithout more that we endure our woe\nAnd not to put ourselves in adventure\nThis I hold best and work as the wise\nBut doubtless, for no cowardice\nI say not this in your high presence\nBut because I hold it no prudence\nTo fortune full of doubtfulness\nSince we are sure to put our skillsness.\nAnd thus, by my will, we shall act. With that word, Ector held himself still. And when Ector, by full high prudence, had concluded the fine points of his sentence, he kept his lips closed. Then Parys rose up before the king and began his tale thus: \"My lord, if it pleases you, I propose to your highness that we should little fear, in knightly fashion, to undertake a war against the Greeks. For we abundantly have:\n\nChivalry, and have plentiful supplies and possessions,\nEverything that may aid in war,\nAmple provisions and royal apparel,\nAll that belongs to marshalling assaults,\nAnd with all this, even more specifically,\nHelp and support from many regions,\nWith swift work to bring about their destruction.\nTheir pomp and pride, manfully to subdue,\nAnd of the Greeks, the evils to unite.\nFor all that they may be so bold in heart,\nIt seems to me that we need not doubt,\nNor on any side, to be dismayed.\nWherfore I rede / let nat be delayde\nOur shyppes / firste redy for to make\nAnd I myselfe / wyll fully vndertake\nSo it to you be lykynge / and pleasaunce\nOf this empryse / hooly the gouernaunce\nAnd you assure / and put in certayne\nExyona / to recure agayne\nAnd in what fourme / that it shalbe wrought\nI haue awaye founde / in my thought\nThat lykely is here / after to be done\nWhiche vnto you / I wyll declare anone\nFirste I haue cast / wt stronge & myghty hande\nFor to rauysshe / some lady of that lande\nOf hye estate / and make no taryenge\nAnd myghtely / into Troye hir brynge\nMaugce hir myght / for this conclusion\nThat ye may haue / testytucion\nBy eschaunge of hir / that ye desyre so\nAnd therupon / shall nat be longe a do\nI you behete / for all the grekes stronge\nAnd for that / I shall nat you prolonge\nI wyll you sayne / excludynge euery doute\nHow this aduyse / shalbe brought about\nFirste how that I shall / this purpose fyne\nThe goddes haue thorugh / their power dyuy\nShewed to me / by reuelacion\nFor I had lately obtained, as I lay in sleep,\nA place where, if you keep, you may not fail,\nNor be in despair, to have recourse from her who is so fair,\nFor whom you now have such great care.\nAnd I will declare the manner of this dream,\nTo your magnification, if you give will credence to my tale,\nFor I shall not dwell in order to tell,\nThe plain truth and no false tale,\nTo you who are my sovereign lord.\nFirstly, if you remember in your mind,\nThis other day, when I was last in India,\nBy your advice and commandment,\nFor a matter which was particularly in your charge,\nAs it is known between you and me,\nOf which I took upon me the charge,\nIn the bonds of that large land.\nThe same time, your desire to hasten,\nWhen that Titan with his red beams,\nDrove his chariot of gold,\nTowards the crab, to take his hold,\nWhich is named the palaces of Diana,\nThe bent moon, that waxes and wanes.\nWhen the sun's station is\nNear the middle of the month of June,\nAt which season early on a morning,\nWhen Phoebus does draw his way again upwards,\nAnd Aurora easterly does admonish,\nAnd with her tears round,\nThe silver dew causes to abound,\nUpon herbs and sweet-smelling flowers.\nFor kindly nourishing, both of crop and root.\nUp I rose, out of my bed anon,\nFull desirous, to hunting I was gone,\nPierced in the heart, with lusty fresh pleasure,\nTo do to love some dew observance,\nAnd Lucina, that day to magnify,\nWho is called the lady of Venus,\nAnd dutifully our rites to observe,\nCythera, and her to serve,\nI and my friends, our hearts to relieve,\nCast us fully till it drew to an end,\nIn the forest, to play and amuse,\nAnd pleasantly, us to comfort,\nAs it belongs to love, of lustiness,\nFor that day, to Venus the goddess,\nI was sacred, by full great excellence,\nWith great honor, and due reverence.\nDo unto her, both of one and all,\nOn a Friday, this adventure falls,\nWhen we began to hasten to the green woods,\nIn hope that day some game we'd see,\nWith great labor riding to and fro,\nTill we had killed full many bucks and does,\nBy strength we slayed them as we found,\nThe heart I chased with hounds and the hind,\nThrough the downs and the dales low,\nUntil Phoebus, from his day's bow,\nAmidst the arc, was of midday,\nWhen his beams, full hot and shining,\nAnd we were most busy upon the chase,\nThat to me befell, a diverse chance,\nFor by fortune it happened suddenly,\nWhile I was separated from my company,\nAlone by myself among the holly thickets,\nTo find game, desirous evermore,\nOr I was aware through thick and thin,\nA full great heart I saw before me,\nDown by the land and the green vales,\nThat I in truth might not sustain,\nHe was so swift, for to near him ne'er,\nAlthough I pricked my courser,\nNigh to his death, through many sundry shaws,\nOut of my sight, so far he drew away.\nFor all that ever saw me, who might have lost sight\nIn a wood where Yda bore the name, I grew faint,\nGan waxing weak from that game, and my horse,\nWhose sides were all white, and his flanks distained with blood,\nIn my pursuit, was so sore pressed,\nWith my spears sharp, and died red,\nAfter the heart, so pricked was my steed,\nNow up now down, with a full busy thought,\nBut my labor availed me right naught,\nTill at last, among the bowers glad,\nOf adventure, I caught a pleasant shade,\nFull smooth and plain, and lusty to see,\nAnd soft as velvet, was the young green,\nWhere from my horse, I did a light dismount,\nAnd on a bow, I cast his rein,\nSo faint and weary, of weariness I was,\nThat I laid me down upon the grass,\nBeside a spring and a crystal well,\nAnd the water, like quick silver, ran in its streams,\nOf which the grave and the bright stone.\nAs the sun shone gold, I suddenly fell into a deep sleep on a Sunday. From my birth, I had never slept so deeply. In my slumber, I had a strange dream. I saw a god, radiant and merry, appearing to me. Mercury, with his crooked sword and sleeping staff, stood before me. At his feet was a cock singing true as any clock. Pipes were set at the mouth of this god Mercury, which produced such sweet, sugared harmony in my ears that I felt transported to paradise. This god, diverse in appearance, more wonderful than I can express, showed himself to me as he is described in fulgence.\nIn the book of his metaphysics,\nWhere are rehearsed many poems\nAnd many likenesses, like as you may see,\nAnd to take the moralite,\nHis long yard, right as a line,\nWhich on no side wrongly may decline,\nSignifies the prudent governance\nOf discreet people, through their pursuit,\nCasting a peril, or that it befall,\nAnd his pipes loud, as any shall,\nThat through music are entuned true,\nAlso signifies with many lusty hue,\nThe sweet dites, by great excellence,\nOf rhetoric and eloquence,\nOf which this god is sovereign and patron,\nAnd of this cock, the sweet lusty sowne,\nThat justly keeps the hours of the night,\nIs utterly the advice, of in ward sight,\nOf such as void, by waker diligence,\nOut of their court, sloth and negligence,\nAnd his sword, which crooks so again,\nThat is not forged nor made in vain,\nIs to rebuke, to the right way,\nSuch as wrongly, for truth do err,\nAnd the serpent, which I have told,\nWhich wrinkled is, as you may behold.\nUpon the yard and about, it signifies that falsehood, wickedness, and anger\nLie in wait by many cunning ways\nWith his kin, truth, to wreak\nAnd this god of eloquence, also in his coming,\nBrought with him Cythera, whom lovers serve,\nJuno and Pallas, called Minerva,\nAnd these women, their lovely faces around her head,\nHad doves white, with benign looks and debonair eyes,\nFly swiftly around, with snowy wings fair,\nTo declare truly, in clear sentence,\nBy the doves, their very Innocence,\nOf those in love, that but signify truth,\nAnd that they should be honest and pure,\nIs signified clearly by witnesses,\nWithout soiling, of any uncleanness,\nAnd the freshness of the red roses,\nThat in summer so lusty do spread,\nAnd in winter, of their color fade,\nSignifies the heartfelt thoughts glad,\nOf young folk who are merry,\nFervent in hope and inwardly desirous,\nWhen love begins in their hearts to flourish,\nUntil long process makes them to desire,\nWith the winter of uncontrollable age.\nThat lust is paled and dulled with fever's rage,\nWhen summer is gone, as folks know full well.\nI believe more than one such problem lies\nIn love, and Venus weeps in stormy seas,\nHer law beset with many sturdy waves.\nNow calm now rough, heed who dares to try,\nAnd hope assailed, with sudden dread replies.\n\nNext Venus, Pallas I beheld,\nWith spear and crystal shield,\nA rainbow 'round about her head,\nThat in color was a greenish red.\nBefore her, as I could descry,\nA growing olive tree did lie.\n\nFirstly, Pallas' shield, the goddess' sign,\nSignified, as I can express,\nIn virtue's force, by manly high defense,\nAgainst vices, to make resistance.\nHer spear, sharp and keenly ground,\nBy just rigor was forged to confound,\nThem that are false, and to put a check,\nAnd for that mercy, shall mingle with the wreck.\nThe shaft in show was full plain\nLest merciless ones who rightly did not act in vain\nAnd after war, to make a full release\nThere was the Olive, that signifies peace\nThe owl also, so odious at all\nThat songs sing, at festive funerals\nDeclares clearly, the fine of every glory\nIs only death, who has it in memory\nAnd the rainbow, green red and persistent\nSignifies the changes, full diverse\nThat often falls in war and battle\nNow to win, and suddenly to fail\nNow stable as blue, changing now as green\nFor Pallas plays, is always meant with ten\nAnd older last, as I have in mind\nWith her nymphs, Juno came behind\nWhich of custom, as Phoebus tells\nAbides in floods and in deep wells\nAnd this Juno, as poets say\nAmidst the nymphs is, and of fruit barren\nAnd the Peacock, to this fresh queen\nIs sacred, with his feathers shown\nSpread abroad, as a large sail\nWith Argus eyes, printed in his tail\n\nThe running water, in river and flood\nIs the labor, that men have for good.\nThe great trouble and hardship,\nDay and night, they suffer for riches,\nWhoever rows in these floods, let him beware,\nAfter the flow, nature's ebb will follow,\nAs it is due,\nFollowing the moon, there must be an ebb and flow,\nThe greatest fear is always upon the full,\nFortune's whimsical hand pulls the fresh feathers,\nOf rich people, who shine in gold so bright,\nSince she of change, lady and queen is,\nAnd Argus eyes, set behind,\nAre often blind,\nWho do not discern, in their sight,\nGoods that will suddenly wane,\nWho consider nothing,\nFor as the fair, lusty feathers,\nOf a peacock, unexpectedly fall away,\nSo riches, suddenly at a day,\nWill their master abandon,\nSaying a farewell and their leave take,\nAnd as Juno, barren, is of fruit,\nSo naked, bare and distressed,\nAre these greedy, covetous hearts,\nWhich gather in nothing,\nCan have no satisfaction.\nThe fear of dread / puts them in such a guise,\nImagining / that the world will fail,\nAnd in their fear / against the wind they sail,\nUntil they atone / they must go from there,\nAnd thus, good / aye, the fine is woe,\nNamely of them / who pinch and spare,\nFor this no fear / as clerks can declare,\nThe fruit of good / is to spend large,\nAnd who is man full / set but little charge,\nTo part freely / his treasure in common,\nWhen he discretely / sets the opportune time,\nHe has no joy / to put his good in mew,\nFor in their heart / that freedom delights to show,\nOf gentleness / takes no heed thereto,\nAnd in this way / Pallas and Juno,\nWith fresh Venus / are a down descended,\nLike as I have / shortly comprehended,\nUnder the guise / of Mercury,\nWho unto me / began his tale thus:\nParis spoke he / lift up thine eyes and see,\nLo, these goddesses / here in number three,\nWho from heaven / with their eyes clear,\nSo diversely / unto the apparition,\nWere at a feast / as I shall tell.\nWith all the gods / above celestial.\nThat Iubyter held at his own board\nWas none absent, only save discord.\nAnd for spite, she was not there present\nTo be avenged, she set all her intent\nAnd in her wits, many ways sought\nTill at the last, even thus she wrought:\nOf Poets, like as it is told,\nShe took an apple, round of pure gold,\nWith Greek letters, graven up and down,\nWhich said thus, in conclusion, own:\nWithout strife, that it were given soon\nTo the fairest of them, each one.\nAnd of discord, this lady and goddess,\nAs she that is of debate maystress,\nHas this apple, passing of delight,\nBrought to this feast of malice and spite,\nAnd cast it down, among them at the board,\nWith demeaning cheer, speaking not a word.\nBut on her way, she suddenly,\nSo great an enmity brought\nInto the court, this apple,\nSo great a war and such a contention wrought\nIn the hearts of these like three,\nThat after long, may not be quenched.\nAmong themselves, so they began to disdain.\nWhich one was most beautiful and which of them had the right to conquer this burning appeal? They began to strive for beauty, their hearts almost rupturing with rancor, to determine who should possess it first. Each woman of her kind would have pride above another in every estate, and none other was there in truth. Each of them enjoyed beauty for the sake of having a prize, for none so foul prides in a mirror that she is fair in her own eye. But a fool quits himself, for amber yellow craves the white, a groundy eye is deceived soon, and any color is deceived by the moon. Some color is made fine with fire, and some is increased with spices and wine, with ointments and confections. And by false illusions, some appear wonderfully fresh and fair, those who look dark by daylight in the air. There is no preference but only by the morning.\nOf such as need not borrow beauty, but as nature has disposed, therefore fasting or boys be uncloaked, Make your choice, as bidden Outis. When every drug and potion is set aside, delight yourself in his sentence. Deceived lightly by false appearance, for now a day's such craft is full of ruin. And in this way, thus began the strife Between Juno, Venus, and Pallas, Who had descended for this sudden cause, By one consent touching their beauty, The judgment thereof committed to thee, I speak to thee, that art called Paris, And hold art right prudent and right wise, Be advised how thy judgment shall find, For they cannot to nor fro decline But obey, all by one consent, Without strife, to thy judgment, But hear first, or that thou proceed, Of each of them, what shall be thy reward Consider rightly and take good heed thereto, If thou the appeal grant unto Juno, She shall give plenteous riches, Renown of fame, eke worthiness, With abundance of gold and treasure.\nAnd do thou rise to such high honor,\nThat thou alone shall excel all others.\nFor thy reward, like as I tell.\nAnd if to Pallas, goddess of prudence,\nThe fine conclusion of thy sentence pleases,\nShe may grant to thee the ladyship,\nFor thy recompense, she shall assure thee\nThat of wit and wisdom\nThou shalt truly have the excellence,\nAnd of wisdom and discretion,\nTo discern by clarity of reason.\nAlso, far as Phoebus casts his light,\nThere shall not be a more prudent knight\nIn this world since it began,\nOf just report, a manlier man,\nAnd to thy name, none equal,\nAnd if Venus, of true and clean intent,\nGrant's conclusion, the possession of the appeal,\nThe fair goddess, who sits so high above,\nShall ensure to have in thy love,\nThe fairest lady that ever was or shall be born\nIn Greece, thou shalt knightly win.\nNow be advised, or that thou begin,\nJustly to judge, and for nothing spare.\nAnd I began to look up and stare, greatly astonished, what was best to do, until at last I spoke to Mercury and said that I would give no judgment but they should be naked, so that I might have full liberty, every one, to see and consider who was fairest to my pleasure and goodly to speak of womanhood. And after that, I proceeded to my judgment. And they at once, as you have heard me say, obediently began to undress in haste to do their best cure, stripping them like the statute of my judgment bound them, and in a moment they would not oppose it, that I might have full inspection of their form and shape and each proportion. For to discern, as I can remember, a fool by order, every member, and then at first, to judge according to right. But when I had seen each one, I gave the appellation right away to Venus because she was fairest of all and most excellent in beauty.\nMost womanly and goodly is she,\nAs I plainly see in my sight,\nHer streams of eyes are bright and even with light,\nA like glade and equal in light,\nTo that star, which shows itself towards night,\nWhich is called Esperus, so shining,\nVenus herself, the fresh, lusty queen,\nThis heavenly Empress, after my heart's judgment,\nHas truly and justly gained the glory,\nAnd rejoiced more than I can tell,\nThat her peers in beauty she excells,\nAnd she, in haste, with true affection,\nHas fully concluded for my reward,\nFull demurely, low, and not aloft,\nTo Mercury, with soft, sober words,\nDevoted both of doubtfulness and sloth,\nLike her behest, hold will her truth,\nAnd suddenly, without more injury,\nThey disappeared, and the god Mercury,\nStraitway to heaven took the right way,\nAnd I anonely out of my sleep awoke.\n\nLord, whom I most love and fear,\nIf you heed this, and wisely take care,\nThat this is firmly established.\nWas it assured to me in vain,\nOf Venus' grace, as I have told you,\nBe bold, I pray, and grant me this,\nTo send me with a strong and mighty hand,\nWithout delay, into Greek land,\nAccording to the form that I have described,\nAnd I hope you will be well rewarded,\nWhen I have completed the task as Venus has decreed,\nAnd home again return, with my bright lady,\nSo shall you have what I most desire,\nBy exchanging her, your sister Wyn,\nWhom Thelamon has kept from you before.\nThis is all I can say to you concerning the matter,\nAnd after that, Paris sat,\nAs one who had fully atoned for himself,\nBut say, Paris, alas, where was your wisdom,\nNeglecting to take proper care,\nTrusting in dreams or sleep,\nYour discretion was flawed,\nTo take a stand on false illusions,\nProceeding like a fantasy,\nUpon a dream, based on flattery,\nAlas, reason was not your guide,\nFor Pallas was wrongly set aside,\nNot received with due reverence.\nAnd for all her wisdom and lovely appearance,\nWith her treasure and fair horses,\nShe was refused, alas, of her own will.\nAnd she, the goddess of love,\nAlso the wife of Vulcan, in whose service is ever war and strife,\nWas preferred, the appeal to proceed.\nAgainst all right, Paris paid no heed,\nSaving for lust and set aside truth.\nThrough all this, and it was very distressing,\nThe mighty rich and noble town\nOf Troy was brought to confusion.\nOnly for him, chivalry had forsaken,\nPrudence and gold, and in his place,\nTake a woman, and hold him to her.\nShe, who was afterward, the root of all their woe.\nAs this story truly tells,\nBut I in dreams will no longer dwell,\nBut write forth how Dephebus,\nThe third son of King Priam,\nBegan in open audience,\nAnd to the king, shortly in sentence,\nAs he who desired not to spare the truth,\nThus declared his intention.\nMy lord said he, if every man, he said,\n(Translation: And for all her wisdom and beautiful appearance, she was refused, alas, of her own free will. And she, the goddess of love, as well as the wife of Vulcan, in whose service there is always war and strife, was preferred. The appeal was made to proceed against all right, for Paris paid no heed, saving for lust and set aside truth. Through all this, and it was very distressing, the mighty rich and noble city of Troy was brought into confusion. Only for him, chivalry had forsaken prudence and gold, and in his place, a woman was taken, and he held himself to her. She, who was later the root of all their woe. As this story truly relates, but I in dreams will no longer stay, but write forth how Dephebus, the third son of King Priam, began in open assembly, and to the king, he spoke in a brief and straightforward manner, as one who did not desire to spare the truth.)\nAduerte should / and cast in his sight\nThe peril and the doubt\nAnd search it / within and without\nFrom point to point / always in his reason\nTo cast doubts / and turn up so down\nThen no wight should / to no purpose wend\nIn any matter / for to make an end\nOther presume / by manhood in his thought\nWho cast perils / achieves little or nothing\nFor if the plowman / always casts before\nHow many grains / in his field of corn\nShall be devoured / of ravens ravenous\nThat he sows / in fields plenteous\nThen should he never / in vale nor in plain\nFor cowardship / throw abroad his grain\nLet all such fear / now be laid aside\nI hold folly / longer to abide\nBut y Parys / my brother make him strong\nWith his ships / for to avenge our wrong\nUpon Greeks / with all his pain and might\nTo prove shortly / that he is a knight\nFor of reason / you consider may\nHow that no man justly / may say nay\nBut that Parys has / given good counsel\nFor by my truth / as far as I can feel\nIt was error / his purpose to contradict\nWherefore / let him now no longer delay\nBut hold his way / with a strong navy\nFor to avenge / the great wrong done\nThat Greeks have / if you heed\nInflicted upon us / and our kin\nAnd for the final execution\nOf the recovery / concerning Exyon\nWhom they treat / in dishonest way\nAgainst all right / and title of justice\nThat to think / it gives my heart a wound\nThe shame of which / so new does rebound\nUpon all / that are of her alliance\nTherefore the best / that I can see\nIs that Paris / take this voyage\nWith such as be / of fresh and lusty age\nManly to go / into Greek land\nAnd by force / of their mighty hand\nDespite the Greeks / proud and most elated\nRavish there / some lady of estate\nAnd then you may / by knighthood of my brother\nIf you wish / change her for that other\nThis most ready / and short conclusion\nThat I can see / for restoration\nOf Exyon / if Paris goes\nAnd of my counsel / shortly thus the end.\nAnd then, as quickly and wisely,\nHelenus, the fourth son,\nRose from his seat with great reverence,\nPraying his father grant him audience,\nSo that he might speak, in the presence of all,\nOpenly what would follow,\nAs he who knows most of secret things,\nAnd soberly began his tale,\nWith a clear intent and true affection,\nMy lord, he said, with your support,\nIn whom is most my trust,\nLet none be offended by your pleasure,\nNor you displeased by what I conceive,\nSince you know, I mean no deceit,\nFor never yet failed a sentence\nBut that it filled experience,\nJust as I told in private and in general,\nWithout meaning of any doubt,\nThat it followed as I did express,\nRemember this, and you shall find it true,\nAnd if God wills, I shall not now repeat,\nSpare for me to say as I conceive,\nNor to deceive you with fraud.\nDeclaring first of true intention,\nAs it shall follow in conclusion.\nIf Paris goes to Greece,\nTrust me, it will bring destruction for all.\nThe gods have revealed to me,\nA demonstration and a sign,\nAnd I know it through astronomy.\nIn my prophecy, I have never been deceived,\nNor have those who urged me to advise against it,\nCalled otherwise. I am taught this by the gods,\nTherefore I pray for no anger, pride, or envy,\nNor a desire for revenge, that you do not proceed,\nIn your advice as you intend.\nI speak plainly, for I did not wish to hide,\nYou shall repent, if Paris sends\nInto Greece, which the gods protect.\nThis will fully turn, leading to our downfall,\nAnd ultimately, our ruin,\nJust as it began beforehand for you,\nThis is the fine that will follow,\nSubjugation, both of town and wall,\nOf palaces, houses, here in our city,\nAll is lost, you will get no more from me,\nFor I believe it is enough,\nSince if you dare to defy my warning.\nI doubt not that you will withdraw, or that more damage will assail you by the constraint of this rage. It is better to abstain from this purpose, which is yet but green, than to headily assent to that for which we shall all repent. For plentifully there shall be nothing to succor, that there shall follow of you and all yours, Despiteful death without exception, Of one and all abiding in this town. Firstly, on yourself, plainly to endite, shall the vengeance of the Greeks bite, Through the fury of their mortal teeth, And your wife, Cubah the queen, Shall lead her life through Greeks cruelty, In sorrow and woe, and in captivity. And your legs, by the sword, shall pace, Of cruel deeds, And innocents, mercyless, shall bleed, In your eyes, if that you proceed, Of wilfulness, a war for to make, And folly, for to undertake, For to parturbe your quiet and your rest, Which shall turn nothing for the best, But to ruin, of you, and of us all. I can no more.\nMy counsel is beforehand to provide\nAnd willfulness to set aside\nSpecially when death, as you told me,\nMust be the fine if you hold your purpose\nHere is all, without further words\nInto Greece, if Paris goes.\nAnd in this way, when Helenus\nHad plainly said, as Guido tells us,\nTrusty and heavy, with a pale face,\nAgain he resorted to his sitting place,\nOf whose sentence, astonished everyone\nSat in silence, still as any stone,\nPowerless their hearts to resume,\nTo speak a word, no man dared presume,\nOf all the company but kept their lips close,\nUntil at last Troilus arose,\nYoung, fresh, and lusty, and courageous also,\nAnd always desirous for a deed,\nIn arms manly, as becomes a knight,\nAnd when he saw his father and brothers,\nSo deeply troubled, thus he spoke at once.\nO noble and worthy, sitting among us,\nOf high prudence and great discretion,\nManful also and of high courage,\nWhat sudden fear has brought you to this rage?\nWhat new trouble has arisen in your breast,\nFor the sentence of a cowardly priest?\nSince they all, as you shall ever find,\nDesire more earnestly, by nature,\nTo live in lust and avoid toil,\nAnd deadly hate to hear of battle,\nFor they apply their wit,\nTo sow their lust and live in gluttony,\nTo fill their stomachs and restore their maw,\nTo rest and ease, ever to draw,\nAnd to sow their inward appetite,\nThus is their joy and thus their delight,\nIn eating, drinking, and in covetousness,\nThis is their study and fully to devise,\nHow they may follow their lust without more,\nOf right nothing else, they set no store.\nAlas for shame, why be you so dismayed?\nAnd sit mute, astonished and afraid,\nFor the words of this Helenus,\nFearful for fear, as a little mouse,\nThat he quakes to hear speak of fight,\nAnd moreover, against all sky and right,\nIn prejudice of the goddesses all,\nHe takes upon himself to say what shall befall,\nOf things future, to specify,\nAs he had, a spirit of prophecy.\nGranted to him alone,\nIn specific, as if he were in peril,\nTo the goddess, having prescience,\nTo show before, through his sapience,\nWhat shall betide, either evil or good,\nLet it be, let it be, for no one is so mad\nThat has his wit to give it credence,\nThat any man, mortal, has conniving to decide,\nFortune's course or fates to terminate,\nSuch causes hid, concealed in secrecy,\nReserved for goddesses' privilege,\nMen may decide, but all is but folly,\nTo heed them, for they do but lie,\nTherefore I advise, as in this matter,\nBoth one and all, and you, my lord most dear,\nTo exclude all fear and all that may disturb,\nOut of your heart, and let nothing perturb,\nYour high courage, that Helenus has told,\nAnd if he, from his heart, is not bold,\nAs manhood would, to help avenge our wrong,\nLet him hide himself, in the temple strong,\nAnd keep him close, in contemplation,\nTo wake and pray, by devotion,\nWithout succor, a day and a night.\nAnd suffer such as are lusty knights\nTo haunt their youth and green lustiness,\nManly in arms to prove their hardiness,\nThat they may have the better acquaintance\nIn time coming for to do revenge\nOn their enemies and their cruelty.\nAnd command that Paris may go forth\nTo execute the fine of your intent\nAfore purposed in your parliament\nConcerning Greeks, for their offensiveness,\nTo perform the pain of Talion,\nFor old wrongs of which yet the fame\nRehearsed is unto our older shame,\nThroughout the world you know this is no less,\nAnd therewithal Troilus held his peace,\nAnd suddenly all that were present\nBegan atones all by one assent,\nTroilus' counsel greatly to praise,\nAnd his manhood to the heaven raise,\nHis fresh courage and his high prowess,\nHis fervent zeal and his hardiness,\nAnd of one heart greatly commend him,\nAnd right anon there they made an end.\nThen Pyramus, when that all was done,\nAt the time of the hour of noon,\nWent to meet Jupiter within Ilium.\nAll his sons sitting around, and after meal, he called for Paris and Dephebus, also the wise one, and secretly bade them go the same day with other lords, to Panomye, in all the haste they may, to make them ready again for a certain day with all the array of worthy chivalry that they may get in their company, towards Greece to sail hastily. The next day, the king suddenly summoned his council and said before them all:\n\n\"O noble lords, being present here,\nMy purpose is to tell you my intent,\nWithout delay, if you wish to hear it,\nAs I suppose, to you is not unknown,\nHow the Greeks, of pride and tyranny,\nOf malicious old, with envy compassed us,\nWhich is so green, that I forget nothing,\nFor day by day, increasing ever more,\nBy remembrance, my sorrow is renewed,\nWhen I recall and cast up and down,\nAll our griefs, and how Exyowne\nServes among them in captivity.\"\nWhich oft causes me to mourn\nAnd my heart almost rent asunder\nTo consider and see it by my life\nWhose cruelty we have to endure bought\nNotwithstanding, I have means sought\nTo be in rest without any more\nBut when I sent Antenore,\nLikely my sister,\nTo Greece to recover,\nAnd the surplus patiently to endure,\nBut all in vain, they took no heed\nFor all that, I offered of goodwill\nIt was not heard, for lack of gentleness\nRecord of which, my distress is doubled.\nTherefore we must, as Sukkege teaches,\nWith sharp irons seek remedy\nTo cut away by the root round\nThe proud flesh that grows in the ground\nWhich will not yield with ointments soft\nAlthough they are laid thereof full often\nRight so by example, we must by necessity\nGet recovery, when with fairness we may have none\nTherefore, my purpose is to send forth Paris\nInto Greece, some lady there to win\nAnd bring her home, and we shall here within.\nKeep her strong, despite those who say nay,\nUntil we see, some agreeable day,\nThat they are willing, like my opinion,\nTo have exchange for her from Exyon.\nMy dear sister, whom I love so,\nWe may not fail, that it shall be done,\nSo may the goddesses be favorable to us,\nAnd this counsel be also acceptable to you all,\nFor when a king touches a common matter,\nOf wise men, as it is said,\nOf all the common people, it ought to be confirmed,\nThings concerning all should be approved,\nOf each one, or it would not be achieved.\nWherefore I cast aside, by your advice,\nPlainly to work, and with that word alone,\nThis noble Priam was suddenly at peace,\nAnd after that, among all the peace,\nWhen all was quiet in their sight,\nA knight rose up, and Pentheus he was called,\nWho was once Euborus,\nAccording to the Metamorphoses of Ovid,\nInto whom he transforms himself,\nAs Ovid writes, concerning that,\nI will no longer delay,\nBut tell forth, of this Pentheus.\nBefore the king, who began his tale thus:\n\nMy liege lord, to your high nobles,\nIt displeases not, nor does it belittle your worth,\nIn your presence, my lord,\nThat I should speak, to acquit myself\nToward you, of my faith and truth,\nFor truly, in me there is no sloth,\nRegarding your honor, I burn with zeal of faith,\nAvoiding all harms, I bid you beware,\nFor assuredly, I affirm, I dare,\nIf you stand, in your first advice,\nAs you purpose, to send forth Paris,\nI doubt not that it shall be to your benefit,\nFor God knows, of old and not of new,\n\nI had a father called Euforbyus,\nDiscrete and wise, and right virtuous,\nKnowing beforehand, through his philosophy,\nHeavenly, he saw with his heart's eye,\nThat he, hidden from his knowing, nor any privacy,\nKnew it, he was of such sage wit,\nAnd at the last, when he was of age,\nA hundred years, looking gray and hoary.\nI can remember / how he complained sore\nAnd wept also / with tender pity\nFully affirming / if Paris utterly\nWent into Greece / to raise him a wife\nThere shall follow / such a mortal strife\nUpon us all / that truly this City\nShall into ashes / and scorched be turned\nAnd that there shall / nothing us succor\nThat Greek sword / shall cruelly devour\nBoth high and low / and plainly spare none\nWherefore I pray / among you every one\nOf that I tell / have no contempt\nYour wrong to avenge / put in abeyance\nAnd old rancor / I exhort that you let go\nAnd the tranquil / now of your quietude\nOf hastiness / that you not submit\nTo fortune / that can so falsely veer\nDisturb not / for no old enmity\nWith new stirring / your felicity\nFor if you / to this journey consent\nYou every one / full sore shall repent\nAnd if you will / ever there send\nIn Paris' stead / let some other go\nHis voyage / be to you no success\nThis is my counsel / and this is full my advice\nSayde you under support only by your grace, and suddenly they all began to chase After Pentheus and loudly cry against him, reproving him and the prophecy Of his father to their confusion. But alas, the resolution Of joy or woe, or of felicity For something ordained, needs must be. The order of things, what fate is so entwined, Shall fall, may not be avoided. Which caused them, undiscreetly, for Paros to agree That Paris should go unhappily, they were enveloped. Thus, concluding, their council is dissolved. But casually, it befell right then That this advice ran to the ears of Cassandra, And she, with great fear, began to cry out loudly. Alas, she said, what will you do? What shall Paris now go into Greece for? And with that word, she burst out weeping Piteously, with deep inner sighs. She began to wail and swoon for the pain, And furyously, with loud complaints, She made a mournful lamentation.\nFor she could not withhold her, with her to tear, and with fists fold. She said, alas, more than a hundred times, A stormy fortune, why do you insist on contending, Thy cruel force, against our adversity, Upon us all, and upon this city, Of mortal ire, and grievous violence, With sword of vengeance, worse than pestilence. O Troy, Troy, what is your guilt, alas, What have you done, what is your transgression, To be turned into nothing, With wild fire, your sin is dearly bought, A Priam king, unjustly is your fate, What have you transgressed, or done harm, To your gods, or wickedly through unrighteousness, To provoke them, to show their cruel might, Upon your blood, alas, what have you done, O my mother, O Hecuba also, What manner of crime, or heinous offense, Have you wrought, to have such retribution, The day to endure, O noble, worthy queen, Of your sons' such vengeance to behold, O wretched death, cruel and horrible. Alas, why are you, no more credible, To my counsel, such harms to avoid.\nYour mortal purpose is to remember that he goes not, as it is ordained. For thought of which, I am so constrained that unless I may the woe endure, and to her father this woeful creature held steadfast her way and falls flat to the ground. And of her weeping, all in water wound, by her cheeks, so the tears rain. And as she might, for constraint of her pain, upon him she began to clasp and cry, beseeching him to shape a remedy. With pitiful voice, as she well knew, in this matter plainly every detail what shall befall and had it fully in mind, the sudden harms that we shall behind. But all her clamor was not but in vain. For that shall fall, as some clerks say, which may not well of men be eschewed, and also fortune by great adversity, of hasty Ire, furyous and wode, and unkind, to the Trojan blood, causelessly agreed, and of rancor, suddenly aroused, with blind awayte to catch them in atrauce, by violence of her unhappy chance.\nA weight has turned her wheel unstable,\nAs she who is envious and mutable.\nTo Troyans she has hastened, to their confusion,\nThrough wilfulness and lack of discretion,\nAgainst Greeks, to stir up a quarrel,\nAnd on their counsel they have relied,\nAnd achieved, as you have heard, the outcome,\nWithout the consent of the wisest.\nFor if they had, the distinction\nBetween Hector and Hector's words had been clear,\nIn this matter, and of Helenus,\nThe counsel took, and to Pentheus advised,\nWisely, and to his sentence,\nWithout coercion, your full trust,\nAnd of Cassandra, who could not lie,\nWisely listened, to the prophecy,\nPoint by point, they would not have been involved,\nIn such mischief, they would not have been drawn,\nBut they still flourished, in their felicity,\nWithout harm or adversity,\nBut fortune will have her way always,\nWhose purpose holds, who says yes or no?\nFor she it was, who instigated this voyage,\nWith forethought plain, and a false visage,\nSweet on the outside, and venom in the root,\nBitter in taste, and in showing sweet.\nwrynkled and double, like a horned snake,\nFaith in their faces, fraud in their tails,\nTo hasten Trojans, accord into one,\nThat Paris should go, into Greece,\nAs you have heard, there is more to say,\nFor here upon, they cast them in order,\nThe time approaches, when the sun shines,\nHis golden way, whirled up at wene,\nThe clear stars of Jupiter so red,\nWhich have their sight, in the crab's head,\nAnd Pleiades,\nOf which six appear to our sight,\nFor the seventh, she draws aside,\nAnd covers her beams hide,\nWhom once for she did, a great offense,\nThat unto us, causes her absence,\nFor she dares not, shew her streams clear,\nNor with her sisterly, openly appear,\nWhom once for she, with a god and mortal,\nDid a sin, that was criminal,\nWhich disturbed was, and Clymene heaven,\nThat she alone, among the sisterly seven,\nShrouds herself, shamefastly, her face.\n\nAnd when Titan, in the zodiac spear,\nBetween these stars, had taken his seat,\nOf the pole, in the sixtieth degree,\nUpon the time, of the Ioly green may.\nWhen Flora, with her gay hews,\nHas every plain meadow, hill and dale,\nWith her quick flowers, and nothing pale,\nOver spread and clad in livelier new,\nAnd branches bloom with many lusty hue,\nAnd bid us fully to be glad and light,\nFor by assurance, they have their fruit brought,\nAgainst Autumn, who that lists them shake,\nWhen on vines, every grape does ripen,\nAnd thus this season, most lusty of sport,\nEmbraces hearts with new comfort,\nOnly by hope, by kind as it is due,\nThat wholesome fruit shall the blossoms sow,\nWhen time comes, by revolution,\nAnd thus in May, the lusty fresh season,\nWhen birds sing in their harmony,\nThe same time, returned be,\nDephebus and Paris,\nAnd with them brought, chosen by the gods,\nThree thousand knights, ready to go,\nWith them to Greece, and ships many one,\nFull victualled, of all that may them need,\nAnd of these ships, the number as I read,\nWas twenty and two, like as write Guydo,\nAnd after this, without more ado.\nThe king commands Eneas and Anthenor, Polydamas, in haste, to make themselves ready with Paris, knightedly, to undertake this journey as you have heard to achieve. When they took their leave, Priamus, with a short conclusion, showed the effect of his intention and especially that they should do their duty to recover his sister Hecuba, as I have told you before. What more should I say in this matter? When they were ready, without further delay, Paris, as lord and governor of this voyage, along with his brother Deiphobus, took leave tenderly. After that, they shipped themselves manfully. Without delay, they began to prepare. And in the name of Venus, the goddess, and mighty Jove, they took their journey. They hoisted the anchor and, by the large sea, began to sail, and had the wind at their will. The water was calm, tranquil and still. Without trouble from any boisterous wave, they drew near to the coasts.\nOf Greek land, for nothing hindered them,\nAnd of fortune, in their course they met,\nA Greek ship, my author tells us thus,\nIn which was the king Menelaus,\nToward Troy, a famous strong city,\nTo visit a duke, of high degree,\nNamed Nestor, and this Menelaus,\nBrother also to the famous Agamemnon,\nMost renowned among Greeks for his worth,\nAnd Menelaus, this story bears witness,\nHusband was he to the queen Helene,\nHer sister to the two,\nCastor and Pollux, who, as I told you,\nWere worthy knights, holding them in high esteem,\nAnd in their time, similar in worth,\nIn Sparta, their most chief city,\nThey held a household, solemn and royal,\nThe love between them was so special,\nOf will and heart, agreeing with deed,\nBetween the two, of true brotherhood,\nNone could live alone without the other,\nWith whom was also the maid Hermione,\nThe youngest daughter of the queen Helene,\nOf beauty, most sovereignly fair.\nMost exceptionally beautiful,\nAnd thus the Trojans, saying by the sea,\nToward Greece, among the waves wet,\nEncountered an adventure, happened to meet,\nKing Menelaus, saying by their side,\nAnd none of them were eager, of very pride,\nTo inquire, but passed on, a full huge pace,\nFor none of them other could know,\nAnd yet the wind, peskily began to blow,\nThe Trojan fleet, causing in a while,\nTo approach, the noble isle,\nCalled Cithera that day,\nAnd in the harbor, in all the haste they may,\nThey cast anchor & bind their ships strong,\nAnd after that, they were not willing to tarry long,\nTo take the land, full many lusty men,\nArm themselves as freshly as they can.\n\nNow in this isle, of passing excellence,\nThere was a temple, of great reverence,\nThat was built, of old foundation,\nAnd most honored, in that region,\nThroughout the land, both far and near,\nThe festival day, always from year to year,\nLike as it fills, by revolution,\nReturning thither, of great devotion.\nIn honor of Venus, the goddess,\nWhom the Greeks with great diligence\nHonored most of every manner of age,\nWith gifts bringing and with pilgrimage,\nWith great offering and with sacrifice,\nAs was their custom in their pious way.\n\nFor in this phase, as they kneel and wake,\nWith contrite heart and their prayer make,\nThe statue gave of every question\nClear answer and full solution,\nWith ceremonies to Venus as they looked up,\nOf every thing that they had doubt,\nThey had full declaration.\n\nAnd thus the Greeks, upon Citheron,\nHallowed this feast with rich and great array,\nWith due rites as they could,\nIn hope fully, the better for to thrive.\n\nAnd when Fortune arrived at that time,\nUp to the land by adventure or chance,\nThe same time this feast was hallowed,\nBy many a Greek coming to and fro,\nFrom every coast that to the temple went,\nOn pilgrimage they fulfilled their vows,\nOf the place, the relics to view.\n\nAnd when Paris did this spy,\nHe gathered out of his company.\nThe worthiest one he chose\nAnd to the temple he took the right way\nFully prepared and in knightly wise\nHe performed his honor and his sacrifice\nFully humbly to the Greeks' likeness\nWith many an oath and rich jewel\nWith gold and silver stones and pearl\nHe spent there like to his degree\nAnd quit himself manfully in his oblations\nAnd devoutly in his orison\nHe deemed it joyful to see\nNow was Paris of passing great beauty\nAmong all that ever were alive\nFor there was none that could withstand his charm\nTrojan nor Greek to speak of comeliness\nWonder fresh and lusty as I read\nAnd in his presence, full like a gentle knight\nOf whose person to have a sight\nThey began to praise, both near and far\nSo royally he had him in his gear\nAnd coveted of high estate and low\nWhat he was, greatly to know\nAnd of his men, they asked boldly\nFrom whence he came and the cause why\nOf his coming, inquiring one by one\nBut prudently they kept them each one.\nThat nothing was openly seen in their answer, so they had guided us, Everything was kept secret. Each of them was so cautious Albeit some openly declared what he was and would not spare, But plainly told the reason for his coming And how Priam, the mighty and renowned king, His father was, And how he came also for Exyon. Thus each of them began with others, At first sight, when he came to town, And thereupon were imagining and inquisitive, Each with others, by suspicion, Demanding of it, Like their disposition. And rather they, that nothing knew, As people do of new things, And while they treated this matter in various ways, Among their words, great saying, The saying of them reached the ears of Queen Eleanor Nearby, in that region, And when she heard, by revelation And by report of those who came between, This fair Eleanor, this fresh and lusty queen, Understood the truth immediately.\nWithout tarrying or any further delay, she hastens to this solemnity. The fresh people of Frygye come to see her, for God knows well her intention. To see Paris rather than for devotion, she undertakes this pilgrimage, with a great retinue and a rich display. Paris to see, for she will not fail. But alas, what lusty new fire burns in her heart, to go to vigils or spectacles. None holiness, to hear of miracles, has moved her, that anything may befall. But as is the manner of women, they draw themselves, plainly, to conclude, where they are sure that multitude is gathered at liberty to see. Now they cover their eyes to bait, in a place where their pleasure is set. Now privately, they have their dalliance. By some sign or casting of an eye, or tokens showing in their hearts what they desire, with a touch of hands, they steal among the press. With arm or foot, they catch up in their grasp.\nWhoever listens to them / be he free or bond\nCan hold him in check\nAgainst whose slightest / avails wit or might\nFor what they desire / it may be wrong or right\nThey always achieve / who say yes or no\nAgainst whose lust / no man may intervene\nThus Guydo / ever of cursed false delight\nTo speak harm / has caught an appetite\nThroughout his book / of women to say ill\nIt is against my will / to translate it\nHe has always enjoyed / their honor to convey\nI am sorry / that I must recite\nThe foul words / in his book I found\nTo all women / I am so much bound\nI dare not say / of Guydo's write\nThroughout Troy's book /\nWhen I read it / my heart quaked in fear\nAnd truly / my wits began to fail\nWhen I recounted it\nLike his decree / but Guydo now be quit\nFor you shall hear anon / how that he caught\nThe queen Eleanor / for the cause that she went\nWith devout heart / her offering to present\nTo the temple / of Venus the goddess.\nThus word by word he says to her, expressly:\nO mortal harm, that is most to be feared,\nA fraud,\nAgainst which no help may avail,\nWhen lust has driven, in their hearts, away,\nA deadly venom, sows at the tail,\nWhich no man has power to restrain.\nI record the queen Elaine,\nWho, of new lust, to deal with strangers,\nWhom she knew not, nor ever saw before,\nThrough all this, alas, full many were lost,\nTo cruel death, embraced in the chain,\nWithout pity, now say, Queen Elaine,\nWhat ghost or spirit, alas, has moved thee,\nFrom thy lord, in such royalty,\nOut of thy house, to go among the press,\nWhy were you weary, to live at home in peace,\nAnd went out, strangers to see,\nTaking no heed, of thine honesty,\nThou shouldst have kept, thy closet secretly,\nAnd not have passed out, so foolishly,\nIn the absence, of thy lord, alas,\nThou were too willful, and rash in this,\nTo see before, what should follow.\nFor all too soon/you were drawn out of me,\nWho could not keep/at home your bounds,\nYou went out/as a hare among hounds,\nTo be caught/of very wilfulness,\nAnd your desire/could not compress,\nFor though your lust/list not to refrain,\nMany women/have caught in their train,\nGoing out/such halos to seek,\nIt sets them better/themselves to keep,\nClose in their chambers/and flee occasion,\nFor never ship/shall in peril drown,\nNor scatter on rock/nor be with tempests,\nNor with carracks/be devoured or I shall not shed,\nNor go to wreak/with no weather ill,\nIf it were kept/in the haven style,\nFor who will not/eschew occasions,\nNor fear/peril to show,\nHe must among/of necessity,\nOr he be ware/endure adversity,\nAnd who cannot/her foot from traps spare,\nLet her/be ware or she falls in the snare,\nFor harm I have done/to late is to complain,\nFor if once/the worthy queen Eleanor,\nHerself had kept/at home in close,\nThere had been/so wicked a loss.\nReported who,\nUnhappy the man who caused such destruction,\nOf her worthy husband and many others,\nOn the Greek side and in Troy,\nIn this story, as you shall hear,\nAnd so this queen, as fast as she could,\nTo the temple, had the way named,\nRoyally, and when she was come,\nDevoutly, within Citheron,\nMade to Venus her oblation,\nIn presence and sight of many one,\nWith many jewels and many rich stones.\nAnd when Paris had, this espied,\nTo the temple, he hastened,\nThriftily, in all the haste he might,\nAnd when he had first seen,\nThe goodly, fair, fresh queen,\nCupid's dart, that is so keen,\nOr he was aware, had marked him so,\nThat for astonished, he knew not what to do,\nSo he marveled at her great semblance,\nHer womanhood, her port, and her fairness.\nFor never before, nor did he think,\nThat nature could make so fair a creature,\nSo angelic, she was of her beauty,\nSo feminine, so goodly to behold.\nThat he deemed / as likely\nFor her beauty / to be some goddess\nFor his heart / did him assure\nThat she was / no mortal creature\nSo heavenly fair / and so celestial\nHe thought she was / in part and in all\nAnd considering / for always\nHer future actions / by and by\nEntirely / within his reason\nEvery thing / by good inspection\nHer golden hair / like the sun's streams\nOf fresh Phebus / with bright beams\nThe goodness / of her fresh face\nSo replenished / of beauty and grace\nEven renewed / with quickness of color\nOf the rose / and the lily flower\nSo equally / that neither was to know\nThrough none excess / of much or of little\nWithin the circling / of her eyes bright\nParadise / was compassed in her sight\nThat through abbreviation / the beauty would perceive\nAnd certainly / if I shall rehearse\nHer shape, her form, and future actions / by and by\nAs Guydo does / by order carefully\nFrom head to foot\nI have no English / that can suffice\nIt will not be / our tongue is not like\nI want flowers, and also rhetoric's flourishing or gay painting,\nTo describe so fair a creature,\nBut my colors are too faint and feeble,\nNeither can I enew nor paint well,\nNor am I acquainted with any of them,\nTherefore I excuse myself to you all,\nNot out of negligence, but only for lack of eloquence,\nAnd you remit to Guydo to see\nHow he describes by order her beauty,\nBut I will tell how Paris up and down,\nGoes in the temple and casts his eye,\nToward Helen and presses fast,\nAs one who burns in love's fire,\nEnflamed greatly by desire,\nAnd often changes countenance and cheer,\nAnd ever nears her, near and near,\nHe pierces through with his eyes two,\nAnd again turns the fair queen Helen,\nAs one who burns in heart secretly,\nAlthough no man could spy it outwardly,\nFor she thought she had never before,\nOf all men who ever were born,\nSeen one so fair or pleasing to her.\nOn hym to loke / was hir suffysaunce\nFor in the temple / she toke hede of right nought\nBut to compasse / and caste in hir thought\nHow she may catche / opportunyte\nWith hym to speke / at good lyberte\nThis hooly was / all hir besynesse\nFor hym she felte / so inly great distresse\nThat ofte she chaungeth / cou\u0304tenaunce & hewe\nAnd venus hath / marked them of newe\nWith hir brondes / fyred by feruence\nAnd enflawmed / by sodayne influence\nThat egally they were brought in a rage\nAnd saue the eye / atwe\nEche on other so fyxe / hath caste theyr syght\nThat they conceyue / and wyste \nWithin themself / what theyr herte mente\nAnd ne\nTo seke fully and gete occasion\nThat they myght by full relacion\nTheyr hertes conceyt / declare secretly\nAnd so vefell that Parys nygheth nye\nTo the place / where the quene Eleyne\nStode in hir see / and ther at wene them tweyne\nThey broke out / the su\u0304me of all theyr herte\nAnd gaue yssue / to theyr inwarde smerte\nBut this was done / lyst they were espyed\nWhan the people was / moste occupyed\nIn the temple, they kept the two close, no word leaked out from them, nor was anyone aware of their intentions. But at last, Paris and this queen came to an agreement with a brief resolution. They set a purpose between them in certainty. When they were about to meet again, men had suspicions, so they ended it without further discussion. And they departed, although they were reluctant. Paris, soberly, went forth from the temple. His heart was wounded through and through with love's fiery dart. To his ships, he held the right way. In all the haste, once his chivalry was assembled, one and other of his company, in few words, as briefly as I can, Paris told them:\n\n\"Sire,\" he said, \"I will briefly explain\nThe reason why my father sent us here,\nFor as you know, the chief of his intent.\"\nWas to recover/ his sister Exyon\nFrom the hands/ of King Thelamon\nThe thing/ for anything I can see\nIs impossible/ shortly in my eye\nBy any way/ as far as I can see\nHe is so great/ and strong in this country\nOf his allies/ about every side\nAnd in heart\nTo yield her up/ he has not but disdain\nThereof to treat/ it were not in vain\nTherefore the best/ that I can devise\nSince our power/ may not now suffice\nTo wage war/ in this realm\nWe are not equal/ of might nor renown\nFor lack of men/ with him to hold a field\nWe may not seem/ with spear nor shield\nTo encounter him/ with all his multitude\nTherefore the best/ that I can conclude\nIs since fortune/ has brought us hither\nAnd the gods/ have also for us worked\nSo graciously/ to make us for to land\nAt Venus temple/ fast by the shore\nWhich abounds/ with full great riches\nOf Greek offerings/ unto the goddess\nBy land and sea/ from many various ports\nOf men and women/ that have resorted here\nTo that place in worship of Venus,\nso that the wife of King Menelaus\nis present, rich and well adorned,\nand if we, by manhood, might attain\nto rouse her and spoil the temple,\nand choose from their treasure the chief jewels,\nand charge our summers with gold and silver,\nand take prisoners and bring them maugrely to our ships,\nthis very night, without delay,\nwe may not fail, whoever says no,\nIf you assent, with a rich prayer,\nwhy then, in haste, make your readiness now,\nand every man put on his harness,\nand arm him well in his best array,\nAnd they assent, without further delay,\nAnd in their ships they wait till night,\nWhen Phoebus' chariot, drawn by light,\nhad withdrawn his light from under the waves,\nand stars appeared with their clear streams,\nOr the moon, which at that time had risen,\nThey set sail, in full readiness,\nThe manly Trojans, armed brightly,\ntoward the temple, keeping their way right,\nFor they tarried no longer.\nBut proudly enter the sanctuary,\nInto the chapel called Citheron,\nWithout reverence or devotion,\nDone to Venus in her oratory,\nFor it was clean out of their memory,\nHonor and fear and all observation,\nFor finally, all their attendance,\nAs my author truly can define,\nWas to right nothing but only to plunder,\nThey took all that came within their grasp,\nWealth and treasure that was in the land,\nGold and silver, stones and jewels,\nRelics sacred and the holy eke vessels,\nWithout abode out of the sanctuary,\nAnd all away to their ships carry,\nIt is a wonder to think on the good,\nThey kill and seize,\nIt was a pity to see them bleed,\nAnd many Greeks they led into captivity,\nThat after lived in Troy the City.\nAnd there while goes Paris to Helen,\nAnd her embraces in his arms twice,\nFull humbly and with great reverence,\nIn whom he found no manner of resistance,\nIt sat not with her, she was so womanly,\nFor to Paris she yielded utterly.\nHer heart was there / when she arrived\nTherefore, to yield her / she had less fear\nShe cannot strive / nor any woman should\nHe alone / as gentleness would\nComforts her / as he best can or may\nAnd led her with him / without further delay\nTo his ships / and there quickly\nHe set guards / to keep her honestly\nWhile he returns / to the temple again\nTo plunder and rob / and make all plain\nThrough the temple / with wide walls\nNow stood a castle / firmly there beside\nWell fortified / with Greek soldiers\nWho awoke / with noise of the pylons\nThe same night / and began to shout\nAnd with that / they immediately issued out\nArmed in steel / to rescue the temple\nAnd manfully / they pursued\nAnd so they encountered / when they met\nWith sharp spears / and keen swords\n\nThey ran together / like tigers unmild\nLike wild boars / or these men wild\nThere was no feigning / found in their fight\nAlthough the field / had departed right\nFor the Trojans, the Greeks doubled their numbers, utterly encircled them, and caused them to flee in panic. Pursuing relentlessly, the Greeks slew them cruelly, without mercy, at the castle gate. There was no rescue for the Trojans, who came too late. In this battle, the fine was death. The Trojans assailed them so mightily that it would not avail them to withstand. For they had won the field of battle. Afterward, they cruelly began to plunder the castle. They brought every delicacy and shipped it away: treasuries, gold, and whatever they could win. And on the morrow, they began to sail, laden with goods by the Greek sea, towards the coasts of Troy. The sea was calm and fully at their will, both in terms of tempest and storms. The clear heaven was also visible, almost for seven days, at the castle called Tenedos. They arrived six miles from the town and gladly went to land.\nAnd after that I find Paris sent\nHis messenger straight to the king,\nHe informs him of their expeditious return,\nAnd Paris is pleased, for they have acted manfully,\nMaking a show of it in the town around.\nThis news, with great solemnity,\nIs carried high and low throughout the city,\nAnd both the greatest and the least\nRejoice and hold a feast,\nGiving thanks to their gods in humble way,\nWith observances and with sacrifice,\nOn their altars, with great devotion.\nMeanwhile, he remains at Tenedos,\nHolding siege with Queen Hecuba.\nShe mournfully complains,\nHer unhappy life to dwell among strangers,\nAll desolate, among prisoners,\nFar removed from her country,\nSolitary in captivity.\nShe weeps and cries, with a pitiful face,\nThe bubbling waves of her eyes clear,\nLike well streams by her cheeks, rain,\nAnd often her song is heard in sorrow.\nWith sobbing voice, she so far away\nDeparted is, from her Menelaus.\nFor whose absence, in furious rages,\nShe hates her life and curses fate.\nIn this woe, she ever continues,\nWithout solace, always more and more.\nAnd for her brethren, Pollux and Castor,\nAnd for the love, of her dear daughter,\nNow pale and green, she wakes from her cheer,\nThat once was fresher to behold,\nThan the lily on its stalk green,\nAlas, changed is her rose's hue,\nAnd ever on her, woe increases, new.\nShe was unlike any woman, to behold,\nFor aye she wept, as she to water would.\nUntil at last, in all her heaviness,\nParis came to her, of gentleness,\nTo comfort her and to assuage her rage,\nHe beseeches her, her sorrows to assuage,\nSaying to her, \"What may all this mean,\nO goodly, fresh queen,\nWhy do you thus, in sorrowing figure,\nI wonder greatly, how you may endure,\nSo much water, causeless to shed,\nThat with weeping, have dewed so your weeds.\"\nFor like a conduit, the streams ran down\nLike to a penitent, in contrition\nYou do this,\nLet be this farewell, and let it pass\nAll your weeping, thought, and heaviness\nAnd be no more, my lady, in distress\nMake an end, now of your grief\nFor all the ease, comfort, and pleasure\nThat men may do, trust well you shall have\nIt is but folly, in sorrow thus to rave\nLet pass over, all these sharp showers\nAnd here is my truth, you and all yours\nOf what your list, shall have sufficiency\nAs furthermore, and more abundance\nThan you had among the Greeks there\nI ensure you, and be nothing in fear\nThat I shall hold, all that I have vowed\nOn my truth, as I am a true knight\nIn word and deed, with all my heart entrust\nAnd she answered again, in full lowly wise.\nSince I am caught, & take of this misfortune\nUnto your will, I may not now resist\nI am so bound, that I must obey\nUnder your danger, that I may not flee.\nIn held and captured.\nYou know also, by nature, that it does not belong to womanhood\nIn strange soil, to strive or rebel,\nAnd particularly there, where her quarrel\nShall have no favor or be sustained,\nBut if you wish, now to have pity\nOn me or mine, of your goodness,\nYou may, of God, deserve thanks and reward,\nWho will reward justly all those\nWho comfort those who are in care and sorrow.\nNow, my lady, said Paris,\nWhat that may please or be at your disposal,\nAll shall be done, trust me right well,\nFor by my truth, as far as I can feel,\nIn anything, that may please you,\nYou shall have it, with all abundance.\nI ensure it, of steadfastness not failable,\nBe not afraid, but fully believe,\nIn my words and promises, everyone,\nAnd therewithal, he led her right away,\nInto a place, of royal apparel,\nTo comfort her, if it would avail,\nAnd secretly there, between them two,\nThis Paris first, without more ado,\nSpoke to her and said, lady dear.\nI assure you, I only speak of the heart within,\nAnd I hope you will truly find in deed what I say,\nI pray you, imprint in your mind what I express,\nAnd keep it in your remembrance,\nTherefore I say, since you pursue it,\nBe among the gods brought to this place,\nAnd fortune too wills that it be so,\nI dare affirm, plainly for the first time,\nThey disposed have not for your harm,\nBut for your good, and so you must take it,\nTherefore I advise, let go of sadness,\nAnd look that you be,\nAs glad and light,\nHere in this country,\nAs though you were in your own land,\nIndeed, I faithfully do understand you,\nYou shall have here, on every side,\nWith full sufficiency,\nOf all that may be pleasing to you,\nFor one thing, I dare promise,\nIn this country, as it shall be found,\nWe pass and abound in all plenteousness,\nMore richly than your Greeks yonder,\nAnd though you be from them now apart,\nOut of the land called Achaea,\nYou have no cause to be dismayed.\nYou shall be cherished more than before, and shown more worship and reverence, greater honor and excellence. Where you have forborne your own lord and are now left alone, for whom you make all this woe and sorrow, you shall in haste be set at ease. This will not displease or offend your womanhood. In place of him, I purpose, out of fear, to wed you and be your true man, to love and serve in all that I can, without feigning, to my life's end. And I will be to you as lowly and kind, diligent and more laborious, as Menelaus was your former husband, in every thing your lusts to obey. Here is my truth till the time that I die.\n\nAnd though I, in word, be but plain,\nHave no disdain,\nFor my request, nor grumble at all,\nFor at the least, of the royal stock,\nI am descended and come of as high a lineage,\nAs Menelaus, and of birth as good.\nAnd can, in love, to you be more true.\n\"Than he was ever constant and unchanging for no new reason. Why then cease, sir, to lament and weep And let some comfort in your bosom creep Your grief abate, which is not worth a straw And some mirth, let it in your heart subdue This I entreat, and of womanhood Be mindful. Alas, she said, how could this happen That have left my friends, one and all Behind, in a foreign land, and am here alone How should I then but make money I have no cause, God knows, for to play The role of a clown Nor my cheeks, for to keep dry From bitter tears, alas, it will not be That can have no end, my adversity For in good faith, it were against nature So suddenly to put out of my mind That thing, which for joy or sorrow Sits next to my heart in this world But alas, since gods have thus decreed No better chance of hope for me I can no more, I must submit And humbly accept, also their sonde For I am weak, their power to withstand\"\nI shall again change my will, although my heart feels rue,\nTo consent and humbly admit,\nThat thing from which I may not flee,\nDespite my will, by necessity,\nFully to obey what you desire,\nIt will not help, though I say nay,\nAnd thus she pays, all that she may,\nLittle by little, her sorrow to assuage,\nWhat should she always live in woe and rage,\nTo lose herself, so tender a creature,\nAn heart of steel could not endure,\nBut always of women, the manner and kind,\nThat they cannot, from sorrow, make an end,\nUntil they, by release, have wept their fill,\nBut at the last, when they begin to dull,\nTo make sorrow to happen to them as fast,\nThat by grace, they soon cast off,\nAnd lightly catch, comfort for their pain,\nThey are so tender, it may convert,\nFrom woe to joy, and thought from them disperse,\nThere is no storm that may last forever,\nAs wise clerks in books are wont to discern,\nThing violent may not be eternal.\nFor after storms, Phoebus brighter is,\nAnd so, by Comfort and Paris's counsel,\nShe drew herself from her old sorrow,\nJust as the glad morning\nBanishes the dark, black night,\nSo her heart grows light,\nAnd her weeping dries the well,\nAs the story shall soon tell.\n\nWhen the queen, who is called Elaine,\nWas drawn from her dreary pain,\nAnd the waves of her heavy heart\nCame to clear her cheeks,\nParis, in his heart, was fresh and amorous,\nIn haste he sent to King Priam,\nFor horses and men and other apparel,\nClothes of gold, full noble in entail,\nMade for Elaine and wrought for the nones,\nWith rich pearl and many diverse stones,\nAgainst her coming into Troy town,\nAnd after that, Paris from Tenedos,\nPrepares himself to lead her to Troy.\nPriam met them on the way,\nRoyally, as fast as he could,\nWith many a lord in his company,\nAnd many fair ladies,\nAnd many maids that rode with them.\nFirstly, the estates and commuters had all of Paris' prisoners set before him in order, two and two. Paris rode next, with Queen Eleanor, Dephebus on one side, and his knights riding around. Worthy Eneas rode next, followed by Polydamas, the Trojan. Their men rode behind them, each keeping a certain distance. They rode at a soft pace until the king suddenly met them and received them solemnly, taking the queen's hand and leading her forward to his city. Great was the praise that greeted them from various people who showed themselves fast and crowded. The shrill trumpets were sounded loudly, and up into the sky went the blessed sound. When all the people entered the town, many other diverse instruments went in at the gates and made melody that could be heard in the heavenly harmony.\nBy music touched upon string and cord,\nSo evenly in one and justly they agreed.\nIt would stir a heart into joy,\nAnd when they entered Troy,\nKing Priam alighted,\nAnd as fast as he could,\nInto a rich and well-decorated chamber,\nThe queen Hecuba hastily he conveyed.\nCommanding with heart, will, and thought,\nHis officers that she lacked nothing,\nThe spices divided, and then they drank the wine.\nThen the king took leave till supper,\nAnd she remained changing her attire.\n\nBut of the joy that was in the town,\nIn every place where men went up and down,\nI am too rude to write so much in my heart,\nThe Trojans delighted them so much,\nThat safely and soundly returned is Paris,\nThey thought they had entered paradise,\nHe had so well succeeded in his journey,\nAnd not one of his men was lost.\nThey were glad and light-hearted in all haste,\nAnd the next night, as Guido writes,\nWithout lingering long.\nBefore the morning, in Pallas' temple, as my author states,\nThe bond of marriage was assured between him and Eleanor,\nFor eternity, between the two of them,\nThe knot was tied by this sacrament,\nAnd this was done with the consent of all,\nFirstly by the king, and also by the advice,\nOf the entire city, in favor of Paris,\nAnd so the feast and great solemnity,\nContinued with much grandeur,\nOf this wedding, in mirth and delight,\nThroughout the town, for eight days,\nWhat should I write, the revelry or the dances,\nThe fresh attire or the countenances,\nThe playful touches, the looks amorous,\nThe secret grumbling of those who were jealous,\nThe great feasts, the rich banquets,\nAmidst the palace, with many various games,\nThe diverse courses, also at every feast,\nThe large abundance, given even to the least,\nThe strange dishes, the manner of service,\nI have no English, all, for to devise,\nI pass over, for I was not there,\nBut when this wedding,\nCame to the end.\nOf Cassandra:\nFirst, she saw\nA thousand Sythians, alas she cried,\nOf pitiful woe, with untrustworthy armies,\nAnd said, \"All be still, weep with me,\nO wretched Troy, enduring this transgression,\nWithin yourself, to suffer such folly,\nIn sustaining, such foul adultery,\nThat Paris should take, as wife,\nThe queen Hecuba, whose husband lives,\nO woeful Troy, to cruel is your fate,\nTo beware, it is almost too late,\nThe time has come, you shall be destroyed,\nFor many fathers will see their sons,\nTomorrow, he who will be slain or saved,\nAmidst the field, that will grieve him sore,\nAnd many wives will weep,\nTo see their husbands with large wounds deep,\nGroaning through the body, pale, cold, and green,\nAlas, how shall you endure,\nThe sorrow.\nA wretched mother, Eccuba the queen.\nHow shall you endure the sharp sounds' keen edge,\nYour worthy sons before the slave's plight,\nAnd in the field, cruelty allure.\nA blind people, of death you heed not,\nWhy won't you work and follow my lead,\nAnd in this case, be more prudent, be wise,\nTo take away Elaine from Paris,\nAs rightly required, without delay,\nAnd to her lord, justly restore her.\nWhat believe ye, his theft and cruel deed,\nShall pass thus, nay, nay, without fear,\nThe sword of vengeance shall bite sharply,\nFor his offense, and we shall bear the weight,\nPalaces and houses, within a throw,\nAnd towers high, laid on the earth low,\nAlas, alas, I say to Elaine,\nUnhappy woman, cause of our pain,\nHard and unyielding, and also graceless,\nUnwell woman, disturbance of our peace,\nThou hast us brought, in mischief and in woe,\nKindled a flame, to set us all aflame,\nAlas, thou art, the ground and root of all,\nOf many dreary feasts, fleeting.\nThat shall behold, among us in this town.\nAnd in this way, Cassandra ran up and down,\nAbout the suburbs and in the streets,\nAnd cried to everyone she met,\nOftentimes, alas, and in despair,\nUntil Priamus, because of her distress,\nAnd due to the noise she made,\nImmediately took her,\nAnd bound her fast, fettered in prison,\nWithout mercy or remission.\nThey paid no heed to her sad truth,\nNor to her words, it was the more pitiful,\nBut shut her up, in bonds great and strong,\nWithout pity, where she remained long.\nAnd thus in prison, a while I leave her,\nAnd to the Greeks, I will again return.\nThe unfortunate time, & in the same while,\nThat fortune falsely began to smile,\nUpon the Trojans, and bade them be merry,\nFor which they eagerly called upon their gods,\nRejoicing in joy, to be assured of their wellbeing,\nNothing adverse, the turning of the wheel,\nOf her who remains constant, but a throw,\nWhoever most trusts her, she can deceive,\nTurn her face and her forehead,\nSuch joy she has, her doubleness to show.\nAnd to conceal her clarity beneath a cloud,\nAgainst whose might, no man may shield her,\nShe whom Paris most flatters is she,\nFor in her joy, the Trojans little knew\nWhat she intended, to their confusion.\nWhile they, throughout the town,\nBelieved of Greeks, had fully recovered\nTheir damages and were ever to be secure,\nThrough that prayer, Paris had won\nThe wicked fame and rumor is Iris.\nWith swift wings, they brought the tidings to Menelaus,\nWhile he abode with Nestor at Pyra,\nFirst of the temple in Cithera,\nHow it was plundered and the robbery\nOf gold and treasure, and the tyranny,\nInflicted upon his men by the Trojans,\nBoth in assaulting and in all their pursuit,\nThey spared not man nor woman,\nWho came in their way,\nThey took and led as captives\nTo their ships, also of the fight.\nBefore the Castle, that was on the night.\nAnd lastly, he hears of his wife.\nWhom he loved as much as his life,\nMore tenderly knew God, a thousandfold,\nFor whom, astonied at heart, he grew as cold\nAs any stone, and pale in hue,\nHis heart's woe began to renew,\nThat first when he heard her name spoken,\nWithout more, he fell in a swoon,\nFor he could not endure to stand,\nTill Duke Nestor took him by the hand,\nAnd him awake, from his deadly swoon,\nAlas, he said, why have I lost and grieved,\nMy life's delight, my heart's sustenance,\nCome now, death, and make an end, with thy cruel dart,\nThat wounds me through and through,\nMy heart also, tormented in every pain,\nFor you, my wife, for you, mine own Eleanor,\nWho are taken from me,\nFarewell, my joy, farewell, my old delight,\nNow strangers, have possession of you,\nWhich will bring me full confusion,\nAlas, I know not how they cherish or treat\nMy fair Eleanor, who was so dear to me,\nNow you are gone, pensiveness torments me,\nI may not wait now, but after death,\nAnd after this.\nThis shop owner named Menelaus is about to go to his reign, but there is little business nearby. He asks for horses and says he will ride. Sool (a man named Sool) wants to complain about his suffering, but Nestor refuses to leave with him for consolation. Nestor, having compassion, intends to comfort Menelaus with all his might into the reign of Menelaus.\n\nFirstly, they send for Agamemnon and Castor to come to him immediately, and for Pollux if possible. When they have all arrived, and saw their brother in such misfortune, almost murdered by his own thoughts, Agamemnon gives him comfort and consolation. Agamemnon's labor and diligence enter, and he speaks to him as follows:\n\n\"O my brother, what woe, what heaviness,\nWhat deadly sorrow, thus inwardly may oppress\nYour knightly heart, or trouble your mind\nMore furiously than it is needed.\nFor though it required utterly\nThat you sorrow and had cause why.\"\nYet it seems / by just providence\nYou should silently / disguise your offense\nSince each wise man / in adversity\nShould feign cheer / and keep in secrecy\nThe inward woe / that binds him in distress\nBy manly force / rather there suppress\nThe spirit of anger / and melancholy\nWhere the people / it soonest might perceive it\nIt is a doctrine / of those who are prudent\nThat when a man / with fury is to rend\nTo feign cheer / until time he seems less\nThat he of vengeance / kindles may the fire\nFor sorrow outwardly / if I shall not feign\nWhoever takes heed / it twists things\nIt causes friends / to sigh sore\nAnd enemies / to rejoice more\nYour friend in his heart / is sorry by nature\nYour enemy glad / of your misadventure\nTherefore in your heart / who would most hold sorrow\nFeign gladness / your enemy to confound\nAnd show in your face / as though you felt nothing\nOf that most grievous / in your thought\nAnd where you have / most matter to complain\nMake a good face / & glad in your port\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Early Modern English, and there are no significant OCR errors. The text has been cleaned to remove meaningless characters and formatting, as well as modern editorial additions.)\nFor into thee, though thou distill and render thyself as thou wouldst the spille (spill), it avails not to a leg (legacy) thy grief. For neither honor nor pursuit of vengeance, with sorrow making, more can be executed. Though it last always, there comes of it no fruit. Men may lie who can dissemble a wrong. How he is sly (subtle) and of a strong heart, and who can be patient in his pain, it is a token he hath a manly heart. Not to weep as women in their rage, which is contrary to a high courage. With word and weeping, for to appease our pain, by no means to worship to attain. Let us with sword, not with words, fight. Our tongue appease by method prove our might. Word is but wind and water that we weep. And though the tempest and the floods deep of this two increase evermore, they may not do but augment our woe. And to our sorrow and heavy cheer, all is to them but increase of joy. Therefore, brother, a while do console.\nThe cruel torment that binds you so sore,\nIn proverb, it has been said full yore,\nThat the prowess of a manly knight\nIs proved most in mischance and his might,\nTo be assured in adversity,\nStrongly sustain what woe that it be,\nNot cowardly, his courage to submit,\nIn every peril, nor his honor flee,\nThrough no despair, but hope always well,\nAnd have a trust, true as any steed,\nTo achieve, aye what he takes in hand,\nFor finally, I do you understand,\nThat of himself, who has good fantasy,\nTo set upon and put in Iupar,\nWhat that befalls or happens, what happens may,\nTaking what chance, will turn on his play,\nThe fine of such, gladly is victory,\nThey fail seldom, of the palm of glory,\nAnd time is now to speak in few words,\nO brother mine, manhood to show,\nTo pluck up heart, and you to make strong,\nAnd to avenge your damages and your wrong,\nWe shall each one help, and lay to hand,\nKings, Dukes, and lords of this land,\nAnd atones, do our best endeavors.\nI request you to address your grievances and disregard anyone who may hinder us. We shall camp and set up our tents in the field before Troy, laying siege to its destruction. I have not set a specific day yet, but first, let us write letters without further delay. Address them to all the lords of this region concerning the matter of your villainy, urging them to assemble and find a remedy. This is all I can say.\n\nReleased somewhat from his suffering, Menelaus is comforted by his brother. For his sake, it could be none other. And thus, the king brought an end to his tale. Throughout the land, he sent his letters. First, to his kin and allies, requesting their aid.\n\nFirst among them arrived Achilles and Patroclus. Next, strong Diomede and many others came to help in this cause. And all assembled in open Parliament, where they were unanimously agreed to be governed as Agamemnon.\nList to ordain, in his discretion, of this voyage, they made him governor, And of their host, chieftain and emperor, Among them all, there was full unity, Upon Trojans, avenged to be, And from this purpose, never to remember, But first I find, Paris to see, The voyage took, the worthy brethren two, Pollux and Castor, to recover Helen, Yet nevertheless, as some books tell, That these kings, no longer would dwell, But hasten as Paris was gone, They took a ship, and followed anon, With many worthy, in their company, And either they had sailed three days, To Troyward, in the large sea, The tempest rose, and winds did awake, The heaven dark, with the clouds black, That had the day, turned into night, And brought Phoebus, bright Phebus, to shame, The fiery lightning, and stroke of thunder, Struck in the mast, and shattered it asunder, It was so dark, no light could dispel, The sea swelled, with many sturdy wave, That rose high, large as any mountain.\nAnd they fell down in front of the ship, plunging it low. Now up and down, forecastle and stern were tossed by the tempest. Their ships were driven to and fro. The sea water was green white and boiling, and pitch black with storm and wind. The blasts drove them so violently that every plank was driven from another. All was perished, there was not a man left. But all were drowned, as I recount. None escaped, I assure you. Except the brothers, such as books tell. The one in heaven, the other in hell were made lords, to abide eternally. And some feign, in their poetry, how the gods have deified them. Like in heaven and thus they were told. After their ships were destroyed, they were made stars in the zodiac. And to the sign, they were transformed utterly. Which is called Gemini, the sign and constellation. It is to Mercury's house and mansion.\nAnd is of kind, both feminine and masculine,\nIn which the Egret and Dolphin\nHave their rising, by revolution,\nThe tail also, above the dragon,\nIs exalted, in the third degree,\nOf Gemini, which sign has the most power,\nWith a hand,\nLike Lucina, held her course around,\nAnd in this way, the two brothers\nWere carried to heaven, as poets say,\nAfter the tempest, you get no more of me,\nFor in this way, the Greeks in the sea\nMade an end, and that was full,\nThis earnest first came unfortunately,\nTo each one, as it happened,\nAnd finally, to the brothers I,\nBut for as much as Dares the Fearless\nIn his book, was once courageous,\nThe form of Trojans and Greeks to describe,\nLike he saw, this Author by his life,\nThe shape\nBoth of the party, of those from Troy town,\nAnd of the Greeks, by good observation,\nIn times of truce, among them as he went,\nSeeing the manner, of their government,\nTheir port and cheer, with every circumstance,\nNamely of those, that were of high degree,\nConditions, and also their stature.\nLike before / you have heard me say\nA stripe there was / extending long her face\nWhich as he wrote / became her wonder well\nEmbellishing / her beauty every detail\nLike as Dares / makes description\nAnd first he says / how King Agamemnon\nWas of good shape / and tall of stature\nAnd mighty in labor / able to endure the best\nImpatient / to live in quiet\nHe was to arms / so equal and so fitting\nOf color white / and good proportion\nPhlegmatic / of his complexion\nDiscreet and hardy / and wonder virtuous\nAnd of speech / right eloquent\nCould rule himself / well in every thing\nBut Menelaus / of stature was but small\nProportioned / at width and long\nWorthy in arms / deliverer and also strong\nAnd of courage / and heart vigorous\nSemblably also / and yet more desirous\nTo live in war / rather than in peace\n\u00b6And furthermore / to speak of Achilles\nHe was right fair / and of great semblance\nWith eyebrows he had / crisp curls for thickness\nWith eyes glistening / large\nAnd broad shoulders / wide, breast full square and fitting\nTo endure in arms, full of stature and large of gifts, more strength than any other Greek. He let little charge, of heart so plentiful and large, passing courageous in the field. And to tell, here is Tantalus. Or bloodthirsty, having much readiness. Diverse-eyed, ever moving in his head, of huge making and also great strength. Well answering, his bread to his length. And never quarrelsome, he would take on hand only what he could understand, and then he would quiet him like a knight. Cylus, Ayax, was right corpulent. To be well clad, he set all his intent on rich array, full curious. Though he was, of body corpulent, of arms great, with shoulders square and broad, it was of him almost an horse's load. High of stature and boisterous in presence. And of his speech, rude and reckless. Full many words, in idle him astir.\n\nAnother, Ayax Thelamon, was also discrete and virtuous.\nWonderful and beautiful to behold,\nWhose heart was black and upwardly bent,\nRound as any sphere, having a voice\nFull of melody, rightly tuned by harmony,\nAnd was,\nInstruments, both small and great,\nSturdily longing for music,\nAnd yet possessed great skill,\nIn arms as well, and was a noble knight,\nNo man more oppressed or harder to fight,\nNor more desirous for victory,\nDevoid of pomp, hating all vain glory,\nAll idle praise spent and blown in vain,\nOf Ulysses, what else shall I say,\nWho was so noble and worthy in his days,\nFull of wiles and sly at contests,\nIn meaning double and deceitful,\nTo forge a lying, also wonderful,\nWith a plain face, he could make it agree,\nMery-worded and but seldom low-voiced,\nIn counseling, discrete and full prudent,\nAnd in his time, the most eloquent,\nAnd helped the Greeks often in their need,\nAnd for speaking of worthy Diomedes,\nWell-matched and growing in length.\nOf a sturdy port and famous for strength,\nLarge-breasted and fearsome in sight,\nDeceitful in whatever guise he might,\nHasty and testy, reckless in strike,\nMeddling always and seldom at peace,\nTo his servants, impetuous and inpatient,\nBaratous where he went, of little worth in disposition,\nLecherous, given to complexion,\nAnd had in love often, since his part,\nBurning at heart, Cupid's dart within,\nSpeechless, often felt sore,\n\nWhat shall I say also of Duke Nestor,\nOf long stature and well-compacted,\nWith corpulent shoulders and of middling small stature,\nStrong in hands, with large and rough arms,\nPrudent and wise in counsel,\nWhose words were sweetened with pleasure,\nTo his friend, having ever remembrance,\nFor his truth, he could not deny,\nBut in anger, he could not refrain,\nHe was so fretted with melancholy,\nThat no man could modify his anger,\nAlthough it lasted but a little while,\nWho could endure him, for it would soon resume.\nLightly it came and lightly went away\nProtesilaus was fresh in array\nWonderful and of great beauty\nI believe a fairer no man might see\nOf good stature and deliverance and light\nNo man swifter and in might to speak\nOf his making he was passing strong\nFearless and loath to take a wrong\n\nAnd to tell of Neptolemus\nHe was of making wonderful courteous\nWhose face was black shining as the sea\nWith eyes round broad and great\nLarge breasted with a rising back\nAnd in speech stammered when he spoke\nBut in causes he could meddle well\nAnd in the law full deep he did feel\nFor all his lust was beset on pleasures\n\nBut to tell of Palamedes\nKing Nausicas\nOf face fair, of body long and lean\nOf manly heart, hardy in battle\nDesirous his enemy to assail\nFamously courteous and treatable\nIn all his deeds and inwardly worthy\nIn giving large and exceedingly generous\nOf whose fame widely spread the name\nIn many lands the story tells thus\nAnd I find in Polydamus' heart,\nThe worthy Greek, of great thickness,\nOf woman, who,\nYet proud and keen, was surquedrous and full of pensiveness,\nAnd, like Machaon, was between long and short,\nProud and fierce, devoid of patience,\nVengeful, who did him wrong,\nAnd bald as a coconut,\nOn whose forehead, even by the root,\nThe hair had fallen and wasted clean away,\nAnd seldom or never, he would step a day.\nMoreover, to tell of Crisseyde,\nMy pen stumbles for her long-lasting beauty,\nMy master Chaucer did his diligence\nTo discern her great excellence,\nHer beauty, which he described so masterfully,\nFor me to add more would be presumptuous,\nSince I well know that I, in writing,\nNo thanks deserve, because he was so eloquent,\nAnd but I write, I must leave the truth,\nOf the Trojan book, and my tale brief,\nAnd overpass, and not go by and by.\nAs I earnestly order, and it is my duty to offend, either through negligence or presumption, I am set between two: I have great cause and matter to complain. Against Antropose, and on account of her envy, she broke the thread and intended to die. Noble Galfrid, Poet of Britain, among our Eugenians, was the first to reign. The golden dew drops of rhetoric so fine, our rough language only to enlighten. To God I pray, that he may have his soul. After whose help I must implore, and seek his book left behind. Some good word, I pray, may I find therein, to set among the crooked lines rude. Which I write, as by sympathy, The rubiestant, so royal in renown, within a ring of copper or lead, So stands the making of him doubtless, Among our books, of English peers, They are easy to know, they are so excellent. There is no equal making to his, We but halt, who so takes heed, That melding of making, without any fear, When we would, his style counterfeit.\nWe may always grind and cook our colors, temper our assurance and vermin, but all I hold is presumption. It follows not, therefore I let be. And first of all, I will excuse me and proceed as I have begun. Through his favor, I can, if I know how, make an end of the Trojan book. And there I left, again I will now return, to Chryseis, and though to my support, I have no rhetoric, nor riches, stones nor pearls, for I am bare of all courtesies. Through crafty speech, I will enrobe myself with her sleeve. Yet for all that, now I will not leave, but be as bold as Bayard the blind, who casts no peril what way he finds. Right so will I stumble, despite my head. For wanting connection, and take no better heed. So as I can, her beauty to discern. That was in truth, of all things, a live one. One of the fairest, this Calchas' daughter dear, In shape, face, and countenance, there might be no fairer creature, Neither high nor low, but men of stature. Her son resembled Phoebus in his spear.\nBound in a tress, brighter than gold,\nDown at her back, low down behind,\nWith a thread of gold she would bind,\nFull often then, of custom,\nTo that she had, so much fondness,\nOf kinds' work, without any were,\nAnd save her brows, joined together,\nNo man could in her allurement see,\nAnd furthermore, to speak of her eyes,\nThey were so piercing, heavenly and clear,\nThat a heart could not steady itself,\nAgainst their shining, they would not yield,\nThroughout a breast, God knows and bind,\nAlso she was, for all her semblance,\nFull simple and meek, and full of sobriety,\nThe best nourished also, that might be,\nGoodly of speech, filled with pity,\nFair-faced, and thereto right treatable,\nAnd as Guyon says, in love variable,\nOf a tender heart and unsteady constancy,\nHe accuses her and her newfangleness.\n\nAfter this, Dares recounts,\nAmong other things, how the king of Persia,\nCame to the Greeks, with many worthy knights,\nTo help and further, with all his might.\nThe king was long and wonderfully fat,\nAnd wrote right strongly, as the text states.\nHis beard and hair were red as fire's flame,\nWith eyes that burned and desire intense.\nHe was eager to act and stern in mien,\nOftentimes showing sudden ire,\nHis face was plentiful in wrinkles,\nAnd Dares, briefly, began to pace.\nNo more of Greeks, the text reports,\nBut of Trojans, to recall the story.\nHe describes them carefully as follows:\nFirst, he says, King Priam was\nBenign and gracious in his mien,\nOf tall stature, with slender limbs and long,\nDelighting much in music and song.\nHe was most desirous to hear merry songs.\nA seemly man, of great courage,\nHe spoke softly, as the books express,\nFearless of fear, hating flattery,\nAnd all who could either gloss or lie\nHe found untrue to their word,\nHe dealt fairly and justly with all,\nFor no reward did he decline.\nAnd loved only, in his time,\nOne of the worthiest of all kings,\nHe who loved best,\nWorthy knights, and all that he knew,\nThat manful were, and of heart true,\nHe could cherish no man half so well\nWith gold and gifts, that they might feel\nHis great freedom, and largesses too,\nAnd of his sons, to reckon them all,\nThe first of birth, as books tell,\nWas worthy Ector, of knighthood spring and well,\nFlower of manhood, of strength unrivaled,\nSad and discrete, and prudent ever,\nCrop and root, ground of chivalry,\nOf cheer demure, and of courtesy,\nHe was an example, thereto of sobriety,\nA very mirror, and for his gentleness,\nIn his time, the most renowned,\nTo reckon all, and of goodly appearance,\nThe most famous, in peace and war,\nFarthest spoken of, both near and far,\nOn each side he was, so virtuous,\nAnd to be loved, most gracious,\nOf sinew and bone, compact by measure,\nSo well breathed, in arms to endure,\nSo well trained, by proportion.\nSo quickly and lively, and of great renown,\nSo large and well-grown, extending in length,\nSo complete, to have great strength,\nIn this world, if I shall not say,\nNever was there one who fully could attain,\nTo the prowess of this worthy knight,\nTo judge his heart as well as his might,\nAnd withal, so wise and discerning,\nThe lowliest also, of his degree,\nTo the rich and poor, and few in words,\nTo all, such cheer he could show,\nOf his presence, that every one was glad,\nWhen they had less often seen him,\nHe was so benevolent, to the town,\nAnd to his enemies, like a fierce lion,\nHe could show himself, when it was to do,\nAnd in the field, there might no man so,\nTo judge all his labor half endure,\nFor the story tells us plainly,\nThat he was never weary in battle,\nNor faint in heart, his foes to assail,\nOf all good, I find, he was the best,\nProwess and virtue, in him were set at rest,\nSo passingly, that never was nor shall,\nNone bear a mother, to be perilous.\nTo the theme of manhood, not of chivalry,\nOf all he passed, but in books, a lie,\nIn whom nature held no thing to write,\nSave in his tongue, he was let alight,\nAnd as some Authors mention,\nHe was sanguine, of complexion.\nFurthermore, his brother Dephebus,\nLikewise I find, and also Helenus,\nWere like Priam, of whom the three\nWere hard to discern any diversity,\nOf shape or form, or of countenance,\nSave in age, there was no variance,\nTheir father old, and they were young and light,\nAnd Dephebus, a worthy knight,\nAnd had in arms, fame and excellence,\nAnd Helenus, in clergy and science,\nWas well versed, and took but little heed,\nOf all the war, knighthood and manhood.\nBut Troilus, truly if I shall describe,\nThere was in heart, no manlier a life,\nNor more likely, in arms to endure,\nWell grown tall, and of good stature,\nYoung, fresh, and lusty, hardy as a lion,\nDeliverer and strong, as any champion,\nPerilous of manhood, and of deed,\nHe was to any, that I can recollect.\nIn derrying doing, this noble, worthy knight\nTo fulfill that which longs to a knight,\nThe second Ector was called, and for his worthiness and high prowess,\nDuring the war, he bore himself so well,\nIn love, true as any steel,\nSecure and wise, steadfast in courage,\nThe most goodly, also of visage,\nThat might be, and benign of cheer,\nWithout change, and of one heart entire,\nHe was always faithful, just, and stable,\nPerseverant, and of will immutable,\nUpon what thing he once set his heart,\nDoubtlessness might not harm him,\nIn his deeds, he was so holy and plain,\nBut of his foot, the truth to convey,\nHe was so fierce, they might not withstand him,\nWhen he held his bloody sword in hand,\nTo Greeks, death and confusion,\nTo those of Troy, shield and protection,\nAnd his knighthood, shortly to account,\nThere might be no man who could surmise,\nThrough the world, though men would seek,\nTo reckon all, Troyan neither Greek,\nNone so named, of famous hardiness.\nAs books old tell of him, there was no other except Etior, and after him I speak of his brother, Paris, most passing in beauty in this world, in very truth a more lovely knight. For as I read, he bore away the title of fairness. With yellow locks, like gold wire in color, and in shooting, moving was his delight. Having in hunting a full great appetite, and, as Dares reports, the best archer, one of them alive, and of his hand was also a noble knight, a manly man, delivering and of good might. And in the war, he proved well. And as my author desires to praise, was the Trojan Aeneas, well-born and of slender body, and in Troy bore great estate, and in his works discrete and temperate, and had a fame of passing eloquence, wise in counsel and of great wisdom, most renowned also in letters, delighting much in books and scripture, and ever glad, both of face and cheer.\nIn the city, there lived a man with clear, persistent eyes. Among all its residents, he spoke of goods and possessions, of castles and towers, of great abundance. Indeed, in that city, no one could attain riches, and he, who was called Sterne, possessed an abundant treasure of gold and furniture beyond measure. His companion, who was smaller and longer than Anthenor, was circumspect in all his governance. He was also well-loved by Pryamus and renowned for his copious use of words, constantly resonating with mirth and play. He spent the entire day joking among his peers and in their company. So seriously did he behave that no one could keep up with him. His countenance was so solemn that everyone took great pleasure in listening to him speak, even when he was sad. Despite his sad demeanor, his speech was full of jokes. His son, named Polydamas, was similar to his father in stature and appearance. There was no lack of gentleness and truth in his person.\nWonder strong and pale in hue,\nAnd to Ire suddenly stirred,\nAlthough in words he kept himself covered,\nBut all his actions would soon be shown.\nAnd to tell of King Merion,\nLarge-breasted and of his making all,\nThe best composed and the mellow-tongued,\nOf shape and form that men could find,\nAnd so well performed by nature,\nThat none was like him near or far,\nHis yellow locks and crisping hair was his crown,\nStyle of his port and gentle in play,\nAnd inwardly strong, masteries to try,\nWonder courteous, and to no one displeasing,\nAnd wrought in arms, deeds marvelous,\nAs in this book shall be seen hereafter,\nNow after him, to Queen Ecuba,\nLike the story, my style I must incline,\nWhose limbs all declined,\nTo the shape of man more than woman's head,\nAs Guydo says, but in work and deed,\nShe was indeed the most womanly,\nThe best advised and most prudently,\nIn her actions could she govern herself,\nThat man's wit might not discern.\nTo find a better, doubtless than she.\nSo true example of a woman,\nShe was in truth, and to every man,\nKind and gracious in appearance,\nPitying and merciful to the poor,\nAnd to the needy, most charitable.\nThe wife of Hecuba, her daughter by law,\nAfter her manner, much drew forth,\nAndromache, the faithful, true wife,\nSo good, so just, the one who in all her life\nIn honesty found her greatest delight,\nLong of her shape, with breasts fair and white,\nWith rosy cheeks, renewed by measure,\nWith piercing eyes of angelic figure,\nLike gold her tresses and rose-red lips,\nFresh as a rose, of color nothing faded,\nTo the rich and poor, and spoke always the best,\nOf every man, aiding him as she could,\nThat no man despaired, went out of her sight,\nAnd over this, every gentleman,\nShe would further please, in all that she could,\nAnd gladly ever did her diligence,\nTo gain grace, to those who did wrong.\nThis was her custom and condition,\nShe was so full of compassion.\nThat women all could learn from her,\nAnd Cassandra her own dear daughter,\nWas of stature wonderfully tall,\nOf color white, and thus seemly,\nSave in her face, in various places,\nWere many warts growing here and there.\nAnd all her joy and felicity\nWas to keep her virginity,\nIn freedom that women have in kind,\nThrough moral virtue, she put out of mind,\nOf all folly, fleeing occasion,\nAnd ever in study and contemplation,\nOf various books, she would employ herself,\nAnd particularly, of Astronomy.\n\nOf prophecy, a spirit she had,\nAnd some men say, she was one of the three,\nOf women, whom Cebylus bore the name,\nOf whom you renowne the fame,\nAnd is as yet full green,\nAnd for to tell of young Polycete,\nAnd discern her beat up and down,\nIt were in truth presumptuous,\nTo take on me now such a thing,\nTo climb so high, and pass my knowing.\nSince nature, in forgiveness of this maid,\nHer knowing, all utterly overcame,\nTo make her fair above every creature.\nAnd said proudly, see how I, nature,\nWhen I am pleased, can embellish my work\nLike Phoebus among the dark clouds,\nPassing clear, so in comparison,\nI can my work and operation\nRight as I wish, adorn and make fair,\nSo paint and flourish, it shall not appear,\nAnd my colors, so craftily dispose,\nOf the lily and of the fresh rose,\nAnd so renew, that they shall not fade,\nBut always one, and in this way I made\nMy dear daughter, you know whom I mean,\nThe young, fair Polyclete,\nA scan, that none can this craft but I,\nThus in her work, boasted utterly,\nNature herself, when she could wrought,\nAs she who fully in her heart thought,\nAbove all others, to make herself excel,\nAnd of beauty, to be the very well,\nAnd therewithal, in shape nor in stature,\nThere was no lack, I dare well assure,\nAnd God above, gave her sovereignty,\nIn all thews and worlds, she should be,\nCrop and root, and named of womanhood,\nWith fulsome praise, of all goodliness.\nSo passingely that it would be idle of me to express\nHer beauty entirely, it would be a vain travail\nFor well I wote, my English would fail\nIn such matter, to speak feelingly\nWhoever it can, I am not that one\nTherefore I pass and straight now will I go\nTo my matter, for Dares of no more\nIn all his book, mentions\nOf them of Greece, nor of Troy town\nIn particular, he puts none in my mind\nThan you have heard, save as you shall find\nIn this story, when it comes to it\nOf their knighthood, & who that best has done\nLasting the siege, the manner every day\nAnd right away, to sharpen my point\nI will dress, this story, to begin\nOf all the war, to tell you the great.\n\nThe time nears, after this as yours\nThat winter bore, with its frost bitter\nBegan to assuage, of its sharp cold\nWhen Apollo passed was the sign\nThat we call Aquarius\nAnd in the fish, far in February\nIron was, toward the Aries\nAnd that season, with its feeble heat\nOn hills high, his beams strike\nMaking the snow with fair flakes white,\nInto water kindly relent,\nWhich from above to the valley went,\nThat never floods of the sudden throw,\nThe green mead began to overflow,\nAnd the ice began to thaw and dissolve,\nDown from the hill, the brooks to fill,\nWith foamy streams of the waves small,\nBy broken banks as they did flow,\nWhen lusty was he, with his young green,\nI comforted myself by the sun's shine,\nWhich little and little, his hues amend,\nUp in his spear, as Titan ascends,\nWhen March approaches and covers all,\nBegan to blow and equinoxial,\nOf veer is hallowed the season amorous,\nWhen the Greeks, proud and courageous,\nWith hole the flower of the knighthood,\nAssembled were and holy they swear,\nIn the haven that was most of fame,\nAnd of Athena, that time bore the name,\nYgdrasil was by assent chosen,\nTowards Troy to sail and to go.\nSo great a number, is not remembered,\nBy any manner of man.\nThat together in one company were:\nA passing noble array\nOf manly men, who so list to heed\nThis story, as you shall hereafter read\nAnd by and by, to make description\nMy author tells, how Agamemnon\nThe worthy king, a hundred ships brought\nWith worthy knights, as they ought\nAnd Menelaus, on whom most lay the charge,\nBrought sixty large ships.\nOut of his land, that is called Sperten,\nAnd from Boece, full of manly men,\nCame fifty ships; the story tells thus:\nWith Prothoenor and with Archelaus,\nAnd from the land called Sycomene,\nCame sixty ships, in the company:\nOf the Duke, who is called Achalapus,\nWith whom was also fresh and eager\nHelix, the Earl, the worthy knight,\nAnd fifty ships, armed for the fight,\nHe brought with him, King Epistrophus,\nOnly with help from King Cedyus,\nAnd Thelamon, whom Ajax some call,\nFully renowned, to reckon all,\nBrought fifty ships to this journey,\nFrom Solymne, his royal chief city.\nWith Duke Terntor, Amphiacus, Earl Daryon, and noble Theseus,\nFour worthy dukes and many knights, brightly armed,\nDuke Terntor with Amphiacus, Earl Daryon, and Theseus,\nThis quartet, renowned in this voyage, came with Thelamon,\nAnd old Nestor, cruel of heart and mind,\nBrought out of Pyylon, fifty ships,\nThe king of Damas, worthy in his own right,\nAnd King Thoas,\nBrought with them a hundred ships, to guide,\nThelamon, also called Cylleus,\nFell and despotic, brought from a land far off,\nSix and thirty ships, for the war.\nAmphymacus and King Polybetes,\nThirty ships they brought to the fleet,\nFrom Calcedonia and Meryon, the king,\nWith Idynus, they led four score ships,\nAnd Ulysses, with Greeks, provided sustenance,\nWith fifty ships, they set sail from Trace,\nTowards Troy, proudly leading the way.\nDuke Melleus, full of manly men,\nBrought also with him, great ships ten.\nAnd the duke Perhotacus, named Protesilaus, brought fifty ships, armed bright and shining, from Phylarcha, the strong and mighty island, and Methone, as Guido compiles with his brother Polydris from Trycionyco. They brought two and twenty ships, and from Phycus, as it is made mind, came Achilles with fifty ships full. And from Rodon, Troyans came to encumber, with king Thelapolus and the duke Antipus out of the land that Hesyda men call, whose people are nearly Charlies. With sail they crossed again the bright heaven. In number came ships also eleven. And with them was the worthy duke Amphymacus, and Polyhetes, the strong and mighty king. Fifty ships brought at his coming out of Richa, the noble reign. And with this king, worthy of renown, was Losius the duke, and the noble Diomedes.\nOf ships great, I speak of no small barges,\nFourscore in number, this no tale,\nThemachus and mighty Euryale,\nTwo manly men, in arms they came,\nWith Diomede, in this voyage.\nPolyphebus brought seven ships,\nPhineus, the hardy king, joined,\nProthoylus, as I can specify,\nBrought fifty ships, to this navy,\nFrom Demenesa, the mighty region,\nCarpenor, as mentioned,\nBrought fifty also, from Capadye his country,\nA great province, of which king was he.\nTeretes of Beysa, lord and king,\nBrought twenty-two, also in his company,\nAnd finally, if I shall not lie,\nFull many ships, was in this navy,\nMore than Gyas makes rehearse,\nTowards Troy, with Greeks to sail,\nAs Homer, in his description,\nOf Greek ships, makes mention,\nShortly following, no man was ever born,\nThat such a number of ships beheld before.\nCounted the ships, that Palamedes\nBrought with him, their number to increase.\nThat when these lords, the aforementioned ones,\nEveryone, kings, dukes, and earls, all assembled were,\nWithout any hesitation,\nBefore the haven, called Athene.\nThe famous king, great Agamemnon,\nSo wise, so worthy, and of such high renown,\nAs he who was, Prince and governor\nOf the Greek host, began his labor\nHis diligent care and vigilant watchfulness,\nBy high advice and inner provision,\nTo deliver, wisely in this need,\nWhat was to be done, or what he should proceed,\nIn this matter, casting up and down,\nAnd returning, of high discretion,\nThat he might begin so, that the end\nMight conclude well, that willfulness\nWould not harm their purpose through recklessness,\nNor through any haste, without prudence.\nSo that they might, beforehand, wisely see,\nThat finally, in felicity,\nThey might accomplish, in certainty,\nTheir purpose.\nAnd so this king, upon a large plain,\nOut of the city, but little from the shore,\nWith his lords, will wonder at nothing,\nTo have a council; wise Agamemnon,\nMaking an assembly, immediately.\nOf such as were most great, inspecting him,\nHe sitting first in his royal seat,\nAnd his lords each in his,\nLike high or low degree,\nAnd all tumult stopped and silence,\nThrough his presses, to give him audience.\nThen he began at once, in full sober wise,\nHis tale, as I shall recount.\n\"Sires,\" said he, \"I pray you heed,\nThat so noble and so renowned,\nIn wisdom and worthiness,\nIn manhood too, and high prowess,\nWhose report and fame through the world,\nRebounds to you,\nFor truly, the flower of Chivalry,\nMen may now find, in this company,\nFor whose sake, ever, of manly men gather,\nTogether met, as there are now here,\nSo young, so fresh, so courageous,\nAlso well disposed,\nTo have a deed,\nOrso likely, since the world began,\nWithout delay, so many knightly men,\nOf kings, dukes, and many another lord,\nAs are now here, of will and one accord,\nAnd of one heart, assembled in this place,\nThat if fortune and God's grace be with us.\"\nWe shall not fail in our journey to achieve our purpose. For I declare him plainly in anger or in any way disturb or presume to take us on again or assume by his might the malice to excite our worthiness, however small it may be, to provoke us to anger or do offense, that we should not by mortal retribution repay his debt as it lies within our power. Among us are so many worthy knights, among whom there are a hundred and yet more. I could choose one able to go with manly force and knightly sufficiency to take him on for vengeance upon the Trojans by himself alone. For this reason, we have all assembled, both high and low, and with all this, it is not unknown to you how shamefully the Trojans have wronged us, provoked us, and wilfully delayed us from avenging our right.\nOf wrongs done, let us by one consent and will\nSettle to have, as is right and just,\nRedress to find, for that we now complain,\nAnd with one heart, let us make pain,\nUpon the Trojans, a war to make,\nAnd I suppose we shall them so awake,\nThat they shall learn, or we thence conclude,\nTo remember, to the world's end,\nHow they shall dare, take a hand in Greece more,\nOr be bold, while they have life or space,\nAgainst the Greeks, more to trespass.\nFor whose offense, as they say, but late,\nWithin our heart, with such burning hate,\nThe fierce heat and the greedy ire,\nFrom day to day, so sets a fire,\nThat it renews, the constraint of our pain,\nSo inwardly, if I shall not feign,\nWe must of reason, of so high grief,\nEnforce ourselves, for vengeance to seek,\nAs right requires, and our just sorrow\nCompels us, both day and night,\nOn Trojans, our harms to wreak,\nAnd for to stop, tongues that so speak.\nTo our reverence and to our vengeance,\nWe must atone and make amends,\nThat our feet may no longer fear\nTo do worse to us than God forbids.\nIn time coming, if through our patience,\nWe likely suffer their intolerable offense,\nTo pass through and take no heed,\nSince never yet of Greeks could I read\nThat any man refused to bear their name,\nWhich justly might rebound to their shame,\nWithout this, that they make amends\nThrough their manhood so openly and plainly,\nThat no man might of them see or this,\nIn any way or report amiss.\nNew shall not disguise in this case,\nWith cheer oppressed or with dreadful face,\nTo let slide or lightly overlook\nThe great offenses that were so late done,\nWhich would turn upon us and our successors,\nTo great reproach and to our shame,\nIn time coming, and shamefully spoken,\nHow Greeks did not avenge their own,\nTheir feet which may not be.\nI assure you all,\nThat we are of one will,\nTo reconcile our wrongs.\nAnd thereby, so mighty and strong,\nWho can in breadth and length\nRightly repeat our power and strength,\nOr dare ever our worthiness challenge,\nHe shall not fail, without repentance in heart or at the end,\nSave Trojans; this other day, new,\nFrom wantonness, in a foolish rage,\nInto our land made a voyage,\nUnaware of us, and with their prey went home,\nThey shall soon repent,\nFor their transgressions and great offense,\nFor all the world knows, up and down,\nBut late gone, how few Greeks,\nUpon Trojans, their power did show,\nAnd slew their king, called Laomedon,\nFather to Priam, now king of that town,\nAnd sacked Troy and Cyte,\nAnd slew up all the commons,\nFrom Greek sword, whom it pleases to spare,\nAmong us, in servitude and care,\nComply with their harm, it may not be recovered,\nThen how may they, full assured,\nAgainst us all, hold a truce,\nWho have such worthy ones in our company.\nFor it is likely that a thousand could achieve\nFour or five, so lightly might prove,\nAnd yet one thing I affirm, I dare:\nOf our coming, Troyans be well aware,\nAnd do their labor and diligence\nAgainst us, to make resistance,\nWith all their might, I know it out of doubt,\nAnd gather friends in countries all about,\nTo help them and strengthen them in their need,\nWe to withstand, if they might speed.\nBut finally, one thing I counsel,\nFrom this haven, or we further sail,\nThat we may be more fortunate,\nOf one accord, to make an embassy,\nAnd prudently, or we further wend,\nInto Delos, in all haste that we send,\nWhich is an isle, a little here beside,\nMore discreetly, our journey to provide,\nThat we may have, the better hope and grace,\nOf Apollo, Patron of this place,\nTo have from him, if that we may speed,\nFinal answer, in this great need,\nOf our expedition, how that it shall fall,\nIf it so be, you will assent all,\nTo this counsel, the most and even the least.\nAnd they all thought it best\nTo concede to this conclusion\nWithout any contradiction\nAnd they atoned, without any fear\nThey praised his counsel and his wise advice\nAnd therefore, as the story goes, they acted thus:\n\nAfter the time that Agamemnon\nHad concluded his reasoning and finished his sentence,\nAs you have heard,\nThe Greeks were greatly inclined\nAnd with one voice they agreed plainly:\n\"That Achilles and also Proteus\nShall take upon themselves\nThe charge of this message\nTo Apollo, for an answer, to go\nAnd they hastened\nAnd sailed forth\nBy the great sea\nToward Delos\nAnd arrived and came to land\nThe which island, as I understand,\nAnd as my author says without less,\nHas its sight\nAmong the Cyclades.\nWhere men have so much to do with rocks\nIn the sea called Hellespontico\nOf which island I must make a digression\nTo make description.\nIn this isle, Isydorus reports, Latona, the queen,\nFirst bore Apollo and Diana, her lord,\nWhen they were at discord, as Ovid writes,\nAnd so it happened in this little isle.\nThere was a temple, once dedicated,\nTo Apollo and also consecrated,\nIn his worship, of old foundation,\nHonored by great devotion.\nBecause Apollo, with his bright beams,\nFirst appeared there after the flood,\nAnd Diana too, who is called the moon,\nFrom whose showing this isle takes its name,\nThis day of great fame,\nOnly by the appearance of these two.\nFor Delos, in Greek, is no more to say,\nThan a showing or an appearance.\nAnd thus began the great reverence,\nTo Apollo first and the honor also,\nTo Idone, of so many Greeks,\nAnd to his sister, who is called Diana,\nThe pale moon, that can wax and wane.\nAnd called is Pamm\u0113s a goddess\nThat once was in wood a hunteress\nAnd this lady, with her brother, the sun,\nOf this isle has lordship, and none other.\nOnly for them, at their nativity,\nThey showed their light first in that country.\nThe which isle, the Greeks also call\nOrtygia, in their language all,\nBecause Curlews were there firstly seen.\nFor Ortygia is no more to say\nThan a Curlew in Greek I understand.\nFor they were first engendered in that land.\n\nAnd Apollo is called also Titan,\nWho in his time won so much worship then,\nLong before he was made a star,\nWith Io, when he waged war.\nAnd he also is called Phoebus,\nAnd of some named Phoetius.\nFor of Phaethon he had the victory,\nWhen he him steered to his increase of glory.\nThe great serpent here in earth low,\nWith his arrows and his mighty bow,\nOf which conquest the great god Cupid\nHad envy, and even through the side\nHe wounded him, deep to the heart.\nWith a golden arrow, it made him sore pain.\nAnd of Phaethon, whom Phoebus made fine,\nCame Phaethonius, who could so divine,\nI mean women, who were deceitful,\nThrough deed, men, these false sorcerers,\nAs once Samuel, raised by love of Saul,\nAnd in his temple, large, long, and old,\nThere was a statue, all of pure gold,\nFull great and high, and of huge weight,\nAnd therein was, through the devil's sleight,\nA spirit unclean, by false illusion,\nThat gave answer to every question,\nNot the Idol, dumb as stock or stone,\nAnd thus the people were deceived each one,\nWere by the fiend brought in great error,\nTo do worship and such false honor,\nWith sacrifice and cursed idolatry,\nAs in this place I purpose to describe,\nAnd how long it abided and lasted,\nCompendiously, I intend to recount,\nGinning and ending, as you shall believe,\nWithout any ambiguity,\nFor at the birth and nativity\nOf Christ Jesus, at the Incarnation's own,\nAll the idols burst and fell down.\nAnd vanished, herod's child was brought to nothing,\nThrough his malice and cruelty horrible,\nAs holy write records, and the Bible,\nFor which pursuit and persecution,\nAppeared by auction,\nAn angel holy to Joseph as he slept,\nAnd bade him rise, and also take care,\nOf the child and also Mary,\nAnd go his way, lest Herod see him,\nTo Egypt, the great region,\nLike the Gospel makes mention,\nAnd right away, as he came to that land,\nThere was none Idol, it could rightly stay,\nBut to shattered, into pieces small,\nThis holy write clearly and no tale,\nAnd was recorded first by Isaiah,\nHow our Lord, on an easy sky,\nShould ascend and hold forth his way,\nToward Egypt and therewith should die,\nAll materiality and no longer dwell,\nBut as the Jews record of Ismael,\nThat he was first, who found materiality,\nAnd made of clay, an Idol with his hand,\nAnd as Panemius writes and tells us,\nThat older than all was Prometheus.\nThat founde Idoles, shortly to conclude,\nAre but a simulacrum, from similitude,\nA thing plainly but likeness,\nMade after man, his image to express,\nTo which paynims in their guise\nWith false honor and cursed sacrilege\nBegan first this rite, for fear of man,\nAnd some say Belus first began,\nSuch false worship and such servility,\nAs clerks specify in their books.\nThat Assyria, lord and governour,\nAfter whose death, his son in his honor,\nNamed Ninus, an image made,\nTo be worshipped only for his sake,\nAll of burnt gold, by false affection,\nAnd set it up, for consolation,\nAnd for a mind and a memorial,\nTo which with heart, will and all,\nOf ignorance and fleshly love,\nHe did honor, as to God above,\nIn his temples, most of excellence,\nAnd made his people to do reverence,\nAnd said in heaven, he was deified,\nThat of no man durst be denied,\nTill after a little while,\nA wicked spirit, peoples to beguile.\nIn this idol/entered to abide,\nAnd gave answer/on every side,\nTo the people/of what they desired demanded,\nAnd they again/what he would command,\nObey fully/the people of all Assyria,\nWhich did great injury/to God,\nMaking the people/fall into such error,\nAnd some called Belus/and some Bell,\nAnd some Balym/and some Belphegor,\nAnd they fell into error/always more and more,\nAnd Belzebub/he was also named,\nWhose name is made/of words two,\nOf bel and zebul/that thus signify,\nFor bel is god/and zebul is a fly,\nThen Belzebub/together specifically,\nJoined in one/the great god of flies,\nAnd from this feigned/false idolatry,\nBegan all the world/to worship materiality,\nFor some Saturn/god of all goddesses,\nBegan in their error/falsely to call,\nThat was once/the mighty king of Crete,\nAnd gave him name/after the planet,\nThat in heaven/has so large a sphere,\nAnd as Poets/in their fables teach,\nThat he before/through his divine providence,\nSaw/in his divine providence,\nHow a son/should descend from him.\nAnd of Juno, the goddess, as he was to openly expel from his reign and suffer him no longer to dwell in his kingdom when he came of age, Saturn filled with such rage that he would provide a remedy for this by bidding his wife, when her child was born, to bring it to him immediately. In place of the child, she brought a stone. Saturn, through his greediness, consumed the stone in his melancholy. And thus, if books lie, Saturn had three sons: Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. But Jupiter was the greatest, most renowned, and worthy of fame among the Penates, as is verified. For they, who are so high, have magnified him, calling him the god of fire and air. Near to Saturn was born to be his heir, and near to him in books, as I read, is the god of battle, mighty Mars the red. And next to Mars is Apollo, so clear, so bright, the day's eye and void of the night.\nCherryshher of fruit, herb, flower and corn,\nThe which god, as it was said before,\nIs worshipped and honoured in Delos,\nAnd after Venus, who oft has soothed\nMany a lover, the fair, lusty queen,\nAnd they allege of their wounds green,\nThat first was hurt with her fiery brand,\nAs she who is goddess of many lands,\nAnd all the world has in her domain,\nFirmly embraced in her fiery chain,\nI mean the lady that is called Venus,\nAnd next in order is Mercury,\nWho in speech has most excellence\nOf rhetoric and sugared eloquence,\nOf music, song and harmony,\nHe has lordship and holds the regal sway,\nNext the Moon, who waxes and wanes,\nCalled Lucina and also Diana,\nThat in Delos has her manison,\nLike as before is made mention,\nNow full of might, now horned, pale she,\nLady of change and mutability,\nWho seldom halts in one form for a time,\nAnd so fare those who are born in her clime,\nWho always delight in things that are new,\nWhose heart is clad in many varied hue.\nThey are diverse in their affections, and in various regions, the Venus rhyme is in the Venus swan, like clerks, well-versed in konne. I find that Maurusians worship Iulam and Egyptians honor her, after their conquering, the daughter of Inachus the king, who first taught them their law to erect and sow, and letters, for reading and knowing, and in lecture, to set their busyness. For this reason, they call her a goddess. Iubiter is honored in Crete, where he once held his sovereign seat, and upon them he laid many diverse charges, with egles beaten in his banner large. He was lord of aire londe and see, his royal kingdom divided into three. In the highest, he himself continues, and holds the sea, he gave to Neptune, and lastly the earth to hold his royal sea. He gave to Pluto, that god of the infernal region. And lastly, when he was stilled, this Iubiter was most magnified, by them of Crete, above all, to whom they made, for a memorial.\nA large tomb and a lofty statue,\nAnd him they honored in their rites often,\nWith incense and other sacrifices,\nAnd of this matter, further to devise,\nThe priests with diligent care,\nIn their rites, did show reverence,\nTo the goddesses, if it is credible,\nCalled Faunus, who was most likely,\nAnd had heard well in the green woods,\nAlthough men could not see their figure.\nAnd of Romans, further to designate,\nThey most honored their god Quirinus,\nWho among them was once called Romulus,\nThat built the walls of the town first,\nAnd from a herd, he came to such renown,\nThrough his manhood and his worthiness,\nThe spear of whom, as books say, grew,\nAs he had pitched his head in the ground,\nIt began at once, like what is found,\nTo flourish and bloom, and bud by miracle,\nAnd of nature had no obstacle,\nTo grow green with new, fresh blossoms,\nAnd for the manhood, that men knew in him,\nFor his knighthood and his great fame.\nThe worthy knight, named Quirite, was hailed from Rome. In heaven, when he was born, he was identified among the goddesses and deified. Romans have glorified him as their god, and with gold and great expenses. According to what I read, the Athenians chose him to serve the goddess Minerva and Pallas with her crystal shield. They held partnership in the battlefield, with women on Minerva's side, and he with men, full of surquedous pride. He defends himself for the sake of bearing the name of Athens, a city of great fame. This is to say, who between him and her should rightfully name the city? Until it happened, as they began to fight, suddenly a beautiful Olive appeared. For Pallas, a part, there sprang a green and fair blossoming tree. And again, a well began to gush out. For Pluto, with large and deep water, Appollo took good care. In his domain, it was not reckless. And for the olive tree, it symbolizes love and peace.\nWater trouble and strife arose. He gave sentence, clearly revealing the source of this dispute. Pallas, called Mynerue, discerned the matter plainly. She named the town, calling it Athenes, the immortal city. For wildness first began to flourish there, and therefore this city was honored. Mighty Pallas, goddess of wisdom, was always held in reverence. The people of Paue, in all their region, worshipped most the queen of Cythera, that is, Venus, full of doubt. In her temple, they set up her most high and richly, with gold and asure, painting her statue with other colors that could never fade. They placed her up in the highest sea, so that all men might see. She stands naked in a wavy sea, with three goddesses assigned to attend to her and observe her.\nAnd flowers fresh/blue/red/white be around her, the more to delight\nAnd on her head she has a chaplet\nOf roses red/pleasantly set\nAnd from the head down to her foot\nWith various games/ointments sore\nShe is anointed/sweeter to smell\nAnd enveloped/as Poets tell\nBy doves white/flying and also sparrows\nAnd beside Cupid/with his arrows\nHer blind son/to hurt and dearly\nAnd often loses/and strikes/he knew not where\nAs he must needs/because he is blind\nAnd thus honored/and most had in mind\nAmong this people/is Venus the goddess\nAnd Naxians/do they serve\nTo serve Bacchus/the mighty god of wine\nWhose liquor is/most precious and fine\nTo comfort hearts/and to gladden\nAnd to refresh/heals that fade\nIn faces pale/and makes wits sharp\nLoosens tongues/and makes them loud to seize\nAnd causes/them to walk at liberty\nAnd to discover thing/that was secret\nWithout advice/or discretion.\nFor where wine has dominion,\nNo secrecy may be kept in a cellar,\nAnd some of them who serve and sow for Bacchus,\nHave such devotion among themselves,\nThat they are void of all reason for a while,\nHasty and mad, and without all fear,\nAnd some also so lost in their heads,\nThat they are void of power and might,\nAnd have no foot for standing upright,\nYet they are as insolent as a pie,\nPale, with a glassy eye,\nFull of reason till his wine is spent,\nFor man or woman who is violent\nIs truly a beast, unreasonable,\nAnd to my judgment, I hold them also unfit,\nTo be accepted in any company,\nWhen their tongue wets with a lie,\nSo that they may not bring forth a word,\nAnd thus Bacchus, the mighty lord,\nOftentimes causes people to err,\nTo debate and make war,\nOf hastiness where there is no need.\nWherefore it is wisdom that men fear\nHis crafty working, or they fall in his snare,\nOr they unwarily are seized and taken.\nAnd or Bacchus makes them shake, in a fire, worse than terror. If it is customary, it is customary. Bacchus, mighty Ious, alters and follows the turning of the house. And fiercely, on dry land, when he has lost both foot and hand, and with a straw, plays like an ape, and devoutly gapes.\n\nAs he had on an heavy leaden cap, and whoever is of this condition, he may enter the religion of mighty Bacchus for habitude. The which lord has sovereignty, both of honey and milk therewith, and of balsam, that is so rich also. And lordship has, of high power, given. Both of grapes and of every vine, to give them nourishment by his influence. Of whom the honor and reverence is raised most, as I understand, among winemakers in every manner of land. Because he is gracious to them. And they worship Vulcanus, the god of fire, Iupiters smith, who forgets, on his black slithy, the great thunder, hideous and horrible.\nAnd the leviathan, once visible,\nInto the west from the orient,\nBreathes upon us with his dreadful dent,\nThis crafty smith, this black Vulcanus,\nWho once was so jealous,\nToward Venus, his wedded wife,\nFrom which a deadly strife arose,\nWhen he first saw her with Mars, his own knight,\nWith high malice and cruel false envy,\nThrough the shining veil of Phoebus, bright beams,\nLying in a bed, with Mars, her own knight,\nFor which in his heart, he burned with any joy,\nSpreading the slander, all a broad spread,\nAnd began then, falsely, to muse,\nAs God forbids, that any man accuse,\n\nWhere love is lacking, it is hard to disentangle,\nFor though they do such things of gentleness,\nIt passes lightly, and bears no heaviness,\nLest thou be to women odious,\nAnd yet this smith, this false Vulcanus,\nIs all that he had seen them thus,\nAmong the Painims, yet was he deified,\nAnd for that he so falsely awoke them,\nI have set him last of all my book.\nAmong the goddess of false worship,\nAnd in this way, idolatry began,\nAs you have heard through openings\nOf people erring in their affections,\nThat all is false who seek the truth.\nFor by teaching of all holy church,\nThe holy doctrine and traditions,\nWe shall despise such oppositions.\nWhich of the devil were not found late,\nFor when angels in heaven were created,\nHe who had preeminence among them,\nOf whom the prophet Isaiah wrote,\nHe says thus: how the green cedars of Paradise,\nWere not so fair to see,\nPlanets nor fire, in height, could compare,\nTo his highness, nor all the trees,\nOf Paradise, were not so precious,\nNor in sight, nor in semblance,\nEqual to him in fairness.\nBut through his pride and his surquedry,\nWhen he said to God that sits so high,\nHe will be like and also set his seat,\nIn the north, passing his degree,\nHe was cast down, with all his retinue,\nFrom the fair, heavenly mansions.\nAll suddenly into the pit of hell,\nPerpetually there for to dwell,\nOf whom was said when he filled so far,\nHow filled thou so, O thou morning star,\nFrom the midst of the stones bright,\nThat be so persistent and fiery of their light,\nThat once were called Lucifer,\nOf whom Christ says expressly in his gospel,\nHow he saw from heaven,\nSatan descend like the fiery serpent,\nThe old serpent, that is the sole faller,\nBemoth, that in Latin is plainly expressed,\nA beast rude, full of cursedness,\nThe wyle serpent, he Leviathan,\nWhom Isidore well describes,\nWhich of kind is never conversant,\nIn wells trouble and has his haunt,\nAmong waters in the large sea,\nOf whom David says, like as you may see,\nIn the Psalter, making mention,\nOf the snake, the monstrous dragon,\nFull of venom and of hard grace,\nWhich in the sea, large and great of space,\nWith foul adders, has his lair,\nTo deceive mankind.\nWhom once saw, ye holy monk Bradan.\nAs he sailed by the Ocean, through the sea, and there to abide, this tortuous serpent, more foul and hideous than it is credible, until the day of judgment, that of malice envied mankind. Which with his guile and cunning as I find, came to our fathers first in paradise, and to deceive the better at his devise. More craftily, this worm took on the likeness and image of a serpent, whose visage, countenance, like a maiden, and had the resemblance of a woman, as Bede records. In his deceits, I mean the only one, not others. For behind, as clerks tell, like a serpent, in womb, back and tail, he was, when he began to assail, and toward Eve, when he began to glide. He first inquired, as he roared a hide, why God forbade them to eat of the tree. Which if they ate, truly they would be, knowing good and evil. And right forthwith, as they began to sully, the fiend's hest, they opened their eyes.\nAnd for their sudden departure from Paradise into wretchedness,\nTo live in labor, sorrow, and distress,\nAnd thus the devil, first assuming the form of a snake and a woman's likeness,\nAnd made the tongue in her head to move,\nBy false design, to deceive mankind,\nSo as he does in those who are tormented\nBy wicked spirits, waxed and assailed,\nTo move their tongues falsely to speak blasphemy,\nWhat thing are they speaking, he asked,\nThe same serpent, he Leviathan,\nContinuing ever, falsely as he began,\nIn cursed youths, dumb,\nFull often speak the spirits as I find,\nWhich are but demons, David writes certain,\nThe gods all, whom people so in vain\nHonor with rites, superstitious,\nAs was once Apollo Delphicus,\nLikewise before you have heard devise,\nWhich, as for now, ought to suffice,\nAnd as I believe, the very cause why\nMy author recounts by and by,\nThe ground and origin of idolatry,\nThis is the cause, for all I can see,\nFor he saw that the matter was not known.\nI like well, both to high and low\nPerhaps you also do please\nHe has the ground put in remembrance\nOf false gods and of idolatry\nAnd most for them that can no pay,\nAnd to your story resorts soon again\nHow Achilles and Pirrhus have the way in common\nTo the temple and thither come\nTo have answer for their embassy\nOf great Apollo, who may not lie\nOf the priests, they have their counsel take\nIn the temple to pray and wake\nTill they may find\nTo have answer at hour convenient\nTo their purpose and less opportune\nAnd of one heart, so long they continue\nIn praying, fasting, and oblations\nWith sacrifice and various orisons\nBefore the god, away from all ways fast\nTill he to them answers last\nWith\nHome to Greeks, fast that thou the high\nFrom whom thou were here to me sent\nAnd say them truly, the sum of their intent\nShall be fulfilled\nAnd how that they shall to Troy go\nAnd there abide many strong battles,\nBut at last, without failure,\nAt ten year's day, they will win the town,\nAnd bring it plainly to destruction.\nWalls and towers shall fall to ruin,\nAnd with all this, they intend to find,\nKing Priamus and his wife,\nAnd their sons, in this mortal strife,\nShall there be slain, brother after brother,\nThis is the end, for it may be none other,\nFor there shall none, but such as Greeks,\nLike unto grace, escape in the place.\n\nOf which answer, Achilles was glad and light,\nIn his heart, and with all his might,\nThanked Apollo, of this blessed boon,\nAnd suddenly, of sort or adventure,\nThe self-same time, from Troy, from King Priamus,\nWas sent a bishop, for the same cause,\nHis name was Calcas, and he came in solemnly,\nWithout pomp. The same hour, while Achilles\nWas there present, a man of great wisdom.\nI, Calcas, had experience in calculation and divination, and was taught astronomy. When I saw it was convenient for me to have an answer from Apollo, as previously mentioned, I entered the oratory and performed my rites and observations according to custom with the accompanying circumstances. I began to kneel and pray devoutly and called upon the god strongly. Apollo would not prolong his answer. Suddenly, his response began: \"Calcas, beware, you shall not turn back to Troy again, for in the end, it shall be destroyed. This is indeed true, which cannot be denied. Therefore, I will that you be allied with the Greeks and go with Achilles. I will it that you go to them immediately, for they shall have victory and honor as I have disposed.\"\nFor it is fatal, and one may not vary. And thou shalt be necessary in counseling and in yielding advice, and be right helpful to their good speed. And with that word, Calcas rose up and went to Achilles in an easy pace. And when he came to his presence, with great honor and much reverence, he was received like to his estate. And after a short time, they were confederates, swearing together by bond and assurance to be all one without variation. Then in haste, they together went to their ships and hoisted the anchor and no longer delayed. But sailed forth Calcas and they two towards Greece, they need not complain on wind and wave until they arrived at Athens, that stood upon the sea, A large city of old foundation. And Achilles brought to King Agamemnon, and also Pirrodus. And when the Greeks tell the story, they were assembled together and went before the king, and Calcas represented.\nTo all the lords, and no longer dwell,\nAnd right away, Achilles began to tell,\nWithout abode, in Delos, how they met,\nBefore Apollo, where they answered, met their fate,\nAnd how the god, openly determined,\nThe Greeks' purpose, how it shall be finished,\nUpon the Trojans, and reproached Calchas also,\nIn no way, that he go to Troy,\nBut with Greeks, that he abide still,\nTill they fulfill their purpose,\nOf which thing, the Greeks were glad of cheer,\nCalchas accepted, with heart full enter,\nFor one of them, confederate be bound,\nTo be all one, on water and on land,\nWithout change, or any variation,\nThe other is made, and put in remembrance,\nAnd they again, fully him assure,\nTo cherish him, while their life may endure,\nFor weal or woe, and so they made an end,\nAnd after parting, and to their lodging wended.\n\nUntil on the morrow, after a starry night,\nWhen Aurora was glad with the light,\nOf Phoebus' beams, the Greeks up arise,\nAnd to their gods, with many sacred sacrifices,\nThey do honor, in what they can or may.\nAnd devoutly holding a feast day,\nAfter their rites, with love and fear,\nIn remembrance of the good speed\nAnd of the answer that gods have sent\nSo agreeable to their intent,\nBy Pyrhus and Achilles,\nAnd after this, among all the guests,\nIs Calchas come before Agamemnon,\nAll his lords sitting around,\nLike their estates, each in his place due,\nAnd humbly they began to kneel,\nWith sober countenance,\nAnd prayed them, it be no displeasure,\nTo pause a while and give him audience,\nAnd right away, as if made was silence,\nAmong them all, Calchas began to speak:\n\n\"O Syres, I say, and you, my lords dear,\nKings, Princes, and dukes that are here,\nEach one worthy and famous,\nAnd also so manly and virtuous,\nWho in this place are now present,\nIs not this the fine and chief of your intent,\nAnd also the cause why each one\nAssembled is to Troy with this power and great strength.\"\nYour purpose is to draw out a lengthy decision and delayed it from day to day to your damage. For long, you have sojourned in this isle and do not think that Pyramus in this while has his eyes among you privately. I assure you faithfully, it is well known to me, to know the fine points of our governance and he remains there, able to make profit. Him to defend, while you remain idle. It seems to me, you do not act for the best. For in abiding and such delays, great harm may fall, certainly this is no nay is. I prove it thus, for plainly while you grant liberty to your enemies, they may with mighty hand enforce their power against you with their friends and allies and at lesser make their ordinance. It is folly that you so differ, since you are ready to make a war on your enemies with every circumstance. For nothing may quell a quarrel so easily as hasty suit, it will have the sharper bite. The hour of iron is for striking.\nAnd yet it does not abide, until it is cold\nFor nothing but it plays will or fold\nGo set upon, all of one accord\nAnd ship within, anon within the hold\nEnhance you, for time is to remember\nWith all your might, your quarrel to pursue\nAgainst them, that have trespassed against you\nHow many days, are some summers past\nAnd many months, run and over slide\nAnd Titan often, with his chariot has ridden\nFrom east to west, and in the waves deep\nHis streams bathed, while you have lain asleep\nAnd spent your time, in this place thus\nWhile that the wind, Zephyrus\nBenignly inspiring, has a loft\nThe air eyes, the weather fair and soft\nThe calm sea, from waves' style and plain\nWhile you waste, your days here in vain\nThat when your feet, heed thereto\nThey will suppose, that it is for fear\nAnd be more bold, to set off, but lightly\nTrust truly, for I will make amends\nTo you truly, as I am bound\nAnd think how you, have the gods found\nTowardward, benign and fortunate.\nYour honor was in high and low estate, and so it would be if your ingratitude did not provoke them to delude your purpose. They would not continue towards you to show their grace. Therefore I advise you to depart from the Greeks openly, for weary and fainted had we been with long speaking, paralyzed and broken. They caused themselves to be provoked, and suddenly set themselves in adventure and fear of rakelness, unhappily for themselves. It happened when they met the Greeks. With long spears and sharp swords, manhood was shown on either side. But for the cause, the Trojans were too few to issue forth. They acted foolishly. The field was not divided equally. The Greeks were innumerable, and the Trojans were not able to meet them at that time. They took on themselves to passing arrogance, and yet they would not draw back for anything.\nThey were wounded and overpowered by the Greeks completely. Here and there, they bore down cruelly. Mercilessly, as Guy reports, they were to return home again out of necessity and urgency. And all of them began to flee, I mean such as were left alive. To the castle they had, for they could no longer hold the field against the Greeks with spear or shield. They were too weak to conclude a stand. They could not endure such a great multitude. And as they fled, the Greeks made a great pursuit. They did not cease to sow the chase. Full hastily to the castle gate they entered, and by cruel fate, they killed and slew both high and low. They spared none, nor did they want anyone to know. Of none estate, but they oppressed him. And whatever they found, they carried gold and riches onto the ship. And of the castle, they left not a stone above another, but turned it up so down. Both wall and tower and the chief donjon their own. Nothing remained standing, so they were under mine.\nAnd when all was brought to ruin,\nThe Greeks at once to their ships made haste,\nWith one accord and purpose as fast,\nWithout delay, of one will and heart.\nFrom that harbor, plainly to depart,\nAnd to sail towards Tenedos,\nA strong castle, which from Troy town\nIn distance but six miles stood,\nFull of treasure, of riches and good,\nReplenished, of all abundance.\nAnd when they, with their ordinance,\nHad sailed and safely reached the ground,\nFrom the sea, taken possession,\nTo their pleasure, a sight agreeable,\nAnd in sight, a place delightful,\nHealthy of the air, the soil right fair and green,\nAnd lusty plains, goodly to behold.\nAnd was also replenished, of all that avails,\nTo feasting and to satisfying.\nFor first, the land, full of fresh flowers,\nWas plentiful, both of corn and grain,\nOf wine and fruit, that nothing lay bare,\nOf beasts and fowl, exceedingly plentiful.\nAnd fast by, stood also the sea,\nFull of fish, as I find.\nAfter the season of every kind and when they were within the castle,\nThe pestilence landed from afar, they armed themselves and went out,\nAnd upon them made an hideous shout, stuffing the castle with men,\nStrong behind, and took their way towards their foe and knightly set upon,\nAnd right forthwith, with Greeks also, met them on the other side,\nFull surquised and right full of pride, cleanly armed in harneys all in order,\nFresh arrayed and besmeared so well, for the field as thick as swarms of bees,\nOn each side, men may behold and see,\nSpread all the plain down to the strand,\nUntil at last they met hand to hand,\nAnd assembled with square spurs ground,\nAnd hurled at each other with many bloody wounds,\nThere was no good day nor any saving,\nBut strokes fell that men heard ring,\nOn basins, the strokes rang round about,\nSo cruelly that the fire sprang out,\nAmong the tufts, broad, bright and shining.\nOf foal of gold, & feathers white and green,\nInto breasts, perced many a shield,\nAnd besieged, fled a broad one in the field,\nAnd many men, that mortal found,\nFull deadly pale, law by the ground,\nWith face gruesome, and bloody streams wide,\nAnd almost upon the Greeks' side,\nThe slaughter was, and the discomfiture,\nSo mightily, the Trojans endured,\nTill at the last, for they were so few,\nWith multitude, the Greeks on the hunt,\nFor more than forty, were against one,\nOf very force, aback they must go,\nNo thing for lack of manhood, dare I say,\nBut for so many, have them overthrown,\nThey may no longer, in the field sojourn,\nBut to their Castle, home again return,\nIn full great haste, such as might escape,\nAway a life, and some for rape,\nAnd fear of death, took them to flight,\nOn horse back, to Troy town, full right,\nNo wonder was, though they haste was fast,\nFor to the gates, the chase of Greeks last,\nSo cruelly, after them they pursue,\nAnd some of them, that might not remember.\nOn Trojan side, turned from fight,\nThe Greeks slew with all their full might,\nNow here and there, whomever they could reach,\nNo ransom, nor mercy for the wretched,\nExempting none,\nThen to Tenedos they went,\nAnd it was decided that no Trojan might escape,\nAnd when they had won the bulwarks,\nTo scale the wall they began,\nAnd made a fierce assault, manfully and often,\nAnd Trojans, as they stood aloft,\nPut them off, that they might not enter,\nWith casts of stone and quarrels bright,\nWith bow turkeys and arbalest shots,\nAnd their comrades standing at corners,\nWith him also, casting wild fire,\nFrom your hate, burning hot in their desire,\nLike manly men, they defended,\nAnd the Greeks, as they ascended up,\nCruelly put to the ground,\nUntil they, without order, had found,\nWhat contrivances for the nones,\nAnd gone great, to cast stones,\nBent to the towers, right as any line.\nAnd large sows lie for mine,\nAnd some of them upon the wall gone,\nThose that were so thick, made of lime and stone,\nAnd to enter, they many ways seek,\nSet their bastions and their hurdies also,\nRound aboute, to the hard wall,\nAnd scaling ladders for saw,\nThey began to cast, with hooks for to hold,\nAnd up ascend, the sturdy Greeks bold,\nUntil the Trojans from the crests cast,\nThe great stones, while they would last,\nAnd Hecuba, eke Greeks to oppress,\nAnd wonder manly, did their business,\nIn their difference, and made them plunge low,\nWith cast of quarrel and with shot of bow,\nThrough Oylettes, that of necessity,\nThey put them off, it may none other be,\nAnd broke their necks and their shoulder bones,\nAs they fell, with the square stones,\nAnd lie dead, pitiful pale in hue,\nBut Greeks ever, gan the saute renew,\nWith multitude, Trojans to assail,\nTo withstand that they began to fail,\nAnd grew weaker, for rescue came there none,\nAnd so of force, the Greeks be in.\nThrough the walls when they have broken,\nAnd on Troyans so cruelly destroyed,\nFinally leaving none alive,\nBut slew and killed, and afterward set their banners,\nYoung and old, it might be no better,\nAll went to ruin upon Troy's side,\nAnd after that they will no longer abide,\nBut cast treasure, gold, and whatever they find,\nThey heap it up and bind it together,\nAnd make spoils of all that was within,\nThen in haste, the walls they begin,\nPinnacles and towers, and also the dungeon,\nTo burn and hew down and beat down,\nAnd with the soil, they made even and level,\nAnd with great prayer, they went again,\nTo their ships, glad and light of heart,\nWhen the fire, with its clear flames,\nHad consumed and burned the castle.\nAnd afterward, Ajax and prudent\nThe manly man, the worthy Agamemnon,\nLet make an assembly,\nAnd bid they should bring\nGold and treasure, without further delay.\nWith all the prayer at Tenedown,\nTo his presence for this conclusive meeting,\nThat he may make distribution among them, without exception,\nLike their desert to the poor and rich.\nHe departs to every man a like,\nBut most to such as did best deserve,\nFor himself he lusted for nothing to conserve,\nFor he has rather their hearts than the gold,\nOf such as had spent their own blood,\nSo manfully the castle to win,\nFor whoever can with generosity first begin,\nFails not afterward to prosper,\nThrough help of men when in need,\nFor love follows freedom commonly.\nAnd after this, the king let make a cry,\nThat all the kings and lords of his host,\nDukes and earls, come from every coast,\nThe next morning before him to appear.\nThe night passed, Phoebus began to clear,\nHer empress, after the lark's song,\nWhen the king, among the Greeks strong,\nOn the plain, in his royal sea,\nAnd fast by, were set in their degree.\nAnd when the king saw opportunity,\nHe made silence everywhere,\nHis lieges standing here and there.\nThe king of cheer said, and also joked,\nAs one who was of speech, fully found,\nBegan his tale, with sober countenance,\nThe effect of which was this in substance.\n\nSir said he, worthy of degree,\nOf right and necessity,\nWe are compelled, both high and low,\nWith all our might, like as you know,\nTo redress a thing that is amiss,\nFor through the world, as it is reported,\nWe are of force, of power and might,\nOf worthiness, in every sight,\nMost renowned and most worshipable,\nAnd esteemed and judged, for most able,\nOf all people, and likely to stand,\nTo perform what we take in hand,\nWhoever grumbles or says nay,\nSeems to me, if it be to your pay,\nThat power, most acceptable\nTo God's, and longest stands stable,\nThat is divine, of surrendering and pride,\nFor it is known, on every side,\nIn each land, both of one and all.\nHow many harms and griefs have befallen\nThrough rancor only pride and willfulness,\nSo importable as I could express,\nThrough pride, there is offense done,\nThe high gods make resistance\nTo all those who are surquated,\nWhich is a vice, so contrary,\nThat it may in no place abide,\nAnd in good faith, manhood is no pride,\nFor whoever has any acquaintance\nOther than by friendship or alliance\nWith a proud man, to be confederate\nWith him in heart, of high or low estate,\nHe needs must, whatsoever that he be,\nTo many others, be loathsome first,\nAn enemy and contrary,\nFor no thing may a man so much appear\nAs pride in truth, in high or low degree,\nWherefore I advise, plainly, how that we\nThis foul vice, out of our heart dislodge,\nThat our quarrel may have the more grace,\nAnd specifically, that our deeds all\nConveyed be, however that it falls,\nBy righteousness, more than volunteering,\nFor if truth, our truest guide, be with us,\nTo direct us by his rightful line.\nOur quarrel shall always shine in honor and continue in full felicity. This is known to all: how we have come to take vengeance With our friendship and out alliance Against Priam, for old wrongs done by him, As I have often told. And here upon, we have taken his land and some of his men With manful hand and his strong castles, Ibet down those that have stood so long And taken there the riches that we found And slew his men with many bloody wounds And caused harm more in his country. I wote well, if their enmity Was to us great and much before. I dare say now, it is in double more That if they could avenge, it would be Against us each one, you would see Their great ire, so cruel and so huge, Be executed without more refuge. And yet truly, I wote they have espied Our being here, though we have not yet been asked Of them. I dare say utterly, They are well aware that we are encamped by. And over more, this I also well know.\nOf the harms that we have they do\nWhich are yet but fresh and green,\nIf they were strong and mighty to sustain,\nA war on us would soon begin.\nAnd yet the City in which they be,\nIs walled strong and toured round about,\nThey think fully, without a doubt,\nWith the men they have gathered in,\nOf their eyes, that we shall not win,\nBut small in war nor in strife.\nFor he in truth has a prerogative\nAnd advantage that in his country,\nHe himself defends, namely if that he,\nBe strong of friends beside,\nAnd of allies, where he dwells,\nLike the Raven with its black feathers,\nWithin its nest will often make\nAgainst the Falcon, gentle of nature,\nFierce resistance while he may endure,\nOr that he be vanquished and outrayed,\nAnd yet sometimes the Falcon is delayed,\nWhile the Raven beside his nest does flee,\nWithin his court, at his liberty,\nAs every bird is forward to arrest,\nTo be daunted, in his own nest.\nAnd yet these words to you I do not say,\nIn any way, to put in a fray,\nYour knightly heart, so manly and so stable,\nNor that to you it should be doubted,\nBut the Trojans that we shall confound,\nAnd their city, in which they abound,\nPlainly destroy, although it be strong,\nAnd they and all be them among,\nShall finally consume, be with death,\nThrough Greek's sword, yield up the breath.\nBut the cause, without any fear,\nWhy I say thus, is that you take heed,\nFor any pride or presumption,\nTo adventure, in your discretion,\nSo prudently that reason in this need,\nFor any haste, may our bridge lead,\nAnd so order or we hence wend,\nThat laude and praise, after the end,\nMay be reported, as I have devised,\nFor many a man that has not been advised\nIn his pursuit, for lack of providence,\nTo see beforehand, in his adversity,\nWhat should fall to death, it has brought,\nSuch willful haste, were good to be thought,\nOf us beforehand, by examination,\nAnd well discussed by revolution.\nOf thinking often / that we do not repent\nAnd first remember / how Pyramus sent\nTo us but lately / only for Hecuba's son\nThat yet is held / by King Thestius\nWho was from us / without advice\nUnwisely refused / by consent\nWhich has brought us / no advantage\nBut ground and root / of great harm\nFor if we had / through wise persuasion\nOf her had made / delivery\nThe great harms / had been avoided\nThat afterward / were pursued in Paris\nIn the temple / of Venus\nThat building is / beside Aphrodite\nThe treasure great / also that he had\nAnd jewels / that he brought with him\nThen to Troy / and the great riches\nThe slaughter of men / and the heaviness\nThat yet is made / for Queen Helen\nThroughout Greece / and the great pain\nOf Menelaus / all had been unwrought\nIf we had seen / this in our thoughts\nWisely before / and Hecuba's son restored\nThen had not / the harms been so mourned\nUpon each of us / in very truth fastness\nNor spent our labor / so in idleness\nTreasure nor good / wasted so in vain\n\"Nor should we come so far to fetch back Queen Eleanor with unbearable costs, without causing harm now avoidable. And yet we do not know whether to rejoice or adversely, the thing will turn that we are about, often dependent and in doubt, is a fatal thing, uncertain and unstable, and from its beginning often variable. The end is seen, fortune can transform her gracious courtes and therefore to avoid the harms likely to fall, My counsel is among you all, on travel, to avoid travel, in this matter are we further bound, To Pyramus, without any more, to send first again for restoration, Queen Eleanor, as right and reason is, and other harms done also by Paris, after his trespass and offense, justly to make restitution. Then we all may return home without more labor, if they assent to do as we require, and our asking, if they do not wish it here, but foolishly, refuse it, then our worthiness.\"\nI. We are doubly assured, on solid ground,\nII. By just title, to confound the Trojans,\nIII. With things two, we shall be engaged,\nIV. First, our power, born up with our right,\nV. Shall fight for us, to dare out our quarrel,\nVI. Balanced against each other, to weigh,\nVII. To find that we may be more excused,\nVIII. For they, beforehand, have wilfully refused,\nIX. Our just offers, made to them before,\nX. And we, therefore, throughout the world,\nXI. Without spot, of trespass or of blame,\nXII. Free from misreport, in hindsight of our name,\nXIII. Where they of folly shall be noted,\nXIV. Of wilful woodness, plainly where that we,\nXV. Shall stand free, our power for to use,\nXVI. And every man, shall us well excuse,\nXVII. Though that we do, execution,\nXVIII. By taking vengeance, for their offence,\nXIX. Of man and child, of each sect and age,\nXX. That shall of death, hold the passage,\nXXI. And by the sword, without mercy, pace,\nXXII. One and other, there is no better grace.\n\nBut yet before, I counsel you to take heed,\nXXIII. That you to them, all measure beg,\nXXIV. This hold I best, and most sincerity.\nAnd work now, among yourselves, and no longer delay\nTo this counsel, some were contrary and varying,\nBut those of most discretion assented plainly,\nAnd chose Pyramus to send among them,\nWise Ulysses and worthy Diomedes,\nWho immediately began to prepare them,\nAnd shipped them forth, and they took their way\nToward Troy, as any line rightly shows,\nWhen the sun shone full bright and clear,\nHolding the course of his fiery spear,\nIn midday's arc, wonder bright and clear,\nAnd gilded each hill, plain vale, and rock,\nWith his beams, when they drew near,\nTo the walls and gates of the town,\nAnd in they went, without noise or sound,\nRight manfully, and the way they led,\nTo the palaces, straight as any line,\nThey need not decline, but into a court,\nLarge, wide, and square,\nAnd they were knightly, for no one would spare,\nUnto the effect, manly to proceed.\nThey carried out their charge without fear or dread, for the entrance was not refused to them. For those days, there was no conveyance for embassies. The custom was to deny none entrance nor passage. As I suppose, if it were he who came for a message, and in this court this royal sight was built so majestically. When they came, they marveled greatly. The royal sight of such huge strength, so well completed in breadth and length, for they had never seen anything so fair, and yet they wondered more. Into the palaces, as they went together, it was all of Iasper stone. Of a tree, that stood amidst, they thought it did signify God. Musing where, it was artificially, Erected or set by magical natural means, Or by engine of workmen curious, Through subtle crafts, superstitious, Or other work of Nigromancy, Or profound castings of Philosophy. By appearance or illusion, Otherwise by craft of Incantation. Up and down, they pondered in their minds.\nOut if they could find\nThe root and ground of this wondrous work\nBut the truth was to them so dark\nThat in their wit, though they long traced\nThe private, they could not comprehend\nTo conceive how it was possible\nFor to the eye, as it was visible\nIn very truth, without any fable\nTo man's hand, so it was palpable\nOf which the stock of Guydo, as I told\nIn truth's fastness, was of pure gold\nWhich shone as bright as the summer sun\nTo enlighten things that were done\nAnd the body, as a master, rightly proportioned\nMost beautifully to the sight\nSubstantial and of huge strength\nAnd twelve cubits, the body was in length\nAnd the crop, round and large in breadth\nAnd in compass, began so flourishing and spreading\nThat all the plain, about it was enshrouded\nWith the bows, was shadowed up and down\nThe rich branches and the leaves fair\nTwo and two joined as a pair\nOne of gold, another silver sheen\nAnd among them, stones white and green\nSome red and some sapphire hewed.\nAnd every day, the blooms were renewed, and the blossoms with many varied fruits. Instead of fruit, it bore stones as Guydo says, and I can tell you no further. The Greeks will no longer dwell but hold their way by many varied routes to perform the fine of their intent until they reach the principal chamber. There, Pyramus sat in his royal see, just as his estate in full kingly wise. His lords were all seated beside him. When the Greeks, surrendering to pride, entered with stern and frowning countenance, acting with little remembrance of gentleness or courtesy. As Guydo plainly specifies, they took their place in the opposite of the king's face and sat down without more sermon, any obedience or salutation. No worship, honor, or reverence was done to the king for all his excellence. In pretense of all gentleness, then Ulixes began to express the reason for their coming to King Pyramus.\nWithout saying, even thus:\nNot delaying, in the presence of the king.\nDo not wonder, nor have any questioning,\nThough we go to y, and do no honor due,\nIn our coming, since it does not last long, as I think,\nWhere there is rancor and heartfelt enmity,\nOr deadly hate, with salutations,\nOr with feigned, false affections,\nFor to show, where hearts are a fire,\nNaturally, no man shall desire,\nOf his enemy, health or welfare.\nAnd plainly now, I do not wish to spare,\nShortly to show, the fine of our intent,\nLike as we have, in commandment,\nIn our message, from Agamemnon,\nThe noble king, most worthy of reverence,\nWhom we have sent, there is no more to say,\nNow, unto thee, for Queen Hecuba,\nWho was carried away, out of Greek land,\nAnd brought to Troy, by the might of force,\nAgainst right, and by violence.\nWherefore, shortly, without more offense,\nWe justly ask, without more demand,\nThat thou command,\nTo Menelaus, that she be sent again.\nAnd with all this, we ask not in vain\nThat you make restitution\nOf wrongs done in that region\nOf pilfers great, slaughter and robbery\nBy Paris done of wilful tyranny\nWhich is your son, and by the sustained\nAnd in his error, wrongfully maintained\nWherefore come and fully concede\nWithout grudging, this wrongs to amend\nFor so you may, best the gods come\nLike as you might, in your reason deem\nAs right requires, to work as the wise\nFor if so be, that you now despise\nTo execute, that I have told here\nTrust me right well, a lesson you shall learn\nWhich you and yours shall after sore rue\nWithout feigning, you shall find true\nThat but if you, a better end make\nCruel vengeance, shall on the be taken\nAnd finally, what should I to the contrary say\nThe force of death, this quarrel shall dare\nUpon the, and upon all the blood\nRansomless, other of gold and good\nAnd questionless, report this from me\nMerciless, this rich, strong City.\nShall he bow down and yield lowly,\nWalle and tour, overthrow,\nThis and some, be it now well understood,\nThat our asking of thee not be despised,\nBut wisely work and do as I have said,\nAnd suddenly, King Priam thus spoke:\nI am greatly astonished, in my presence,\nYou, being ungood, dare make this demand,\nAs if you had the power to command,\nAnd me to obey your bidding,\nAnd I, for fear, durst not with words,\nNo manner of thing that you ask here,\nNor contrary, what that you require,\nIn truth, I am moved by your threats,\nAnd inwardly agree,\nAnd astonished surely, not alight,\nThat you are bold, so me to excite,\nAnd wantonly, my honor to provoke,\nOn your words, for to be a work.\nBut for all this, trust me right well!\nI will not transgress my bounds or ever yield\nNot sooner or more briefly at the end\nTo your asking, in nothing comply\nFor to consider, the fine of your intent\nIt would not be fitting or convenient\nA king to grant, your request though he\nMight be in peril and captivity\nWithout redress, to utterance sold\nIt would be outrageous, plainly to be thought\nTo ask of him whom you ask of me\nAnd truly, I do not suppose that you\nCan accomplish, as you have said\nFor shortly, you will fail\nOf your purpose, I say, and God forewarn\nMay your might, though sworn\nFor your request, in every sight\nLacks a ground, both of truth and right\nThat ask of me, satisfaction\nAnd were you yourself, the first occasion\nWhen you slew, my father Lambert\nAnd his lieges, and burned also his town\nAnd many harms, if they were sought out\nOn him and his, causeless you wrought\nThat it would be long, all to rehearse\nWhich day by day, through my heart I perceive\nMy sister, called Exyon,\nYou took away, out of this region,\nWhich is not worthy, to her,\nRespect or gentleness shown.\n\nAnd yet, for all this, you would have amends,\nMisjudging me, long ago, to save,\nAll things in peace and to cease war,\nSending me into Greece far,\nOnly to have had Exyon again,\nOf whom you had but contempt,\nAnd cruelly, in ungentle way,\nMy messenger, you began to despise,\nWho might have escaped, my messenger,\nOut of Greece, you know it is not possible,\nOf him, you showed such cruel treatment,\nAnd in good faith, I do not wish now to hear,\nYour request nor give audience,\nTo your questioning, for your great offense,\nFor rather I would have shortly died,\nThan condescend to anything you say,\nFor I will fully, for conclusion,\nThat it be known to Agamemnon,\nThat we prefer, undoubtedly,\nHis war, finally, than his peace,\nSince you have done such great trespass to me,\nAnd by my truth, in this selfsame place,\nCruelly, you shall die.\nBut for the office of embassy against death is your defense,\nThat is so bold without reverence,\nIn my presence, so to threaten or speak. Trust me right, it would break one.\nTherefore, in haste, without more words,\nMy counsel is that you be gone,\nOut of my sight, and leave this city,\nFor as long as I see you, in my heart may joy not enter,\nThe anger of Ire puts me in such distress,\nThat in good faith, I cannot sustain it,\nSo inopportune is the rage and tenacity,\nThat inwardly it binds me for a while.\nAnd Dyomedes, though he began to smile,\nAnd said at once to the king,\nIf it is so that in your heart, haste causes such pain,\nAnd art thus set afire by it,\nThen you shall never be without sorrow,\nIn all your life, nor free from woe,\nSince you have,\nOf Greeks now, entered your land,\nAlmost a hundred thousand at your hand,\nAgainst whose might you may not assure yourself.\nTo resist or endure, consider well how they are strong. Parallel are you, and so well arrayed. Expert in arms and of old experience. No difference, many against them avail. Wisely consider that you may not fail. By death of sword, of their hand to die. And all thine, there is no more to say. Though it so be, proudly that you speak, and with your tongue only to be wreaked. Aftermost more than you may achieve. Better it were, such words to leave. But against Diomede, surquated and most full of pride, some rose up by the king's side. With drawn swords, and upon him they fell. And all to hew, among them all. Of hasty ire, burning as the gladness. Till Priamus took heed. And rose him up, seeing this disease. And manfully, this rage began to appease. They differing, upon death and life, that none of them be hardy in this strife. The embassadors, to harm or to grieve.\nFor though a fool/ his folly will not leave\nTo presume/ to speak unconventionally\nA wise man/ must suffer patiently\nAnd though he/ happens to do offense\nThrough foolish speech/ for lack of wisdom\nTo a wise man/ nothing foolish gets to say\nTo take heed/ or to speak again\nFor as to a fool/ it is fitting\nTo show his folly/ right conveniently\nIs to the wise/ truly with forbearance\nIn all his part/ to have tolerance\nFor fools/ naturally crave\nWithout advice/ to speak foolishly\nUnadvisedly/ to fulfill their meaning\nWhere a wise man/ shall here and endure\nTill he sees time/ and have patience\nAnd dissemble/ in his advice\nThe rage of fools/ that lasts but a throw\nFor by his tongue/ a fool is often known\nAnd rather I had/ I do you well assure\nIn my person/ damage to endure\nThan to suffer/ any messenger\nIn my court/ of you that be here\nTo have a wrong/ either great or small\nThe sword of rancor/ may not always bite\nTo do vengeance/ for a thing of naught\nFor often it happens that a wrong is wrought for little excess, haste is accompanied by mischief. Therefore I bid you sit down and in no way presume, attempt not in any manner by sign or word, more to despise the embassadors from the Greeks, but let them freely declare their intent. And you meanwhile keep your lips closed. Suddenly then Eneas rose, who stood next to the king, so deeply was he filled with rancor that he could not restrain himself and said, \"Sir, it seems to me that it is well-suited when one has spoken amiss and recklessly spoken unwisely of his folly, that he be chastised. Let other take example by him to be wary of such noise and uproar. And especially in open audience, let no one so offend your royal excellence.\" I well know that I might govern myself plainly before you in the absence of haste without advice.\nThat I should / by your commandment\nThe death deserve / for my great offense\nAnd truly yet / were not for your presence\nOf these two / that have so spoken\nWithout abode / I would immediately be destroyed\nFor it were worthy / and rightly fitting\nWhen that a fool / in the presence of a king\nIs bold or hardy / of presumption\nTo take on him / of indiscreet speech\nThing to rehearse / concluding in sentence\nPrejudice / of your magnificence\nThat he were taught / to govern better\nHis large tongue / to know how to discern\nWhen he shall speak / or when in peace\nTo suffer him / to run out of less\nAs does he / who spoke has so large\nWherefore in haste / I counsel him and charge\nWithout abode or any word more\nOut of your sight / immediately he be gone\nFor it is best / to do as he advises\nTo whom proudly / speaks Diomedes\nNot astonished / but with a stern look\nTo Aeneas / who for your sake quaked\nAnswered again / with few words\nAnd said, sir / your words do well show\nWhatsoever you are / that you are rightly wise\nThat is the king who gives you advice or is a member of the council, for he cannot err in any way, being so righteous in your judgment. Of willfulness, without advice, you cause a lord to pace his bonds. May God, in some other place, meet us at a more opportune time. Like my desire, which can so well endite, in old fables, your labor for to quit, and may I thank you for your kindness, which so knightly you have shown here. Trust well to this, and have no fear. And though Ulysses of this Diomedes interfered prudently, he said to him advisely that it was best to stop and be still. And now we know fully his will. Quoit Ulixes manfully to the king, \"We will go hence without further delaying. Out of your sight, to Agamemnon, and make to him a plain relation of your answer in order by and by. And to horse they went suddenly. In a short time, they had them in their way.\nThat they have come. Where the king sat, in his tentory, and word by word, as it came to memory, they rehearse the substance every dele. The Greeks disliked it completely. Conceiving full well, there was no remedy. As reported by the embassy, save only this, utterly proceed. How they shall govern them in this need, against the Trojans, of necessity. For they well know, it may none other be, and assented both, in will and bede, to pursue them fast, they them speed. In this story, as I shall after find, But or that, I must make of Eneas's end mine. I must, for a while, of him write, as my author pleases, of him, this manly Troyan, this famous Eneas. Anchises' son, of great worthiness. Whom once got, of Venus the goddess. Conqueror of many region. When Troy was brought to destruction, he went his way by the large sea, called Tyrene, and saying forth, goes he. By many cost and many narrow passage.\nMany dangers threatened Carthage. He, its ruler, then declared his intention to sail for the conquest of the great Italian city and so took the way to Rome. From whose spring, as authors relate, came Augustus Caesar, the Emperor. He was once so noble a conqueror that his renown shines to this day. And of Emperor Justin I, in his book called Authenticates, the rubrics clearly state that after Caesar, they are named Caesars just as the Eneads are named after Aeneas. Aeneas, who came from Troy and was so fearsome, descended from him, a manly and royal line. He first ruled Rome with imperial scepter and, with wise governance, brought about certain things concerning the city. If you wish to read carefully, you may see all of it, in full authentic style, in Virgil's Aeneid.\n\"Although this noble clerk was grave before or not yet complete with his work, I will now return, without further ado, to Agamemnon. The king will no longer delay in this matter but has taken counsel from his lords, who were present, and those he sent for later. For one and all, Earls, Dukes, and kings, he said, among other things, \"Concerning our journey, necessary provisions must be made first. By one accord, with prudent provision, we should arrange for provisions first, for without which no host can prosper. To perform a journey thriftily, I advise us here to act quickly. If it pleases and is agreeable to you, let us go to an island called Massa, and let each one assent at once. They have chosen worthy Achilles and Geleffus, the son of Hercules, to carry out this purpose.\"\"\nWith many worthy men, I chose out among them,\nThrough the host, to accompany Achilles,\nTo Messina, to go; in which land,\nA king, worthy and famous, did reign,\nWhom they called Trentan, in tranquility,\nWho, without war or adversity,\nHad held his scepter and royal seat,\nIn this isle, so pleasant and so meet,\nAlthough some say that this little isle,\nBelongs to the kingdom of Cecile,\nAnd has its name given from plenteousness,\nAfter Messana, an huge great city,\nFull of plenteousness, both on sea and land,\nThis kingdom, as I understand, is said,\nMessana, of Messes in Latin,\nThrough abundance of fruit, corn and wine,\nAt the arrival, on the large plains,\nWhere they are accustomed to stuff and charge,\nMerchant ships, of strange far countries,\nSail there by the large sea,\nTo fetch provisions, always from year to year,\nOnly by exchange of other merchandise,\nAnd also, as books can devise.\nAnd according to Guydo, in a king's time called Messanus,\nThis country, first called Messa, took its name,\nWhich in his day was renowned for its wealth and great abundance.\nHowever, Dares Phrygius, in his book, makes no mention,\nBut briefly concludes in his account,\nHow Achilles and Thelephus went together\nTo Messana with three thousand chosen Greeks,\nThe most valiant among them, all in their ranks.\nAs soon as they landed and the king understood,\nHe and all the worthy men of his realm\nPrepared horses and feet in battle array,\nAgainst the Greeks, ready to fight manfully.\nThey aimed to divide them, as you can see,\nSuddenly, the battle began,\nOn one side, the Greeks and their deadly stones,\nOn the other side, there were many slain and wounded.\nNo other treaty was between them,\nBut swords sharp and spears square and keen.\nNow here they go to ground,\nFor every man his foe, to confound,\nHis labor done, and his busyness,\nAnd though they Greek, through their worthiness,\nHad one on their foe,\nyet to resort after they had begun,\nAnd marvel none, because their foe\nHad always three, in number against one,\nFor the time it may, none other be,\nTill Achilles began to behold and see,\nThe mortal slaughter, on the Greeks' side,\nTurning the back, with wide and large rage,\nOf hasty rancor, change began his blood,\nAnd for Ire, furyous and mad,\nWhen he beheld his men lose their land,\nHe with his sword, which he held in his hand,\nMade way, killed and brought down,\nAnd in the field, like a lion,\nHe fared in truth, when his men were slaves,\nMaking his foot, backward to withdraw,\nAnd his Greeks, so manly comforted,\nThat despite them, he made them to resume,\nAnd whoever in his way stood,\nWithout mercy, he killed in his mood,\nThere gains not, in his cruelty,\nFor doubtless, nor had his manhood been.\nHis passing renown and worthiness,\nHis knighthood and high prowess,\nThe Greeks had finally vanquished him that day,\nBut through his help, they recovered all.\nFor Achilles, sturdy as a wall,\nSearched for shelters and broke their ranks,\nTo face whose face, his foes went to wreak,\nAnd lastly, when he espied\nKing Tentran through his chivalry,\nHe defended himself like a worthy knight,\nAnd as a lion, bore himself in the fight,\nNow here and there, Greeks so oppressed,\nThis Achilles, of cruel hardiness,\nWould not cease, in his pursuit,\nThrough the ward, till he came to the king,\nOf manly force, proud and full of pride,\nMaking way around on every side,\nAgainst whose might, no thing could avail,\nAnd of Tentran, first the tale,\nHe rent the battle line asunder,\nAnd all to behold, that day his cruelty,\nAnd after that, he broke,\nHis basinet, with many cruel wounds.\nOf very might, the king was struck to the ground. In haste, he made no lette of his head to rend his basinet. Mercilessly, he was determined to do vengeance. His harm he began on height to avenge. In full purpose, that he shall be dead, he ranamless ran at his head with a bloody sword and a despising heart. Casting plainly, he should not assert himself In his Ire, he was so furious.\n\nBut of fortune, it befell right thus. Thelephus, the young lusty knight, casually had a sight. And of Achilles, the manner, he full beheld the stroke. The stroke anon, he bore up with his shield. And to Achilles, meekly he prayed to have pity, so to do him die. Since he lay wounded, almost to the death, brought to the point, to yield up the breath. Beseaching him, for his benevolence, and knightly also pity, he withdrew his hand and granted him life for a little space. Since every knight should, of gentleness, spare his enemy when he is in distress.\nTo Vttraunce, when he requests mercy, especially from one who volunteers it, Achilles answered, \"Why do you pray for me, one who refuses to obey our will out of pride? You began a war where there was no need for disdain and indignation. Trusting in presumption, in your manhood, you thought you could hold a battle against the Greeks. As it turned out, you were mistaken. In the ditch, you have justly fallen, which you made for us all.\n\nWhere we neither had the will nor intention, we gave you no occasion. On no side, near or far, did we minister to you or your land any damage. But you yourself were the source of all this rage. Without any offense from us, and afterwards, young Telephus humbly asked of Achilles to fulfill a knightly promise and show mercy to him in this case. For with my father, this king once was.\"\nQuod Thelephus, the bondman who lies here, all desolate,\nExpects only with a deadly face,\nUpon the hour, when his ghost shall pace,\nThrough the gates, alas, with many a mortal would.\nAnd for this reason, I have found in him before this time,\nFull kindness for mankind and gentleness,\nWithin the bounds of his reign,\nHe showed to me, through his high renown,\nWhilst I casually rode by,\nIn truth, on every side,\nFull riotous cheer and great humanity.\nThat I am bound, of very duty,\nTo remember and to have in mind,\nAnd doubtless else, I would be unkind,\nWho afterwards would foully slander my name,\nAnd for that, I would partially absolve him,\nI beseech you, of mercy for his life,\nAnd Achilles, without any strife,\nDelivered to Thelephus freely,\nWhether he pleased, to save or to spoil,\nAnd when he had him at his will,\nHe considered, by his wounds green,\nSo mortal, truly and so keen,\nOf very need, that he must die.\nThere was no gain nor remedy, nor aid, no medicine. The hour when Phoebus began to decline westward, and the battle ended, the Greeks were returning to their ships. In the meantime, Tenthredes was complaining more and more about his wounds, unable to be stopped, and his officers hurriedly made a royal litter to carry him towards his palaces and his own principality. And at his request, Thelephus and Achilles conveyed him among the crowd, until he was brought there as they pleased. And they received him royally, the king lying weakly, as one drawing towards his ending, and unable to draw a length any longer. His woeful life was so weak that his spirit had to depart, and in his haste, he sent for Achilles and Thelephus. Sirs, he said to them, worthy of degree.\nHealth and honor, with long prosperity,\nBe unto you, and good adventure,\nAll the while that your life may endure,\nAnd especially of thee, O Thelephus,\nWhich hastes to me, be so gracious,\nOf gentleness, in my pains' strong hold,\nOnly of grace, my life to prolong,\nBut death alas, I may not now each,\nNor his sword, on no part remove,\nWithout recovery knit in bitter bonds,\nUpon the brink fall, of Fates' hands,\nOf my life, all fully in despair,\nWhich of my body, never might hear,\nAfter my day, by succession,\nTo govern, this little region,\nWhich likely is, to stand desolate,\nOf governance, and disconsolate,\nWhich I won, with full great travail,\nAnd to this day, with war and battle,\nI have kept it, as you well know each one,\nAnd defended, from all manner of foe,\nWithout loss, years here before,\nBut recall of yours, I had it lost,\nNo had I had, help and also succor,\nOf Hercules, the great conqueror,\nThat whilom was, father to Thelephus,\nSo strong, so mighty, and so courageous.\nBy whose manhood and whose hardiness,\nBy his knighthood and great worthiness,\nWhich day by day is new of memory,\nOf all my foes, I had the victory,\nHe daunted them and made them so afraid,\nOnly by rigor of his sharp sword,\nThat finally, through his manly head,\nHe made me this reign to possess,\nMaugre their might, in peace and quiet,\nWith scepter and crown, & my royal seat,\nThat none of them till he was dead,\nHardy was to lift up his head,\nAgainst me, to speak few words,\nWhereby I may fully declare and show,\nBy evidence, that this little isle\nIs pertinent and belongs to Cecile,\nWhere Hercules, for a memorial,\nRode and went to war,\nAnd of Columna yet bears the name,\nAfter him called Herculea,\nThough some say they call it Hercula,\nThe name changing by corruption,\nThe which land was once a manor,\nTo the people of wild barbarity,\nThe which kingdom, to magnify,\nFrederick, truly the second,\nOf gold and good, abundantly.\nThat was chosen to be Emperor of Rome town and mighty governor,\nAnd formerly was also king of Cecile,\nWho made a mighty tour in that large isle,\nA mighty tower high and thick of wall,\nAs Guydo says, for a memorial,\nTo put his name long in remembrance,\nAnd for the soil was to his pleasure,\nWith flowers fresh of many diverse hue,\nIn some books the land was named new,\nAnd pealed, as I understand,\nFor his fairness, the lusty new land,\nBut Tentran, always lingering, in his pain,\nAs he who had fast gained the hour of death,\nAfore his lords all, he made in haste call,\nTo his presence, and with a mortal cheer,\nSaid openly that all might hear,\n\"My son,\" he said, \"now I shall depart,\nOut of this world, for gain may no grace,\nMy life to save, through no man's might,\nBut for because of equity and right,\nI am compelled, justly in sentence,\nTo declare clearly my conscience,\nTo fore my death, hearing all this peace,\nThis to say, thy father Hercules.\"\nThe wise and noble man, who once conquered this land,\nGranted me by commission\nThe governance of this region, of his own free will,\nRefusing to wear the crown himself,\nYet his right was no less,\nFor the sake of whom I now pass on,\nThe intent of my last will,\nI grant as right and just,\nTo rule in honor therein,\nMaking it a prosperous reign,\nAs a final confirmation,\nThis is the will, unchangeable,\nFrom which no man may depart,\nOn no side nor utterly decline,\nFirst, obey my will and break the line,\nJoin together, combine now in one,\nFor this reason, no mortal man may go,\nFor this last desire of my weakness,\nThat you plainly be my successor,\nAnd finally, I conclude and decree,\nTo the Septre and diadem.\nDelivered be this, with every circumstance, But all his will, for more assurance, He made write, in his testament, The fine concluding, of his last intent, And after that, he fervently and earnestly, Asked of manly courage and knightly gentleness, To do his duty and his business, After his death, like his estate royal, To hallow and hold, the solemn funeral, And the exequies do, And suddenly, without further words, The king of Tarentum, yielded up the ghost, And went his way. I note to what cost, I cannot determine, of such mystery, And when Parcas had broken the third, On the rock, and he was forth his way, Then Thelephus, out of marvelous gray, Curiously made a tomb, The dead corpse, therein to conserve, Richly, and above the grave, An epitaph, anon he did engrave, In his honor, plainly to express, His knighthood both, and worthiness, And how his ghost and he were parted, With letters rich, of gold above encased, Round about, wonderfully curious.\nHere lies Trentan, the doubtful king,\nSlain by cruel Achilles.\nHis scepter and regal power,\nHoly given to Thelephus, son of Hercules,\nWho now rests in peace in his tomb,\nWhen this was performed in every way,\nAnd Thelephus was crowned as king,\nWith high and low, all in agreement,\nOpenly in a parliament,\nGave faith to him and did homage,\nAccording to their degrees, as they were of age,\nAnd with whole heart, in all their best intent,\nBy oath and sacrament, as true lieges,\nReceived him as king.\nThen Achilles, without delay,\nWhen all was set in peace and governance,\nWithout grumbling or any variation,\nTo their ships, he made carry,\nEverything necessary for the Greeks,\nCorn, fruit, or provisions,\nFlesh or fish, or whatever might avail,\nTo host and help them in their need,\nDown to the sea, all eagerly led,\nFully their vessels, for stuffing and loading.\nAnd Thelephus, after this, established a settlement within the bounds of his region, intending to remain there until a conclusion was reached. Through his help and diligence, he was to provide relief to all mischief and scarcity when it was needed. Despite his eagerness, as Guido says, to go with Achilles like Achilles himself was willing, he stayed behind for the best reason. Bound by a firm promise and pledge, he vowed to help the Greeks in every way. After this, in haste, Achilles took his leave of Thelephus and set sail with all his ships, laden with provisions, towards the Greeks. In a short time, he arrived at Tenedos and disembarked with all his knights.\n\nFirst, he made a full report, as it had transpired, in the presence of his lords, sitting around him, of the exploit, just as it had occurred. In a mess hall, he recounted the fight and their welcome. He also spoke in detail about the king.\nThat Trantan related how Achilles, among the Greeks, slowly made known\nHis intention, even near his death, to order in his testament\nThelephus as his heir, and this he conveyed\nTo the sea and the company, and Thelephus, who would not fail,\nPromised to send them all that pleased them\nThe Greeks, with great ease, were filled with heart and wonder\nWhen Achilles had told them every detail\nAnd greatly praised his high providence,\nHis manhood, and his wisdom\nIn his outward appearance, that he bore himself so\nAnd after this, Achilles departed\nTo his lodging, a little distance away\nWhere his knights remained by him\nMyrmidons, glad of his coming\nAnd him received as befitting a king\nWhere he abode and rested a while\nBut Guydo declined here his style,\nFrom the Greeks to the people of Troy town\nI must also make a digression of my own\nLikewise, as it is fitting and necessary,\nTo show the steps of my author.\nTo my mother, he is my guide. And for a while, Greeks set aside, and receive how Dares Phrygius in his book declares to us, and truly makes mercy his own of the lords who came to the town of Troy to help them manfully against the Greeks to make resistance, with ordinance of many diverse things. There came to them earls, dukes, and kings, as plainly Dares relates. Read his book and there you may find it. And first, I recommend how that he specifically speaks of three kings:\n\nFull manly, and Talthabius the second,\nThe third,\nAnd Guthrum,\nAnd from an I,\nLike as Dares willingly expresses,\nThere came also of excellent prowess,\nAnd the second,\nAnd five thousand worthy knights all,\nThere came with them manfully to fall\nUpon the Greeks in helping of the town,\nAnd from an Ilium of full great renown,\nCalled Ilion,\nAnd\nA noble knight in arms famous and renowned,\nAnd was allied to king Priamus,\nAnd three thousand.\nThere came these two lords and from Laris, a rich land,\nTwo kings I find, and to quite their dispute,\nA thousand knights they brought to Troy,\nFrom Lycaonia, a renowned king named Caphemus,\nWith him came witnesses Dares tells us,\nA thousand knights of great worth, and five hundred,\nCame Hupon and Epedus, and many knights in bright silver plates,\nAnd with him was a king named Remus,\nHe brought three thousand to Troy, from Tabaria, his mighty isle,\nFour dukes with all their chivalry,\nHaving arms, great experience,\nAnd all they bore the same mark,\nFrom Trace came King Pylex, in the eastern plain.\nThis mighty king, as my author records,\nBrought a thousand knights at his coming.\nA hundred knights also went to Troy,\nWith Alchamus, a famous duke.\nPylex wrote that Pretemessus came,\nA noble warrior, lord and governor,\nAnd duke Stupex, with him he had,\nA thousand knights who followed,\nToward Troy from his region.\nThis story mentions that the isle stands,\nMostly by wilderness and woods,\nThick with many diverse trees,\nMostly forest where men may see,\nFor they build houses but few,\nAnd in that land, they show themselves diversely.\nMany likenesses, queer and monstrous,\nBeasts unknown, to sight marvelous,\nStanding still, as by appearance,\nBy illusion, false in existence,\nWonderfully gastly, plainly to see.\nFor various goods, of the green woods called Satyrye appear,\nWith cornels, fawny and incubus. These often make men fall into rage.\nThe people of this land are savage,\nHardy knights, furious and wild,\nAlways desirous to shed blood,\nGreatly expert, especially to shoot,\nWith dart and spear, perilous to meet.\nThey cast themselves, as any line,\nFrom an isle named Botyne,\nIn great array, to Troy the city,\nLike as I find, there came three dukes:\nThe first, Auphymius,\nThe second, Forcyus,\nAnd, as Dares records,\nTwelve hundred knights in their company.\nFrom Bytynya, as is remembered,\nThe rich land that has such abundance,\nOf spices, gomes, fruits, corn and wine,\nHealthy roots, rinds rich and fine,\nWonderful and precious also,\nOut of which isle came two knights,\nFull knightly men in arms, desirous,\nKing Boetes and Epysterus.\nA thousand knights were arrayed for the war,\nFrom the land called Paffogony,\nWhich is separated, as books say,\nFrom all company,\nUnder the flag that is Oriental,\nSet so far, as is rehearsed,\nThat few or none traveled to that land,\nFor it is almost impossible to come,\nBecause only because of its remoteness,\nAnd it is a rich region,\nOf gold and silver, and also of stones,\nAnd abundant in plente for the nones,\nIt is so full of treasure and good,\nAnd has its sight on the rich flood,\nI named Tigre, not far from the Euphrates,\nAs my Author, who is called Dares, says,\nFrom that land, in steel armed clean,\nA thousand knights came with Phylomen,\nThe worthy king, whose shields out of order,\nWere of quercus (oak) in Guydo, as I read,\nWith gold depainted & fretted with rich stones,\nWhich in this world I believe was none like,\nOut of the floods, chosen by deity,\nWho have their course out of Paradise.\nThe king, a Giant in stature,\nAnd of making is, passing all measure,\nStrong and delivers, also as I find,\nAnd from the land that marches upon ynde,\nKing Porus came, with many knightly men,\nAnd he also, who with his hand won him,\nSo much honor, the noble Meryon,\nAnd his brother, called Sygamon,\nWho from the land of their subjects,\nOf dukes, earls, and knights renowned,\nThree thousand brought, all in shining plates,\nWith spears round, whet full square and keen,\nFrom Ethiopia, came this noble route,\nAnd from the kingdom also, without a doubt,\nThat Teremo, of Dares called is,\nCame the king, full prudent and full wise,\nThe manly man, named Theseus,\nAnd his son, who is called Archylogus,\nA thousand knights, in their company,\nAnd Theseus, nearly was of alliance,\nTo Priamus, by descent of blood,\nAnd kings two, passing rich in good,\nAnd renowned in knighthood, as by fame,\nAll this, Guydo rehearses not their names,\nYet in this story, he makes mention.\nThat from Agresta, the little region,\nA thousand knights they brought to Troy,\nTo intimidate and incite pride,\nChosen and picked for none other reasons,\nAnd from the land beyond the Amazons,\nKing Lyssyny, the wise and virtuous,\nSo sage and discreet, worthy of renown,\nHe was also renowned in particular,\nAnd in the arts called liberal,\nHe was learned and expert in right,\nNor was he lacking as a worthy knight,\nIn war and peace, manful and right sage,\nAlthough he was far advanced in age,\nAnd as the story makes rehearse,\nA thousand knights, clad in plate and mail,\nTo Troy town I find that he led,\nAnd with him, Guydo says he had,\nA wonderful archer, of sight marvelous,\nOf form and shape, monstrous in manner,\nLike mine Author, as I can rehearse,\nFrom the navel upwards, he was man,\nAnd lower down, like a horse shaped,\nThat part after man was made.\nOf skin was black and rough as any bear,\nCarried it here from cold to wear,\nPassing foul and horrible to sight,\nWhose eyes were sparkling as bright\nAs a furnace's with his red leene,\nOr the lightning that comes down from heaven,\nDreadful to behold and red as fire,\nAnd as I read, he was a good archer,\nAnd with his bow, both at even and morrow,\nUpon Greeks he wrought much sorrow,\nGastly tormenting them with many hideous looks,\nSo stern he was that many of them quake,\nWhen they beheld him, so ugly and horribly,\nAnd more loathsome than it is credible,\nThat many one has wounded to the death,\nAnd caused them to yield up their breath,\nOn Greeks' side, as you shall hear,\nAnd in this way assembled were they there,\nKings, dukes, and earls of renown,\nFrom various lands within Troy town,\nThat were gathered and came from so far,\nAs Dares says, to help them in this war,\nIn number, as he makes it known,\nTwo and thirty thousand, as I find,\nOf worthy knights and lords of estate.\nThat which formed and created the world, I believe, was not seen in one city. Together assembled were of such high degree, or of knights of such great multitude. And yet, this author dares to assert in his book that of them, no fewer than those who came to Troy from smaller beginnings were not the most famous. Neither of them, most renowned, who were born in Troy, if it is truly sought since the hour that this world was made. I dare affirm, under Phoebus' spear, that so many worthy men were not met before this time. Of manly men, flourishing in lustiness, so fresh and so young, and in every point of shape and array, for the sake of doing well, truly this is no denial. Whoever delights, take heed, and consider in this book, for through the world where men go or ride, there was an assembly of chivalry and high prowess. Fully agreed upon, a war began.\n\nTherefore, you listeners, take good heed\nThat you delight in this book to read\nFirstly, for how little this war began\nHow light a cause caused so many a man\nTo lose his life in dispute pitifully,\nAnd yet no man could beware thereby.\nAlmost for nothing was this strife begun,\nAnd he who looks sees they have gained nothing but\nDeath, alas, the hard sound.\nSo many knights caught their deaths' wound,\nWithout recovery or any remedy.\nAnd for a woman, if I do not lie,\nThis strife was the more pitiful,\nThat such great mischief or adversity\nOf mortal slaughter ever should bind,\nBetter had been to have set aside\nSuch quarrels, enough powerful to let pass,\nOr the vengeance bite,\nFor wisdom were to cast before and see,\nIf such slanders might be avoided,\nOr the venom gone for ripening.\nFor though men with horns blow and pipe,\nWhen the house is fired in his heat,\nOf the sparkle, it is too late to treat,\nThat caused all, therefore, at the beginning,\nThe remedy is put from every thing,\nAs every man may deem in his reason.\nAnd while the Greeks lay at Tenedos.\nThe worthy king called Palamedes, with thirty ships from Greek land,\nBrought knights, worthy of their hands, the best choice from his region.\nArrived is he, at Tenedos. When the Greeks saw him,\nThey rejoiced, being glad and light, rewarding him for his worthiness.\nWhere before they had sorrow, now they were glad.\nFor his absence, they grumbled strongly.\nBut he, to show himself clean,\nManfully in open audience, like a knight, began to excuse himself,\nStopping all who wished to ponder his absence.\nThey asked why his absence,\nBecause of sickness and sudden malady, he was compelled to withdraw his presence.\nAnd since resemblance has no power,\nThey fully excused his absence.\nHe was most revered among the Greeks, to no one second.\nAnd was full wise and abundant\nOf gold and good advice and prudent,\nWhatever he set his intent on,\nKnightly and wisely, he would always achieve,\nAnd what he began, he would not leave\nUntil he saw a sign of his enterprise,\nAnd because he was most open among Greeks\nAnd had a reputation,\nThey hailed him\nFrom their council, wisely they asked,\nWhat should be done in every manner of thing,\nAnd he assented to their questioning,\nBenignly, from his gentleness,\nAnd the Greeks then did their business,\nTo proceed without further delay,\nTo hasten them in all that they may,\nTo begin a siege and put it off not,\nAnd they searched in various ways\nHow from Tenedos they might remove\nToward Troy town,\nFrom the haven where their ships be,\nAnd some thought most convenience,\nBy night privately,\nToward Troy, which stood proudly by,\nTo sail with their ships all,\nAnd some said great peril might fall.\nTowards night, lest they take the sea\nWith darkness, they may be ensnared\nIn their passage, knowing not the way\nWhereof great harm may fall after\nAnd thus diverse, proceeding not\nTo any conclusion\nFor in effect, their purpose did not hold\nBut still lay there, lodged in the field\nLike as they had entered with fear\nUntil on a day, worthy Diomede\nOf the Greeks, seeing their cowardice\nEven thus his counsel began to advise\nSir said he, who are present here\nIf you wish, all by one consent\nConsider wisely, adversity prudently\nWhat I shall say to you openly\nWhich of knighthood, have such a noble name\nSothly it seems to me, we ought have great shame\nWhich hold ourselves so mighty and strong\nAnd in this land, have sojourned so long\nNearly all this year, and dared not\nRemove hence, for very cowardice\nWhat have we done, not otherwise certainly\nBut to our ruin, granted folly\nEven at their pleasure, space and liberty\nTo make them strong, and opportunity\nThey will not endure, yet they playfully submit to us. For day by day they devise ways, wisely going up and down, to obtain help in the meantime and force us in every place. Their large city is fortified with barriers and palisades, their walls mocked and our scales mocked in return. Trusting in this, they have taken great ordinance and, with all this, they have seen that we have no heart, manly enough to proceed with our purpose and continue the war. The more they see that we defer, the more they will grow bold. We must resist them with all their busyness. I also see and trust it very truly, that if we had manfully, as we began, continued our journey, our journey would have been better fortuned. If suddenly, with strong and mighty hand, they had ambushed us and brought us into their land without delay, we would have been deprived of it for a while and delayed, and returned to the place where we first gained victory.\nTo our honor/with the palm of glory\nWe might truly/not had been our sloth\nOur will complies/this the playnet route\nWhere despite us/or we to land arrive\nWith strong defense/they will again strive\nAnd put us off/or we the strong wind win\nThe more we tarry/the more in truth I dislike\nWe put ourselves/each one in jeopardy\nWhat should I feign/or falter/from the truth\nFor our tarrying/and our cowardice\nAre likely after/to turn us to great sorrow\nWherefore early/by times to morrow\nMy counsel is/our anchors up to pull\nIn this matter/no longer that we dally\nBut to arm/our ships/for the war\nAnd at the up rise/of the morning star\nLet us ordain/with knightly apparel\nOut of this haven/with the wind to sail\nOf manful heart/and lusty fresh courage\nOur course holding/and our right passage\nToward Troy/and land opposite\nFor they from Troy descend like manly men,\nTo meet us in the battlefield,\nBut fear not, let not cowardice enter,\nShow manhood and face the foe,\nFor taste the manhood of your heart,\nAnd with that word, the Greeks advanced,\nThe manly counsel of this Diomedes,\nAnd in truth, to proceed in deed,\nTo the point, and sparing nothing,\nI shall declare how,\nThe next morning, wonderfully the time came,\nOr Phoebus rose, or it was prime,\nWhen it began, most merrily to draw,\nThe Greek host to shipward drew,\nWith manly heart, fully devoid of fear,\nOnly through the comfort of this Diomedes,\nBut first, as they awoke,\nThe lords wisely took counsel among themselves,\nAnd concluded among them each one,\nWhich of their ships should go forth,\nAnd on the sea, how they should guide them,\nSo to arrive, that no man sees them.\nThis was planned at a certain mark,\nThe night passed at singing of the lark.\nThe Greeks were shipped out, without further delay,\nBoth high and low, in the dawning,\nAnd first before, an hundred ships of tour,\nStuffed with many worthy warriors,\nProudly sailed, as if they had in charge,\nAnd the banners, broad and large,\nWere spread out, upon every side,\nAnd they departed, the foamy waves wide,\nThat to sight, men up so green,\nAnd next to them, for war well armed clean,\nAnother hundred followed fast by,\nWhich bore their sails, passingly proudly,\nIn which there was, full many worthy knights,\nArmed in mail, and in plates bright,\nAnd after followed, holy their navy,\nThat as I believe, such a company,\nOf worthy knights and lords of degree,\nWas never before, seen upon the sea,\nAnd Neptune made none debate,\nWith wind nor trouble, among the stern waves,\nThe temperate weather, full merry to them draws,\nThat in a tide, as they sailed right,\nOf Troy town, they caught a sight,\nWhereof in heart, full glad and light they be,\nBut when Trojans, first their ships see.\nSo proudly sailed a little from the shore\nAnd saw how they cast them for to land\nThey bode no more but armed themselves hastily\nIn plate and mail and richly in jackets\nWith irresolute heart and that was done anon\nAnd took their horses & forth in haste they went\nOut at the gates and made no tarrying\nFor they neither abided prince, duke nor king\nNor other lord\nBut hastened forth so many and so eager\nThroughout the field so great a multitude\nAmongst whom were no rude people\nBut manly men, thriftily spoken of\nSo cleanly armed on the large plain.\n\nWhen Greeks first beheld them,\nFor there was none so manly among them,\nSo young, so fresh, so hardy nor so strong,\nOf high estate nor of low degree,\nThat he was not astonished to see.\nThe hardy Trojans proudly descended\nTo let Greeks in, lest they should ascend\nThey knew and conceived utterly,\nThere was no means to arrive but\nOnly death or manfully to fight\nOr cowardly to take flight.\nFor there was no conduct but sharp swords and spears in this case, until suddenly the fierce king Protesilaus, in his governing,\nfirst led a hundred shipping ladden,\neager to reach Iliad if it would be,\nto meet them with such great desire he had.\nBut such a wind drove the sails of his ships,\nwhen his hope to arrive was new,\nthat he unexpectedly struck upon the shoals and the dry sand,\nand his ships were scattered all apart,\nand some were driven here and there,\nand devoured by the waves.\nIt was a sight to see and pitiful,\nfor hardly any could escape,\nand while some were being held back,\nthe dry land, with filth and mud,\nmade cruel slaughter of the Troyans,\ndespite their might, so constrained,\nthat with their blood the waves were stayed.\nSo mortally were they engaged, that truly to behold,\namong the waves, pale dead and cold.\nThe Greeks lie / with woods fresh and green\nAnd all the earth / with showers of arrows keen\nI saw it was / that Phoebus beams bright\nUpon the soil / was darkened by his light\nAnd new always / the Trojans assail\nThis plainly / the Greeks\nSo mortal was / and so unfortunate\nSo unwell / and disconsolate\nSo v\nThat I believe never / out of any sight\nBut for all that / Greeks would not wonder\nFor life or death / manfully to engage\nAnd so it happened / of adventure as blue\nThree hundred ships / that next after sail\nAwaitedly / and in time due\nEntered in / and haste not to delay\nAnd strike sail / and they cast their anchors\nFor the war / strongly engaged\nIn their harbor / lest they were assailed\nAnd wisely first / they set up their A\nAnd their gunners / and their best archers\nWith trumpets / to go before\nKnightly to load / though Trojans had sworn\nThe contrary / proudly they let them\nYet for all that / fires\nThe Greek arrows / made them withdraw\nAnd many of them / on the ground lay slave.\nThat despite them / the strong they recovered\nAnd such as might / most manfully endure\nWas set before / till they had taken the land\nAnd all at once / such assault they made\nUpon Trojans / and thus began the fight\nWhen Protesilaus / you noble worthy knight\nWonderfully alive / and right passing strong\nWith the Greeks / entered among\nThe hardy Trojans / and everywhere they sought\nFor he of arms / marvels upon them wrought\nThat day / through his worthiness\nHe brought many Trojans / into distress\nWhere he went / they felt full unsoftly\nThrough whose manhood / Greeks were a lift\nFor the Greeks had / in great adversity\nBeen vanquished / by fatal purposely\nAnd finally / brought unto outright defeat\nI put back / plainly this is no lie\nBut what of\nHis worthiness / or his fiercer courage\nWhat might it help / or bring advantage\nSince seven thousand Greeks / had a do\nWith a hundred thousand Trojans & yet more\nIt was marvelous / how they might endure\nIn any way / the stronghold to recover\nBut few could hold the field,\nYet in themselves they beheld one thing:\nThat which gave them heart, they saw,\nThey might not escape a life,\nIf they would flee, for at their back was nothing but the sea,\nAnd before them an host so great and huge,\nAnd other way was there no refuge,\nBut die at once or fight manfully.\nTherefore they cast and show themselves knightly,\nLike rather as manly men, they gave up their lives,\nThan cowardly, from their feet depart,\nTo lose their ground and drench in the sea.\nAnd thus as long as it would be,\nThe Greeks defended them, far above their might.\nYet many were killed in this fight,\nThat the streams of their red blood\nRan in the sand large as any flood,\nSo cruelly did the Trojans on him set,\nWith spear and sword, sharp and whet,\nThat rout was, and pity for to think,\nTill they almost drove them to the brink.\nWhere the Greeks, in misfortune and distress,\nIn great anguish and passing fear.\nThey themselves defended/maintained and survived\nWhere they should have perished utterly\nRecurled/returned for eternity\nArchelaus and a worthy P had not arrived/come ashore\nOf a sudden, they were joined/arrived with happiness\nAnd yet they had/experienced great adversity\nTo arrive, however, through the cruelty\nOf the Trojans, but yet they conquered the land\nAnd the Greeks then began cruelly\nAgain to stand against them with manly force and great violence\nAnd there, on each side, lay so many one dead\nUpon the ground, deprived of life\nBut Duke Nestor was suddenly arrived\nWith his knights fell and full of irresolution\nAnd in his heart, right melancholic\nWith his spears, archers outside\nHe entered sternly and full of pride\nWith sword and axe, sharp and keen\nThey ran and hacked and\nAnd with their swords they\nThe long day they had spent together\nAnd the slaughter was new, always beginning\nWith wounds large, fell and despising\nThey were that day so passionately irresolute.\nAnd they were only desirous to avenge,\nUnwilling to yield in their pursuing,\nTo relieve Alagus, the king,\nWho was full of envy towards the Trojans,\nAnd of very old hatred,\nWith their knights, suddenly fell upon them,\nAnd in their anger, bitterness was greater than gall,\nCruelly, they pressed their foot upon,\nAnd by consent, their business was done,\nDespite them, they turned back,\nThere was no choice, so they were compelled,\nTo withdraw, to their confusion,\nBut then in haste, they left Troy town,\nOf worthy knights, freshly armed new,\nWith devices of many various hue,\nThere came down, such a great multitude,\nOf their armor, as the sun brought light,\n\nThey set upon them with melancholy will,\nWith such a will of heart and courage,\nWith such fury in their mortal rage,\nThat to accord was none other men,\nBut slaughter and death, they went between,\nThrough stroke of axe, dagger, and spear,\nThey compelled the Greeks to turn back.\nTo whose rescue anyone comes to land,\nThe king exhorts, with his whole navy,\nAnd knightly, with his chivalry,\nToward Troyans, hastens he at once,\nAnd one in heart, the Greeks with him go,\nAnd their courage, holy they resume,\nAnd began their feet, fiercely to consume,\nUnto the death, their damage to avenge,\nThat no one may, justly them challenge,\nOf manhood so well, they have them bore,\nTo quite again, their harms done before,\nAt which time, like a fiery own,\nAmong Troyans, raging up and down,\nUlysses went, with his sword in hand,\nHe slew and knightly began to sound,\nThat day, like a man was found,\nAnd here and there, with many mortal wounds,\nUpon Troyans, he wrought all this wrack,\nThem bearing down, on foot and horseback,\nIn his ire, his strokes were so keen,\nAt which time, worthy Philomene,\nLord and king of Paphogonye,\nWhen he beheld, with his company,\nSo many Troyans, of Ulysses' slave,\nToward him alone, he drew him near,\nOn horseback, and with a spear he rounded.\nOut of his saddle, he fell to the ground, but Ulysses rose up right away, taking his horse like a knight. As Phyllomene had said, he took the spear and rode towards him again, so powerfully and with such violence that there was no difference, but that he struck him right through the shield. The shield flew a separate way in the field, and through his plates, the spear head ran and came to a stop. The spearhead, made of shining steel, could not pierce it. The quiver was truly made, but with that stroke, Ulysses knocked him down. Yet again, he rose up at once, feeling no harm from the stroke. He grabbed a sharp spear, which he had whet and ground, and Phyllomene gave him such a wound with all the might of his arms twice, from the heart of Iris with such great pain, that through his shield, both place and wound, he struck him up through his entrails. The spearstock began to slide into the gap.\nThat from his horse he fell down to one side,\nPerilously fighting upon his head,\nHis knights thinking truly he was dead,\nWho took him up and laid him on a shield,\nAnd bore him home in haste from the field,\nWith great danger or they might have slain him,\nThrough the Greeks, with their lord to twain,\nAnd for Trojans, supposed treacherously,\nPhylomene, without remedy,\nHad been dead, they were astonished all,\nIf this case had not fallen that day,\nOf Phylomene, Greeks on the shore,\nThrough the knighthood, this is doubtless,\nOf Phylomene, whom that wiles,\nV\nIn knightly wise, Trojans to confound,\nWhereof they were astonished each one,\nBut though then and Agamemnon,\nOf Greeks east, lord and emperor,\nArrived is, to their succor,\nWith all his knights and Menelaus,\nAnd also the worthy Telemachus,\nCalled Ajax is, to land come,\nAnd they at leisure, have their horse named,\nWhile other Greeks, Trojans occupy.\nTowards them, making no delay,\nAll in a rush, in all haste they may.\nThey ran beside her and their spears broke,\nWith hearts envious upon horseback.\nThere might men see, the worthy knights,\nOn their steeds, each at other flees.\nWith stiff swords, shafts great and round,\nWith heads square, the points keenly ground.\nThere might men see, in their furious hands,\nSo many knights, slain on the green.\nBut most of the slaughter and confusion,\nFell at that time, from the town's men.\nThe Greeks were, so mighty and so strong,\nAnd in the field, this continued long,\nTill Protesilaus, the mighty king,\nWho all day long, in skirmishes and fighting,\nLike a knight, had occupied,\nAgainst the Trojans, in his cruelty,\nOf manhood only, and of worthiness,\nOf adventure, in his weariness,\nHe made his retreat and took his breath,\nAnd to the shore, where he arrived.\nWhereas he thought, his heart began to tremble,\nOf cruel ire, and also of pity,\nThat he beheld, only to see,\nHis men lying slain, a long line on the shore.\nAnd coming up to the land\nDeep in the sea among the floods\nFor which thing, he began at once to weep\nFull pitifully, all were it not seen\nWhose woeful eyes might not be dried\nFor the constraint, which sat heavily on his heart\nUntil at last, among his pains, pain seized\nThat cruelly bitter Ire began to embrace\nThat suddenly, with a despised face\nWithout delay, he thought how he\nWould avenge himself on their death\nOr finally atone with their death\nAnd on his stead, he took the right way\nToward his foe, full of ire in his rage\nAnd he lines right, he holds his passage\nSwift as a grayhound, he runs out of the lees\nAnd where he saw, that was greatest pressure\nHe parts through, amidst the field\nAnd with the sword, which in his hand he held\nThat ground was, to cleave and to bite\nFull mortally, around him he began to strike\nThe Trojans could not deter him\nSome he rips, even to the heart\nAnd some he wounds, truly to the death\nAnd some he made yield up their breath.\nAnd he unhorsed some cruelly,\nAnd whom he met that day utterly,\nFrom his horse he made him alight,\nFor where he rode, they fled out of his sight,\nAnd his presence, as death shuns,\nBut ever in one he began to pursue,\nIn his chase, like a wood lion,\nThis play he plays with the townsfolk,\nUntil Perseus, king of Ethiopia,\nCame suddenly riding,\nWith many a knight and many a man,\nAt whose coming, a fresh skirmish began,\nFurious and wooded,\nThat many Greek that day lost their blood,\nSo fell upon them, Troyans,\nAmong them, the Ethiopians were black,\nSo manly they bore them, fighting here and there,\nThat where Troyans were before in fear,\nThrough their help, they have recovered the field,\nAnd made them lose, also much again,\nAs they before won on the plain,\nFor they so hold and so mightily,\nKept them together and so availingly,\nGoverned them with pavise shield and pike,\nThat Greeks were compelled in the field.\nMaugre who so grudged/necessity compelling them to retreat,\nTo the rearward/backward for to flee,\nAlmost dispirited/mate and comfortless,\nBut in that while/time, King Palamides\nTo their rescue/came to their aid,\nAnd lusty, fresh/entered the battle,\nWith his knights/and his whole army,\nTaking their horses/fast by the sea,\nAnd full proudly/embusshed all at once,\nWith spear and sword/yielded for the nones,\nBy conveying/of their worthy coming,\nHave so oppressed/at their coming,\nThe manly Trojans/that it was a wonder,\nTo see them lie slain/here and yonder,\nAnd this continues/till among the press,\nOf adventure/that Palamides,\nBurning always/in his furiousness,\nHappens upon/to meet,\nA worthy knight/called Sygamon,\nWho was the brother/to King Menon,\nThis manly man/to King Perces,\nWho the Greeks/that day sore oppressed,\nBy his knighthood/as it is expressed,\nFor he the Greeks/to his worthiness,\nHad often brought/in full great distress,\nThe same day/to his great increase.\nAs I told you, he met him in the field\nAnd with a sharp square sword, he sharpened\nWhen he was most proud of knighthood, he charged\nAnd struck him through the side\nWith that last fatal, deadly wound\nFrom his steed, he bore him to the ground\nAnd on the plain, among those of Troy,\nHe rode forth and brought down here and there\nAll that ever stood in his way\nHe was furious and mad before them, the Trojans\nMaugre the Trojans, they retreated to the wall again\nHis manly knights were always ready\nEagerly facing him\nReady to hand at every great enterprise\nBut then the noise arose\nThe woeful clamor and pitiful cry\nOf those of Troy, who could not endure\nThe mortal sword was so sharp and keen\nOf the noble, worthy, famous knight, Pallamides,\nWho with his great might\nHas borne the long day against his foe\nAgainst his foot, and so nobly did he do.\nIn his person / through his high renown,\nChased almost to the town,\nTrojans, each one, manly made to flee,\nThe noise of whom / has entered the city,\nThe hideous cry / and the mortal shout,\n\u00b6Whereof amassed Ector / issued out,\nFuryously / in all the haste he could,\nThe son of Mars / this knight, this valiant man,\nOf all worthy / yet the worthiest,\nThat ever was / and the hardiest,\nFor as Phoebus / with his bejeweled crown,\nAmongst stars / so did appear,\nExcelling all / in steel-armored bright,\nOn whom it was / a very heavenly sight,\nFor it was he / that both near and far,\nOf worthiness was / the lodestar,\nThe which / when he entered the field,\nLike as I read / bore that day a shield,\nThe shield of which / was of pure gold,\nWith three lions / in story as I told,\nOf whose color / is no mention,\nBut as I find / by description,\nThey were passing / if I report truly,\nBorn on the breast / of this Trojan knight,\nThat was the ground / and root / of high prowess,\nAnd flourished / accounted / of all worthiness.\nThe knight, so manly among his companions, rode among the Greeks. He was like a man, and in his coming, they were stoned as he began to charge. Among those who killed and slew, there was not one who escaped his sword. Greeks went to avenge and broke their shields. He mauled them, severing them apart. He bore down all, riding here and there. Casually, he met Protesilaus, who had long fought against the Trojans. He slew all who came in his way. This hardy knight, this worthy king of fire, who was always pursuing the Trojans, held such great envy towards him. When Hector saw this, he took heed and rode towards him, his heart filled with hasty anger. He reined in his steed and rode quickly, and with his sword, he stained all with blood. He struck his head through his basinet. With such might, his stroke was not stopped.\nBy force or not of thick plate,\nBut finally, by full mortal fate,\nThe sword of Ector though nerve bone and vain,\nThis worthy king, parted hath on twain.\nFor utterly, there gains none armor\nAgainst the stroke of Ector to endure,\nBut that this king, so full of worthiness,\nStrong and mighty, and of great hardiness,\nReceived hath his last fatal wound,\nAnd lies now dead, parted on the ground,\nAnd Ector forth among the Greeks rides,\nAnd whosoever his stroke abides,\nRefuted was none, nor difference but death,\nAnd many Greeks that day he slew.\nFor which of them in his way stood,\nHis sharp sword he bathes in his blood.\nThat also far, as they might see,\nAs death from his sword they flee.\nSo mortal vengeful, upon them he wrought,\nAnd many Greeks at his fellow sought,\nAnd began to inquire what he might be.\nFor all their life, they could never see\nNone so knightly behaved him in battle,\nAnd plainly yielded, as if supposed,\nIt was Ector, the noble warrior.\nWhich of knighthood may bear away the flour\nAmong all that ever were born\nFor there was no Greek, he may stay beforehand\nOf all that day, he made them so enchant\nTo the shore, even before his face\nFor they durst not his mortal stroke abide\nAnd when he had upon every side\nThe Greeks chased to the wavy sea\nWounded and mated in great adversity\nThen this Troyan knight alone\nLike Mars himself, home to Troy is gone\nAt whose party, Greeks\nManfully again, they resume their hearts\nAnd of new, they assail Iuparte\nLife and death to set at defiance\nOn fortune, if she favors\nTheir part again, in recovery of the field\nAnd them enforce with might of spear and shield\nAnon forthwith, and make no delay\nTo win again, on Trojans if they may\nFor eight times, since they began\nThe field they have, that day lost and won\nLike fortune, as she lists, does their cure\nUp or down, for to turn ever.\nFor as the wheel went about round,\nSo that day they won and lost their ground,\nBut especially they were most dismayed,\nWhen Hector came, who had outraged,\nThrough his knighthood, their heart, alive,\nAnd to resort, where they had arrived,\nAnd thus it continued, despite all their might,\nWhile in the field was this Trojan knight.\n\nTill Phoebus chariot began to wester down,\nThat he appeared into the town,\nWhich had Greeks wrought before in ill,\nBut now the hardy, cruel fire Achilles,\nArrived is, with his knights all,\nMyrimnesians, whom men are accustomed to call,\nWho from the sea have taken the plain,\nAt their coming, Greeks have again,\nThe field recovered, and put themselves in press,\nOnly through the help of worthy Achilles,\nWho is so dearly, Trojans fall upon,\nThat he of them has slain full many one,\nFor three thousand, in steel armed bright,\nWith him he brought, ready for to fight,\nKnights each one, full worthy of renown,\nWho with Achilles, Greeks champion.\nHave mercyless, in their cruelty,\nSlay many Trojans, from the city,\nThey were so fierce, in their mortal ire,\nSo envious, of hate to desire,\nNew and new, to shed their blood,\nFor Achilles thought, it did him good,\nThat his sword, Trojans' blood to shed,\nAnd on the soil, to see them lie and bleed,\nRutilius in his melancholy,\nFor he to them, had such hot envy,\nWithout their death, that it may not quench,\nAnd he his sword, fully made drenched,\nThe long day, in Trojans' blood,\nAnd bathes it, as it were in a flood,\nWhich was forged and I sharpened so keen,\nThat many rivers, for their help on the green,\nRan here and there, of wounds sore,\nAnd with his knights, always more and more,\nPursued them, before him as they flee,\nTo the walls of Troy, the city,\nWhere they made, a full pitiful cry,\nAnd in this while, I find in the story.\n\nThe Greeks' host, holy is arrayed,\nLike in Guido, as it is described,\nOf men of arms, such a multitude,\nAnd of knights, shortly to conclude.\nThat from their ships, of new landed be,\nThose Trojans, astonished were to see,\nAnd abashed, they grew pale,\nFor suddenly, they fell upon them,\nOn every half, passing great press,\nAnd ever in one, this bold Achilles,\nWith his sword, made their sides red,\nFor here and there, lay the bodies dead,\nAnd wounded some, at the entrance of the gate,\nAnd knightly there, with them he began to debate,\nAnd furiously, this fell, cruel knight,\nThe children slew, in their fathers' sight,\nThat to behold, it was full great pity,\nAnd yet the slaughter, greater had been,\nWithout number, of them from the town,\nPerpetually, to their confusion,\nLikely for ever, to have been overcome,\n\nIf Troilus, had not come to their rescue,\nYoung, fresh, and lusty, and inwardly desirous,\nWith whom came also Paris and Deiphobus,\nAnd many worthy, their party to support,\nSo that Greeks, though they might not endure,\nAgainst them, to stand at defense,\nFor all their pride, nor make resistance,\nWorthy Troilus, so well did time release him.\nFor in truth, what Greek did he hate\nOtherwise he might have harmed or killed him\nTherefore, as death, they fled from his way\nAnd Achilles with his company\nFor it was night, homeward he began to hasten\nToward the Greeks, with glory and great honor\nAnd they received him as a Conqueror\nWhoever he had met, he had treated so well\nAnd they of Troy had shut their gates\nAnd made them strong throughout the entire town\nIn this time, King Agamemnon\nHad sought a suitable place\nWhich he thought was most agreeable\nBy likelihood and most convenient\nFor every lord, to set up his tent\nAnd in a field, of full large space\nMost suitable as for lodging place\nIn due sight, set up for the city\nEach lord was signed where he should be\nAnd began at once\nTo ordain mansions\nPitched their tents and pavilions\nAnd such as could not have centurions\nFrom storm and rain, save themselves\nThey devised other habitats\nTurrets and small receptacles\nTo shield them and all the night also.\nFrom their ships / they had much to do\nOr they might have / their horses to land\nAnd to arrange / where they should stand\nAnd they also / were busy carrying\nOther things / that were necessary\nAnd in addition / to a long siege\nAnd they also / made their ships strong\nFor in the port / their anchors cast\nAnd of assent / they hurried them quickly\nFor to confirm / of one agreement\nTo set a siege / to Troy town\nAnd thereupon / by a firm agreement\nFor to remain / while their lives last\nFinally / without repentance\nAnd prudently / they made their arrangements\nAs they best could / all the long night\nThey lit their fires / which burned wonderfully bright\nAnd at a distance / they divided from the fires\nThey set up / in a manner of palisades\nAnd rode about / where their lodging was\nThey palisaded / the entire field compass\nAnd to achieve / the goal of their purpose\nThey skillfully worked / and kept themselves always close\nThe king / that no treason falls\nLet make watches / without his tents all.\nOf those who had rested, he made more minstrels. Guydo says they spent the long night keeping time before the fires bright, merryly tuning their instruments and making them rest in their tents. Those who were weary of fight and faint in the sea, he made wait wisely against all adventure, so that no deceit was found on either side. This king knightly provides in his advice, ensuring nothing escapes him. He remained awake all night.\n\nUntil on the morrow, the red waves of Phoebus' chariot spread. Each king disposed of matters as he should. I will proceed to tell how they acted, both outside and in, with your support. The third book begins.\n\nWhen Aurora, with her pale light,\nUnder the mantle of the dark night,\nAnd the curtain of her hews faded,\nWas Ishroud hidden in the dark shade,\nAbashed was I, as I can desire,\nOnly of her, that is feminine.\nFor she was ashamed/not to be seen\nBecause she had lain in bed for so long\nWith fresh Phoebus, her own chosen knight\nUntil his steed, called Flegonte, was out of sight\nApollo then/with his bright beams\nHad comforted her oppressed cheek\nTo say this/after the dawning\nWhen Titan rose in the east\nHis heat tempered/and right softly\nHer Emysperia/to bring comfort\nThe same hour/the Trojan champion\nGovernor of wars/of the town\nWorthy Hector/who in the city\nNext to Priam had of all/the sovereignty\nThe town to guide/by knightly excellence\nFor his manhood/and his wisdom\nOf Trojan knights/lord and also chief\nWho had commanded/in a large plain\nTo rise and fall/he excepting none\nKings, prices, and lords every one\nThe same morning/to meet there\nIn their array/to muster and appear\nLike as they were/of name and of estate\nBeside a temple/once consecrated\nTo the good ones called is Diiane\nMost honored in this rich temple,\nThere to array them in all the haste they can,\nLike the device of this knightly man,\nAnd this plain passing fair to see,\nWas set amidst of Troy the city,\nSmooth and right fair, & full of fresh flowers,\nWhere all the worthy, noble warriors\nOf Troy town together assembled be,\nAnd many other to behold and see,\nThe famous knights arm themselves in that place,\nAnd some of them began full straight lace,\nTheir doublets made of linen cloth,\nA certain fold that about him goes,\nAnd some also dampen most surely,\nTo\nAnd did on first after their desires,\nSabatous greaves, cuisses with voiders,\nA pair of breaches, older first of mail,\nAnd some there were also who would not fail,\nTo have of mail a pair of bracers,\nAnd therewithal, as the custom was,\nA pair of pancakes, on a petty coat,\nGarnished with gold up unto the throat,\nA pound of plate, which of the self behind,\nWas shut and close, and thereon as I find.\nEnyron was aboard a small mayle, and some chose of the new enterprise to be its commander. For this purpose, they selected a man with a broad breastplate, having arrears doos behind or on the side. On his arms, rings were worn that were not too wide. There were warders, frettered in the mayle, with cords round and of fresh enterprise. Vambraces with wings and rebraces thereto, and thereon were besagues also. Upon the head, a basinet of steel that within was locked well. A crafty sight was wrought in the visor. And some would have of plate a bauble. That on the breast, fastened before, the cannel piece was more easy to bear. Gloves of plate, of steel forged bright. And some would be armed more lightly. In thick jackets, covered with satin. & some would have of the mayle wrought fine. An hawberk, all of late wrought cassade. That with weight he be not overlaid. Himself to wield, like a nimble man. And some will have of choice gisarme. On his doublet, but an hawberk. And some only, but a sure gpon.\nOver his poleyns reaching to the knee, and that his vambras may be cured near, a pricking palet of plate the cowher, and some will have also no visor, to save his face but only anasar, and some will have a pair of platys light, to wield him well when that he shall fight, and some will have a target or a spear, and some a pavises his body for to wear, and some a target made strong to last, and some will have darts for to cast, some a pollax headed of fine steel, and picked square for to last well, and some a sword his enemy for to meet, and some will have a bow for to shoot, some an arbalest to stand out aside, and some on foot and some for to tide, array themselves their footmen for to sail, and many one was busy for to nail, his fellows' armor for to make it strong, and to dress it sit rightly, with points, tresses, & other manner thing that in such a case longeth to arming. I have no knowing every thing to tell, and to you were to long to dwell.\nWhere I fail / you must have me excused,\nFor in such craft / I am little used,\nAnd ignorance / does my pen let,\nIn their order / my terms to set,\nAnd often changes / such harrying and device,\nAnd you that are in it / expert and wise,\nDisdain not / that I speak in this place,\nOf their arming / for all is in your grace,\nRight at your pleasure / to correct every error,\nAnd when Hector saw / that all was well,\nAnd every armed / and arrayed,\nThis worthy knight / no longer delayed,\nBut awfully his wards / for to make,\nAnd prudently / bade they should take,\nTheir ground in haste / to put all in certainty,\nAnd stand in order / enduringly on the plain,\nSo that no man / was found reckless,\nAnd the gate called / Dardanelles,\nWithout abode / Hector made unsightly,\nAnd after that / he bade that men should fetch,\nTo his presence / that it were done in haste,\nCynanebor / his brother born in bastardy,\nAnd to him / first of every one,\nAnd to a lord / that named was Glaucon,\nThe king's son / of Lycius and his heir.\nWith many banners displayed in the army,\nEctor gave the guard and governance of the first ward,\nIn which he had set a thousand knights,\nWith spears round and swords keenly sharpened,\nAnd on their breasts, full many rich shields,\nChosen out among the best that endured might,\nAgainst Greeks, manfully to fight,\nAnd to them Ector bade anon,\nIn God's name, that they should go out,\nAt the gate truly as I read,\nHe assigned, in the same place,\nWith manly cheer, to the king of Troy,\nWisely on him to be attending,\nA thousand knights to have at his leading,\nIn a vengeful knightly manner, to abide,\nTo wait on him upon every side,\nAnd with him was his son Archilochus,\nOf his age, a man right virtuous,\nTo fulfill that which becomes a knight,\nFor both he had heart and also might,\nNext to them, Ector divided,\nThe next ward to the king of Phrygia,\nWho in his time was called Santippeus,\nAnd to him young, strong, and eager.\nHe was assigned to wait,\nThree thousand knights, bright and clear,\nWith whom King Alchomus of Eturia\nWas commanded to go\nAnd obeyed his bidding,\nThey knightly took their way,\nOut at the gate, passingely arrayed,\nTowards Greeks, with banners fresh displayed,\nAnd unfurled each one's pennon,\nAfter Eturia's commander,\nThere was a noble, young, lusty free,\nHis brother Troilus, so fresh to see,\nWho in knighthood had all sufficiency,\nThe third ward, to govern,\nWith three thousand knights, young of age,\nFlourishing in force, hardy of courage,\nSuch as he was, of custom wont to lead,\nTo whom Eturia's commander,\nFull goodly spoke and said, at his departure,\n\"Brother,\" he said, \"my heart is so loving\nTowards thee, of very kindredness,\nThat though I have, in part, great gladness\nOf thy manhood, that so far is known,\nAnd the knighthood of thy green youth.\"\nFull oft in Yupardye, I stand\nIn pensiveness and wariness, in constant fear\nWhen I remember upon thy head\nLest thy courage be too violent\nOf thy life, to be negligent\nThou thyself to put in far adventure\nOf surquidry, so much to assure\nIn thy force, knightly to a start\nEvery peril, in thy manful heart\nHaving no reward, in such mortal strife\nOf wilfulness, neither to death nor life\nNor admonition, to thy saucy mien\nBut as fortune turns, up and down\nHer wheel movable, high and after low\nIn Martyr's ire, as the wind does blow\nWhich causes me full oft to sigh and think\nAnd to wake, when I should wink\nRevolving, ever thy hasty wilfulness\nBut gentle brother, for any hardiness\nThus like day, on every side\nI pray thee so wisely, to provide\nFor hate or ire, thy feet pursuing\nNot to exceed, more than is fitting\nBut let prudence keep in a mean\nAnd wisdom also, hold against the rain\nOf thy heart, and thy fires' courage\nThat fired have, thy green tender age.\nYou shall endure every fear, each peril,\nThat our enemies rejoice at your misfortune,\nMy lord, and my dear brother,\nMighty Mars, I pray in my heart enter,\nThus every day on Troyan ground,\nKeep us sound from their hands,\nAs I would that he did me the same,\nTo whom alone, with all humility,\nThis young, worthy Troilus, in manly wise answered,\nThis worthy Troilus, of fresh and light heart,\nSaid again with glad cheer,\nMy lord, and my dear brother,\nAnd God in witness, I will fully obey,\nNow to me of your gentleness,\nAnd not decline through any negligence,\nIn any point, from your commandment,\nBut with whole heart, in all my best intent,\nI shall take heed, and plainly do none other\nThan you have said, my lord & brother,\nSo loath I were, offend you or grieve,\nAnd in this way, he humbly took his leave,\nAnd forth he rode, so like a manly knight,\nA sight to behold among his men,\nHe behaves himself so well.\nThree thousand knights, armed in bright steel,\nRode Envyron with Troilus into the field.\nThat day he bore in his shield\nPassant of gold, three richly adorned lions.\nThe chair of ash, skillfully crafted,\nAnd by the gate he issued out at once.\nWith him he brought, each one,\nHis knights, towards the Greeks, holding the next way.\nEctor hastens, as many as he may,\nPrudently ordering his guards.\nTo King Hupon and Ardelaus,\nHe assigned the following:\nThe fourth ward, to Guy and Wysse,\nIn the land called Larisse,\nThe two brothers had reigned long,\nAnd King Hupon was remarkably strong,\nAnd of stature like a towering giant,\nAnd in all of Troy saved none equal to him,\nNor a better knight.\nOn his foot, passing contemptuously,\nHe who with his brother called Ardelaus,\nFour thousand knights were to lead,\nAnd seven thousand, as I read,\nAnd to them like, as it is written, Guydo.\nWorthy Ector assigned has also\nOne of his brothers, called Brymarchus,\nA noble knight, in arms renowned,\nAnd had in manhood passing excellence,\nAnd of Ector they took leave and rode\nTheir way among all the prices,\nThrough the gate of Dardanydes.\n\nThe fifth ward, to have at his leading,\nWas committed to the king by Ector,\nWho was of Cesoyne, lord and prince,\nAnd to his brother, called Polydamas,\nCysnes were of high stature,\nAnd mighty in arms, enduring greatly,\nUpon whom full many men beheld,\nAnd their king bore nothing in his shield\nBut a field of gowls, as I find,\nOf other sign Guydo makes no mind,\nAnd forth he rode, a full stern pace,\nThis noble king and Polydamas,\nWhen they had of Ector leave taken,\nWhoever in one was fully busy,\nTo make the sixth ward with all diligence,\nAnd to the king called Pretemnes,\nWho was worthy both in war and peace,\nAnd to a duke, who was also worthy of his hand.\nHe took the people of Pauny land,\nTo govern them in the field that day,\nThese people, who in custom always,\nWere without plate, hauberk, or mail,\nOn swift horses, their feet to assail,\nWith mighty bows and arrows sharp-ground,\nThrough armor, mortally to wound,\nAnd with this people of Ector also,\nDeephus was assigned to go,\nIn the field to guide them and to lead,\nAnd on their way, they quickly sped,\nBut before they passed, by Dardanides,\nEctor, in disguise, commanded,\nAt the gate, and with the archers, into the field to go,\nAnd many worthy, well-armed each one,\nTo await them, so they were not lost,\nFor these people that I spoke of before,\nOf Pauny land, had no armor,\nBut prudent Ector, to make them sure,\nOut of Agrest, the mighty realm,\nHas chosen out, full worthy of renown,\nThe best knights, each one.\nAnd with two kings, Esdras and Phyon,\nAssigned them, to take charge.\nTo the footmen, when they have need,\nThe which Phylon made richly,\nRode in a chariot, all of Yoruib,\nOf which the wheels, wrought curiously,\nWere of a tree, Ycalled Ebenus,\nWhich tree grows far in India,\nBlack of hue, and also as I find,\nWhen it is corpse, this tree will grow anon,\nOf its nature, hard as any stone,\nWhen it is grave, either round or square,\nAnd of pure gold, rouged was this chariot,\nFret with pearl and many rich stones,\nSuch another, I believe, now there none is,\nIn all this world, it I shall not deny,\nAnd it was led, by mighty knights two,\nMen of arms, within and without,\nArmed in steel, riding round about,\nThis worthy kings, Esoras and Phylon,\nAnd Ector has called, to him alone,\nOne of his brethren, whatsoever fall,\nTo be guide, and leader of them all.\nThe name of whom, was Pythagoras,\nAnd to the great Trojan Aeneas,\nOf whom before, mention is made,\nEctor, by good deliberation,\nThe seventh ward, assigned has to keep.\nAnd upon steady, lusty to leap,\nOf such as were much used to ride,\nFull manly knights, to house by his side,\nWhich with Emphrasy to Troy town came so far,\nFrom their realm,\nTo foster them, for Hector's sake,\nAnd when they had his leave taken,\nThey rode proudly forth with Aeneas,\nOut at the gate, a wondrous knightly pass,\nThe broad field till they had reached,\nAnd in this while, Hector had ordained,\nLike my Author, as I can recall,\nThe eighth ward, of the people of Perse,\nWorthy knights, manly and right wise,\nWhich were committed to Paris,\nOn him that day to await eagerly,\nTo whom Hector, full benevolently,\nSpake and said, at his departing,\nO brother mine, in all manner thing,\nWhen thou art passed, by Dardanides,\nThis day to far put the nat in press,\nAmong Greeks, nor in Iupardye,\nLest thy foot in mischief espie,\nTo whom they have, of old and new date,\nIn their hearts, full fresh, and mortal hate,\nThe fire of which, their breasts have so embraced.\nThat it were hard / for you to reach me\nWherefore, brother / look that thou be\nIn all ways / not too far from me\nBut keep near / so that no misadventure\nFalls upon the / so that I may succor\nThis day to my / own brother dear\nTo whom Paris / with full humble cheer\nAnswered and said / that in every thing\nHe would obey / unto his bidding\nAnd rode his way / immediately with his men\nInto the field / out of the city\nAnd Ector / also did his business\nThe nineteenth ward / in order to dress\nWhich he thought / himself for to lead\nIn which he put / truly, as I read\nFive thousand knights / born of Troy town\nThe worthiest / and greatest in renown\nAnd passing famous / in knighthood\nBorn by descent / of Trojans' blood.\nAnd of his brethren / he took with him ten\nSuch as he knew / for most manly men\nThat were foreign / from stock of royalty\nOut of the line / born in bastardy\nWhom Ector had / in great favor\nFor the knighthood / he could in them.\nAnd when he had / by knightly pursuit\nAll his warders set in governance,\nLike Mars himself, swiftly they sped,\nWithout abode, to take their stead,\nWhich was in books called Gallathe,\nOf all horses having sovereignty,\nAs far as men ride in any cost,\nOf whom Dares boasts so greatly,\nOf shape, height, and also fairness,\nOf strength of look, and of great swiftness,\nSo like a horse, performed out and out,\nAnd with a whip, men might turn about,\nLike Dares, making Minos renowned,\nOf whom Aeneas rode through Troy town,\nArmed at all points, that came wonder well,\nFrom foot to head, richly every dell,\nThat shone as bright as sun on summer's day,\nAnd to Priam, he held the right way,\nAnd when that he was come to the king,\nHe rehearsed in order every thing,\nHow he had done and all his ordinance,\nAnd lowly said, so it please your noble,\nRoyal excellence,\nI have chosen with diligent care,\nA thousand knights, full of sufficiency,\nWith five hundred to have attendance.\nOn your person, always where you are,\nWith all footmen that are in the city,\nThat shall attend on you ever in one,\nTherefore, my lord, as soon as we are gone,\nLowly I pray to your worthiness,\nTo guide us, by good advice,\nOut at the town, always also that you,\nTogether keep, your knights and men,\nThis I beseech, with all my full might,\nWithin the bounds, where we shall fight,\nThat you suffer none of them to pass,\nBut keep you whole, in the self place,\nAt our backs, and this strong city,\nIf we have need, that you may always see,\nUs to relieve, keeping you aside,\nAnd specifically there, for to abide,\nWhere it is most likely, our party to sustain,\nFor ever amongst, there shall men go between,\nOf our excuse, the truth to report,\nFor which part, Mars willed the field to sort,\nOf his power, this day fatal,\nFor you shall be, our castle and our wall,\nAnd our refuge, to save us from all harm,\nAnd specifically, one thing you warn,\nThat no deceit, fraud, nor treason\nApproach behind, to the town.\nOf our folly/through our recklessness,\nWhile we do/our business\nAgainst them/in the field to fight,\nIn all ways/there is a sight,\nThat nothing turns/to our damage\nThough our engine/but works as the sage,\nWith victory/that we may conclude,\nSo that Greeks/with fraud do not deceive us,\nBy no engine/of unwarranted violence,\nHoping always/that it is no offense,\nTo your highness/that I have here said,\nAnd with that word/Priamus in abreast,\nBenignly of cheer/and countenance,\nAnd said, Ector/my solemn promise,\nMy final trust/and support,\nIn your wise/disposition,\nHolly I commit/as you list or ordain,\nFor next God/if I shall not prevail,\nMy faith, my hope, and all my skill,\nAnd my welfare/in very solemn pledge,\nCommitted behold/into your hand,\nAnd govern/plainly of my land,\nAs you ordain/it must needs be,\nAnd this prayer/I make now to the gods above celestial,\nThem to preserve/in part and in all,\nFrom each misfortune/and adversity.\nThat you may return to this city,\nRepair in honor with praise and victory,\nSo that the praise, renown, and memory\nOf your name be put in remembrance perpetually,\nAdvancing your honor. Farewell, my own son,\nAnd Ector, with full humble cheer,\nHe took his leave and rode on at once,\nAmong his lords and knights, each one,\nAs one who was taught of all nobility,\nOf knighthood, grown in strength and hardiness,\nThe very stock, and to it inseparable.\nFor as much as it was possible,\nNature might grant him manhood, or kindred,\nTouching manhood, in books as I find,\nHe had in him sovereign excellence and governance,\nMingled with prudence,\nNothing a startle, he was so wise and aware,\nAnd in his shield, I find that he bore,\nUpon his breast, this Troyan champion,\nThe chief of gold, of Gaul's alone,\nDepict them and in his banner beat,\nThe very same, and so he advanced the street,\nHe took the way to Dardanides,\nThat to behold was huge the press.\nNoyse of trumpets and clarions,\nBanners unfurled and long fresh penons,\nRed and white, green, blue, and black,\nIn this way, Ector has taken the field,\nWith heart and soul intent,\nAs Mars himself had been present.\nAnd they who he, as Guido, makes mind,\nRode with the ward that lagged behind,\nOf his manhood he would not abide,\nBut struck his steed sharply on the side,\nOf fell courage, he had his horse so pained,\nThe first ward he had attained,\nBy vale and hill, to fore in the frontiers,\nNot astoned, of the fell chares,\nNor plainly afraid,\nBut like a knight, even before their berds,\nHe began to press in,\nAnd in this while, upon Troy's wall,\nIn various places, on the high towers,\nAs freshly seen as May with her flowers,\nThe ladies were ascended, of the town,\nSo fair, so young, standing enamored,\nThe queen Hecuba, passing fair to see,\nThe kings' daughters and goodly Polyxena,\nAnd many other, of womanhood.\nIn their hearts were full of fear and near panic,\nWhen they beheld in the field displayed,\nThe broad banners that some tenderly,\nSome with love, and some with kindness,\nPale and dreadful, for their lords were near,\nAnd some hid their faces, too afraid,\nNot daring to lift up their sight,\nTo behold the armor clear and bright,\nSo gleaming against the sun's sheen,\nTheir tender hearts could not sustain,\nAnd in their fear, thus I,\nAnd of the Greeks, I shall tell you,\nIf you please, abide a while,\nFor now I must again direct,\nMy muddled style, to Agamemnon,\nWell may I make an exclamation,\nOn ignorance that stands in my way,\nWhich causes me, with a full clouded sight,\nIn my making, to speak of the war,\nFor lack of terms, I must necessarily err,\nCunningly, I must set my guards,\nCruel Alcetor is pressing me to let go,\nThe night's daughter, blinded by darkness,\nBy the craft of arms, the truth to express,\nIn order due, a field to describe.\nAnd Chaucer now is not alive to reform or be my rede, due to the lack of whom my speed is slower. The noble Rhetor, who excelled in all, in making, he drank from the well under Perseus that the Muses keep. On which hill, I might never sleep, unless under slumber, for which, alas, I complain. But for all this, there is no more to say. Though my verse is not Polymyte, I will endite colors forth, as it comes even to my thought, plainly to write how the king, great Agamemnon, wrought. Like as the Latin makes it clear, what think you that he, in his intent, was found slow or negligent on the Greeks' half in making his wardes? Nay, nay, not so, for he delighted to wake. That time more, truly than to sleep, for like a king, that day he kept the field, no negligence might his heart fade. For in that day, I find that he made six and twenty wardes, so well devised and so prudently that no man might amend his ordinance.\nAnd he gave governance to the manful, noble Patroclus,\nwho led my author tells us,\nThe Myrmidons, so mighty and strong,\nwith all the people who were long with Achilles,\nas well as those who were of his retinue,\nwhom he had brought from his country,\nat his coming to the siege of Troy,\nand he rode forth with them, without delay,\ninto the field, and made no delay,\nOn the same day,\nThat Achilles kept himself in his tent,\nAnd for sickness, that day he went out not,\nBecause of his illness, he abstained,\nBecause of his fresh wounds, still green,\nWhich he had caught the day before,\nTo heal which, of their own accord,\nHe kept himself, by counsel,\nAnd from his bed that day he did not rise,\nIn hope only, the better to endure,\nWhen he was restored to cure,\nBut all his men he gave to Patroclus,\nWho was marvellously famous,\nAnd of noble descent,\nAnd was also, as I read,\nHabitually endowed with gold and riches.\nAnd they were highly regarded for their gentleness. And they were always of such affection Towards one another, Of eternal love, truth, and faithfulness. Their desire and inner kindness surpassed all thinking, and their hearts burned with such fervor and thoughtful caution Between Achilles and this Patroclus. And whatever may be said, the bond had been confirmed between them. For will and goods were common to both, And they continued their love without change.\n\nAnd Patroclus went forth at once,\nTo the field, with the Myrmidons.\nAnd in his tent, abides Achilles.\nThe second ward Was assigned to King Merion by Agamemnon.\n\nTo the worthy king, Idumene,\nAnd to a duke named Menestees,\nThree thousand knights Were assigned, In full armor,\nWith all the people That came from Athena.\n\nAssigned were they, to go with them.\nThe third ward / to King Astlapho and his son Philymene,\nWith the knights who came for their service,\nThe fourth ward / to Archelaus, the noble and worthy king,\nTo Proth\u00e9nor and Securidan,\nWho in his days was such a strong man,\nAssigned were they and all the knights with them,\nFrom Boece, the famous land,\nThe fifth ward / to King Menelaus and all the people of the realm,\nCalled Spertence, of high renown,\nAnd of the adjacent isles,\nAll these with the banner went,\nMenelay, fresh and courageous,\nThe sixth ward / to King Epystrophus,\nWas assigned, and to King Elide,\nWith many worthy knights riding by his side,\nOf the province and the famous Isle,\nThat is called in Guydo Fordesyle.\nThe seventh ward / to Thelamonyus, called Ayax,\nThe great famous king, was assigned,\nWith him he brought and many another,\nAnd four earls went with him also,\nTheseus and Amphymacus,\nAnd the third, called Darius.\nAnd the fourth, named Polysaries\nThe seventh ward, if I don't tarry,\nWas assigned that day to King Thoas.\nAyar Cyleus led the ninth ward,\nAnd the king of Phyllyk had assigned,\nAnd to the king he did assign\nBoth of birth and line,\nSo renowned and of such great increase,\nThe mighty king called Pallamides,\nKing Naus, his son, highest born of blood,\nAnd Duke Nestor, famous in knighthood,\nThe twelfth ward led on the Greek side,\nMelancolytes and surquedously proud,\nAnd King Honus, son of Mabente,\nIn the field plainly when he went,\nIn order had the thirteen,\nProudly mustering endlessly the green,\nAgainst the Trojans, ready to fight,\nAnd also the king who was called Ulysses,\nLed with him the fourteenth,\nAnd Humerus, the king, also led,\nThe fifteenth,\nAnd a duke, called Curybulus,\nLed the sixtieth on that day.\nIn which the king of Protesilaus\nWas assigned by great ordinance.\nTo enforce them, for to do vengeance\nUpon the death of their worthy king\nBy Hector slain, at Greek arriving.\nAnd King Rhedon,\nThe seventeen and the king of Ochymene,\nLed the eighteenth ward,\nAnd Santippe, that was of Lyde king,\nHad to keep, committed to his guard,\nOn Greek side, the nineteenth ward.\nAnd the twentieth author, our teacher,\nLearned us had the king called Amphimachus,\nLike a knight, to guide them and to wise,\nAnd Philoctetes, that was king of Larynge,\nThe one and eighteen, also led, as I read,\nThe twenty and two, had Diomedes,\nAnd Hephaestus, king of Cyprus,\nThat was once so noble and so worthy,\nThe thirty and three, had in governance,\nAnd the Trojans, proudly to assay,\nThe twenty-four with sword, spear and shield,\nByngh Prothalyus, led into the field,\nAnd Carpenor, king of Carpedia,\nIn war expert, and right wise in working,\nThe twenty-five and twenty, rich and well arrayed,\nOn Greek side, brought into the plain,\nThe sixty and two, truly and the last.\nThe wise king, the great Agamemnon,\nWith him had this prudent warrior,\nThe one ordained emperor of the Greeks,\nThe wisest among them all.\nAnd thus, the Greeks went out to the field,\nWith pomp royal,\nWith ensigns and marshal tokens,\nThey took their ground, impressively arrayed,\nAnd on their standards, richly displayed,\nBroad banners and many fresh penons,\nAgainst the wind, it made an hideous sound,\nAnd right dreadful, clearly to be heard,\nAnd there were seen many clear crests,\nAnd many tufts of gold and silver shining,\nAdorned with feathers, red, white, and green,\nAnd a design, wonderfully intricate,\nAnd of people, who were merry,\nThe tokens borne, to show openly,\nHow they in love, burned inwardly,\nSome high ambition that day to fulfill,\nAnd there were heard the loud noises shrill,\nFar in the field, and the dreadful sounds,\nBoth of trumpets, and of clarions.\nThat the Kalends / of shedding out of blood\nAnd with the noise / almost for rage wroth,\nThe formidable birds / and the mouths bled,\nAnd furious neighing / of many bastard steeds,\nPrancing of horses / on either side,\nWith all the ensigns / that might be of pride,\nOn Greeks' party / and on Troy's also,\nIn knightly wise / for to have a do,\nEvery ward / standing in his place,\nThe first / a little space apart,\nBegan to reproach / with all their full intent,\nAnd Hector / full unpacific,\nForemost of all / on the side of Troy,\nThe Ire of whom / no man might appease,\nBut like a Lion / in his hungry rage,\nIssued out / furious of visage,\nTowards Greeks / on his mighty steed,\nThat with his spurs / made his sides bleed,\nHis knightly heart / so inwardly was torn,\nOf mortal ire / and as he rode before,\nBurning full hot / in his melancholy,\nThe which thing / when Greeks began to see.\nPatroclus / without further delay,\nRode out / before the wards,\nIn both hosts' sight.\nFor to encounter / directly, if he might\nWith worthy Ector / when he saw him from afar\nAnd as rightly lined / as is a diameter\nRode unto him / in his hateful grip\nAnd with a spear / sharply ground and keen\nThroughout his shield / of envious rage\nHe struck Ector / without any further harm\nExcept only / that the helmet's steel\nThat was before forged / and well sharpened\nThrough plate and mail / began to gleam\nBut to the skin / for nothing could it trace\nAlthough it came / from passing violence\nYet to Ector / it did no offense\nOut of his saddle / once he stirred to fight\nFor though that he / sturdily held his reins\nHe could not backward / bend his neck\nNor on any side / make himself incline\nBut fatally / to his confusion\nThis mighty man / this Trojan champion\nIn his anger / ever burning more and more\nUpon him / the hate burned so sore\nLeft his spear / my Author writes thus\nAnd with a sword / rode to Patroclus\nAwakened fully / that he should be dead\nAnd furiously / aimed at his head\nAnd struck him down / there was no manner of let\nInto the breast, through his basinet,\nAs Guydo says, with so great pain,\nHe parted him with his stroke, it wayned,\nHis mortal sword, so keen was its edge,\nThat Patroclus could not sustain,\nUpon his horse, but filled down to the ground,\nAs he that caught his last fatal wound,\nBeing present, his knights each one,\nAnd delivered upon him alone,\nWorthy Ector from his seat descended,\nLike a mad lion,\nWith hateful ire, burning as the fire,\nHaving in his heart, inwardly great desire,\nTo spoil him of his armor at once,\nIn which there were, full many rich stones,\nBoth of rubies and sapphires,\nFor that day's plainly as I find,\nKings lords and knights, this was not in vain,\nTo battle went, in their best array,\nAnd truly Ector, when he first saw,\nThe multitude of stones and they,\nUpon Patroclus' arm, he reinced his horse,\nMeanwhile, while he with whole intent,\nTo catch his prey, was so diligent,\nOf covetousness, in their elder sights,\nUntil Merion with three thousand knights.\nArmed around him all at once,\nSuddenly upon Hector falls\nThe dead body of Patroclus, to save\nSo that his purpose Hector may not have\nAt liberty, the rich king to plunder\nWhich caused him, in anger, to boil\nTo whom the king called Merion\nIrous and mad, said among each one\nO greedy Lion, O most covetous wolf,\nO hateful Tiger, passing envious,\nOf Avarice, O best in satiability,\nAnd of desire, truly insatiable.\nUpon this prayer, thou shalt not now feed\nElsewhere where to sow for thy reward\nFor trust well, in conclusion\nFifty thousand to thy destruction\nOf one intent, plainly will not fail\nThy hateful prey\nAnd suddenly with spears, sharp they whet\nOn every half, they began to beset\nDespite his force, his might and manhood\nForcing them to retreat him from his seat\nSo quickly, of great violence\nHe compelled, for all his strong defense\nAs Guydo says, to fall upon his knee\nBut through his might and magnanimity\nHe of manhood has his horse recalled\nAnd despite the Greeks, he was so assured\nIn his strength and in his great might,\nHe recovered his steed amongst his foot,\nAnd right away he rode to Meryon,\nDesirous for revenge,\nIn his furious, hasty cruelty,\nFor on this account, all his delight,\nHe had meant to slay him on the spot,\nSave for the king, who was named Glaucus,\nCame to rescue him with King Theseus\nAnd his son, named Archylaus,\nAs I have told you, Meryon took refuge,\nAnd there,\nFull alive or dead,\nHe set upon him unexpectedly,\nBut all this while, with whomever he met,\nWith his sword, he killed and brought down,\nUntil finally, no Greek dared meet him,\nAt departing, he felt most unwelcome.\nHe made a path around him everywhere,\nAnd they fled from him as from death itself,\nFor where he rode, he made a path plain and clear,\nAnd as I read, to Patroclus again,\nHe was prepared to spoil him if he could.\nIn the field, in the sight of the Greeks,\nAmycus refused to let Amytalus' prayer be light,\nUntil I had summoned the mighty king of Crete,\nWith two thousand knights clad in plate and mail,\nWorthy knights, Ector, to engage in battle,\nWhile he was so eager,\nAs I have told you, to plunder Patroclus' camp,\nAnd once again to confuse him,\nJust as I find, came King Merion,\nAnd before Ector could react,\nThey forced him from his horse.\nHe had no other choice but to fight on foot,\nAnd with his heart, he resumed his knightly spirit,\nAnd with his sword, he consumed around him,\nAll that opposed, both horse and man,\nFuryfully, this Trojan knight began,\nArms, legs, shoulders, by the bone,\nTo hew of Amycus, his mortal foot,\nSo that the Greeks could not withstand him,\nAnd as I read, he slew fifteen,\nOf those who were besieging him,\nAnd such a slaughter he began among them.\nThey dared not remain before his face,\nAnd Merion, in the same place,\nTook up Patroclus at this time.\nWith heavy cheer and face full of perspiration,\nAnd to his tent, he had it borne anon,\nAlways Greeks, in their cruel mode,\nAbout Ector, furious and wild,\nFell upon him, unrelenting,\nSome felt uneasy, presuming upon him to press,\nBut of manhood, they would not cease,\nTo beset him on every side,\nHaving a trust in their great pride,\nFinally, at misfortune, him to take,\nFor they deemed, he might not escape,\nTheir hands shortly, by no adventure,\nNor his steed, by likelyhood recover,\nFor of force, they cast him to retreat,\nAnd all at once, began on him to set,\nSpecially among them, everyone,\nI find in truth, how there was one,\nA Greek knight, of right worthy fame,\nAnd Caryon, plainly was his name,\nWho forced Ector to oppress,\nWhen he was most in misfortune and distress,\nBeset by Greeks, him envying,\nUntil fortune turned away from him,\nThe long day, in that fell fight,\nTo his rescue, there came an Atrian knight,\nMydas of Greeks, when he was beset.\nAnd took javelins, sharp and keen,\nAnd furiously he shook them,\nAnd through the heart he smote this Carion,\nThat the javelin into the field began to slide\nBy plate and mail throughout other side,\nThat fatally of that deadly wound,\nThis Carion glided anon to the ground,\nAmongst a hundred knights of his fears,\nBefore concealed with their fell cherries,\nTo slay a slain Ector by some manner way,\nBut ere again this young knight of Troy,\nFull deliberately reached another spear,\nAnd cast at one he saw afterwards,\nAuance himself upon Ector in the field,\nAnd through his platys plainly and his shield,\nLined right, that he ne should asterte,\nOf very might roofed him through the heart,\nAnd after that, in all the haste he could,\nUpon Trojans he began to cry aloud,\nTo enhaste them knightly to succor,\nWorthy Ector that stood in adventure,\nAmongst Greeks having no retreat,\nSo himself destitute of help,\nAt which cry, on Greeks all unaware,\nFirst of all came worthy Cyncybare.\nThat brother, born to Ector in base, rode himself proudly before him, and the knights who guided him rode proudly by his side. Suddenly, both one and all fell before the Greeks who had Ector surrounded. Through the press of this great crowd, three hundred knights, of whom I speak, were taken aback and withdrew in astonishment. But the first thirty were cruelly slain. Ector, amidst the field, took his seat, and entered the fray. He, that day, peerless in knighthood, held his bloody sword in hand. All those who stood against him were of no help or hope. But he broke through and cleaved the threefold cord, and the knot of cruel Antropos was the only reason he was held back from spoiling Patroclus. Therefore, in anger and fury, the Greeks paid back their debt. They sped away from his face.\nWhose sharp sword, bathed in their blood,\nWas dyed red, for it did him good,\nUpon them, avenged, to be,\nFor that day, a lion played he,\nUpon Greeks, his manhood to haunt,\nFor he their pride, so mortally daunted,\nThat they him fled, where he rode,\nMaking all hot, the straits of their blood,\nEndlessly to run upon the green,\nTill the time, the Duke of great Athens,\nThat was called, once Menestheus,\nWith three thousand, knights renowned,\nOf whom he was both lord and guide,\nThe field had taken, on the left side,\nFor a deceit, in full secret wise,\nWhere Trojans were, with the people of Thessaly,\nWho that day, who so list to see,\nBy his knighthood, killed many a Greek,\nLike a tiger, greedy on his prey,\nTrojans bore him, all the long day,\nSlewing of Greeks, many a worthy knight,\nAnd while he was, busiest in fight.\nAgainst his foot, with King Antipus,\nAnd the king, who was called Alcinus,\nUpon Greeks, Ilus, fresh and new,\nMaking their sides, all of bloody hue.\nBy one accord, this Troilus, on his bay steed,\nWherever he rode, every Greek, whose sword he bore,\nSuddenly charged through their ranks, so deep he gouged.\nThis continued till Duke Menestheus saw,\nThe great cruelty and slaughter that he wrought,\nWith pale and fading face, he hurled a spear,\nAnd hit Troilus, right in the breast, so sternly,\nThat despite his renown, he fell to the earth,\nIn the midst of his enemies' foot,\nWho quickly closed in, intending to bind him,\nPlacing spikes and lashes round about,\nWith spear and dart, and bright-forged swords.\nBut he defended himself like a knight,\nWith great valor, upholding his honor,\nAlthough his life hung in the balance,\nWhere he stood, and felt the bitter point of death,\nAmongst the horsemen's feet.\nWith great cunning, Duke Menestheus approached.\nHow this Troilus might have felt,\nWith mortal hate in his thought,\nEscaping naught, on every side,\nSo beset with swords, round, keen and sharp,\nAlone, alas, mortally wounded,\nThey seized him, and then led him away,\nTill Mneser, a worthy knight of Troy,\nBegan to cry, as he stood in the way,\nSore abashed, in right furious wise,\nO ye noble, worthy men of Phrygia,\nManly knights, always proud in the field,\nMost renowned, both with spear and shield,\nConsider now, unto your high fame,\nAnd avenge, the glory of your name,\nHow this day, through your negligence,\nBy the power and mighty violence\nOf the Greeks, Troilus is taken,\nSolitary in the field, for you have forsaken him,\nThat shall rebound to your older shame,\nFor in truth, greatly are you to blame,\nIf he that is of worthiness flourishes,\nIs taken by the Greeks, for lack of support,\nIf you, hasty wretches,\nShameful report, your honor shall appeal,\nPerpetually, and said thereof amiss.\nIn your default, Troilus is taken.\nThat Troilus, so worthy and famous,\nWith that word, King Alcmaeon of melancholy,\nFelt his heart riven,\nAnd in his ire, seized a blue spear,\nPiercing through, he sought what he might,\nUntil he clearly had a sight,\nOf Troilus, who sat knightly on his steed,\nOne through him ran, and he fell down dead,\nAnd again, pale and nothing red,\nIn his rancor, no longer would he wait,\nBut the first he met,\nThrough the body, he smote him with a spear,\nThat men might see the point, fearsome,\nBy breast and plate, through the shoulder bone,\nHe fell down dead at once,\nAnd with that, the worthy Frises all\nCame down upon the Greeks,\nSo mightily that, despite their differences,\nThey set upon him with great violence,\nTroilus is freed from all danger,\nAnd through their knightly magnanimity,\nThey helped him recover his seat.\nWas Zantipus / the strong, manly king\nWho despised / him in his coming\nOdymenestes / began his spear to thrust\nAnd through his shield / dealt mighty and thick blows\nSo sore he struck / that Odymenestes\nWould have been dead / nor had his armor been\nFor anger / began to tremble and shake\nThat Aeneas / was taken from his hands\nAnd escaped / to be a prisoner\nDespite his beard / and maugre his power\nWherefore he began / of hasty, hot envy\nTo cry out / furiously to his knights\nWho were so mighty / renowned and strong\nTo avenge / their wrongs\nUpon the Trojans / to meet them in battle\nAnd they in haste / eagerly embraced\nTheir sharp spears / ground for the attack\nAnd fiercely fought / and struck together\nFor they began / the great mortal war\nThe fire broke out / shining as any star\nOn the Greeks / and their armor gleamed\nThat through the field / the fearful light flashed\nTo life or death / they paid no heed\nAnd down the plain / both in length and breadth\nThe walls puffed up / and proudly advanced\nAnd with looks / of envy pale.\nThey approach and assemble there,\nIn hate burning, that no man may stir,\nAnd begin to hurt with spear, sword, and dart,\nAnd mortally wound on every part.\nThe slaughter grew, greatly for to rew,\nAlways new and new,\nEctor of the Greeks, through his worthiness,\nWhere he rode, manly did oppress,\nAnd mercilessly, slowly, bore down,\nNow here now there, without exception,\nSo furiously that rout was to see,\nAnd then of new, the duke Meneste,\nReturns, with envious heart,\nFrom his hands, that Troilus so stirred,\nAnd for the slaughter, also of his men,\nThat where he rode, he was busy,\nThe Trojan people, when he might meet them,\nTo avenge himself, for nothing would he let,\nUntil casually, among all the press,\nA knight he met, who was called Miserees,\nWho, in spite of this Meneste,\nHad been at the risk of worthy Troilus,\nAnd mocked him, putting him from his prayer,\nAnd so it happened, on the selfsame day,\nAs they met again, by adventure,\nThat Meneste, by his coat armor.\nMarked him with arms he bore,\nSuddenly, or when he was aware,\nOr if he could take any heed,\nFuryously on his stern steed,\nAnd with a spear among the ranks,\nBare him over and made him fall,\nDespite his might, to the earth down,\nThen I find how King Hupowne\nHad descended; the story would not lie,\nTwo thousand knights in his company,\nWho against Greeks began to set,\nAnd in their midst, King Prothenor met,\nAnd Archelaus, the noble warrior,\nLord and governor of Boeotia,\nWith help only of this Prothenor,\nLike a tiger or a wild boar,\nGan troyans assail unto death,\nAnd many one that day he slew,\nBut King Hupon, through his chivalry,\nAt that time, in his melancholy,\nFull many Greeks gave his death wound,\nAnd thus they began, each other to confound,\nSuch mortal hate among them there was,\nTyll of Fortune, a knight, Polydamas,\nSon of Anthenor, on Troy's side,\nWith his knights and himself before,\nWas among the Greeks, of envious pride.\nMy men fell on their side and began to break their ranks,\nAnd knight against whom they might not persevere,\nHe was so furiously enraged,\nAnd to help him came King Remus,\nWith a wing on the other side,\nBreaking in with many spear and dart,\nAgainst the Greeks came three thousand knights,\nTo see how fiercely he fought,\nIt was indeed a great delight and heavenly joy to us Trojans,\nTo see now the Greeks broken apart,\nThe noise was loud as thunder,\nIn the field arose the clashing of strokes,\nAnd while Remus, as you have heard, was so envious,\nInto the field came Menelaus,\nWith his worthy knights from Sparta,\nAgainst Remus to make resistance,\nAnd proudly, making no delay,\nThis worthy Remus and King Menelaus,\nOn horseback, sharpened their spears,\nMay the field of envy meet us,\nAnd through our manly prowess and renown,\nFrom horseback each bore the other down,\nNone other stroke shone brighter.\nAnd in that while, Anthenor's son Polydamas,\nFresh and lusty, as one who was in his delivery,\nDesirous to honor, met in the field the new knight,\nEleanor's noble knight, Mereus,\nFlourishing in youth and right virtuous,\nFreshly armed, new, and lusty in courage,\nNot yet thirty, a noble knight,\nRenowned both in heart and might,\nBut of Fortune, it fell, alas,\nThe Trojan knight, Polydamas,\nWith a spear, pierced through shield and plate,\nFate cruelly took him,\nAmong the Greeks, he fell down dead,\nWhen Menelaus took notice,\nAnd saw him lie, slain on the green,\nIn his heart, remembering the queen,\nEleanor, whose new knight he was,\nFor her sake, he passed a deep mourning,\nRemus rode, in his cruelty,\nAlso far, as he might see,\nAnd met him knightly in the melee,\nSmote him on the head, in his hateful hand.\nThat of his steed he could not sustain,\nHis wound was so passingely mortal,\nThat with the stroke and the perilous fall,\nHis knights thought he had been slain,\nAnd he lifted up and began to flee,\nTo Troy ward, with him a great pace,\nBut it happened that Polydamas,\nThe manner of them, when he beheld,\nMade them repair, knightly, into the field,\nExcept that some, as they in bidding had,\nWorthy Remus, home to Troy led,\nPale and dead, with his wounds wide,\nAnd thus came in on the Greeks' side.\nCelydon, the lusty, fair king,\nOf whom Dares says in his writing,\nAnd truly in his book he delighted to tell,\nHow Celydon excelled all others,\nIn beauty and in seemly grace,\nIn shape of port and of goodly face,\nSurpassing all, as Dares wished to describe,\nAs in fairness, all those alive,\nAll his limbs were so clean and neat,\nAnd as I read, the young, fair queen,\nOf Fuminy, who was a flower of beauty,\nKing Celydon loved Paramour,\nWhom upon him was wholly her pleasure.\nHe was printed in her memory, for chief reason, from her heart, was he upon him every hour to awaken, until finally, he departed not from her thought. For he was fully, all her own knight, but of Fortune, he struck his steed sharply on the side, proudly beginning to ride, of mortal hate, a furious pass. Right as line, to Polydamas, and with a spear, he made himself to strike, from his saddle, in which he died sitting. He marked him with such might, but this manly Trojan knight, Polydamas or Celydys, departed from the place. With a response, so smote him on the head, from his steed, that he filled down dead. Which to the Greeks, was great confusion, and all this time, fiercer than a lion, Ector the Greek knight, knightly began to encircle, and often made them forfeit their place. Wherever he rode, of necessity, before his sword, he made them flee. Such vengeance, he has taken on them.\nThat they forsake the field, Ector met the worthy king famous, Salomon, who was their lord, called Thesalus. Many Trojans had been slain that day. Toward him Ector drew, and King Tantalus, also Greek, a manly and prudent knight, seized a spear and, in the haste, ran at Ector. Through his shield, plate, and steel-mail the spearhead forged so well, sharp and square, and so keenly ground, gave Ector a perilous wound. But as Ector reined in his steed, proud Tantalus, eager to repay his debt, in the haste, was far removed from his sight. Melancholic and filled with heartwood and fury, Ector, for the sake of his green wound, hastened to avenge the constraint upon his ten. Who was the next he met, so bold, his way to set? Without mercy, he was his death at once.\nAnd as I rode, I encountered one\nWho with pride would harm me\nWhom with his sword, he rose to the heart\nThrough his armor of melancholy\nThe which stroke, when Greeks began to spy\nThey were astonished at one intention\nPerilously, they beset him on every side\nAnd such an assault began about him\nThrough their method, if they might take him\nAnd in accord, with great multitude\nCruelly, they included him\nBy luck, in that mortal strife\nHe might not escape with his life\nThey were on him, so fell and envious\nUntil a king, who was called Theseus\nOn the Greeks' side, only out of kindness\nSuch rout took hold of his distress\nTo see him stand so near the wreck\nThus to him, of manly pity spoke.\nOh Flower of knighthood, root of hardiness\nWell of manhood, stock of worthiness\nWhy do you not, have some caution\nYour life to save, of knightly pride\nBut willfully, where most is to fear\nYour life is jeopardized, and take no heed\nIn mortal peril, how you are beset\nAmong so many closed and silent,\nAlone, alas, the only one of all succor,\nAnd to yourself, will do no favor,\nBut as Fortune likes to ordain,\nEveryone ought to complain,\nTo behold that noble knight,\nWho through the world casts such a clear light,\nIn worthiness and will, compels me to pray,\nAt such misfortune, that you not die,\nAnd when Ector took notice,\nHe thanked him for his kindness,\nAnd despite the power and might\nOf the Greeks, like a worthy knight,\nHe escaped, midway through them all,\nAnd went his way, through every one,\nHis bloody sword always in his hand,\nAnd in his way, he found Polydamas,\nFull like a man, with all his best pain,\nHe defended himself against the kings' two,\nMenelaus and Thelamon,\nWho were most furious towards him,\nAnd with a spear, this Greek, Thelamon.\nPollydamas struck him to the earth, compelling him there was no other vote against the two for fighting on foot. They assented fully to him being broken. And first, he went and broke the mighty charnel of his basinet. When his visor was smitten and his face naked was and bare, they fell on him in that mortal snare. They took him, the story can describe. And sent him forth in full cruel wise towards the Greeks with many worthy knights. But when Ector saw the mischief of Polydamas, he cast himself fully to succor in this cause. And pricked after water as a lion. And where he rode about him were his soldiers. With his sword, he made a large space until he came to the same place among the Greeks, furious and mad. Polydamas himself stood there, remedies beyond reach. Until he cast his eye on Ector, the Greeks made haste to withdraw. And the first thirty of them he slew. And severed them, despite all their pride.\nBefore his sword, they dared not oppose him, nor make any obstacle, but in knighthood, by a very high miracle, Polydamas first appeared, having escaped freely from Greek hands. But freshly, the king Episthenes, Menelaus, and Thelamonius, with all their knights together, had again entered the battle against the Trojans, to set them free. Newly entered in battle, they came with great strength and passing apparatus, compelling the Trojans, who dared not dwell, notwithstanding their great worthiness, nor of Hector, the knightly high prowess, who fought so manfully at that time. But cowardly, they had slain his horse, which had been compelled to fight on foot. Many Greeks felt this unsoundly, for there was none about him who could prevent him from shedding his blood. Though he was so thick about him, he cleared a path for himself and made a space clear. He surrounded them in a compact circle, both behind and before, and on his feet, he bore himself so well.\nThat day, there was doubt about Harby, who was determined to lend a hand. He was as strong and sturdy as a wall. When his brothers saw him, a foot among all his feet, they all fell. He defended himself like a tiger, and they, through their high renown, helped him. They first attacked King Thelamowne, who was cruelly found in Ector's ranks. They inflicted many bloody wounds on him until one of them, named Dindaron, had separated him from the rest, bearing him only from the head. He had won a remarkable steed and brought it to Ector, standing among Greeks, all bathed in their blood. In a hurry, he strode among them, riding among them like Mars himself. Many Greeks were making to strike back, and with his sword sharpened to carve, he daunted them until Dephebus entered on one side. With a knightly demeanor, he entered the field.\nAnd with him brought many good archers,\nOf poetry, which with their arrows keen,\nAnd with feathers of peacock, fresh and sheen,\nUpon Greeks, have the field recovered.\nIn their shot, they were so much assured,\nThat through mail and thick plate of steel,\nThey pierced their harriers every one,\nAnd Dephebus, full manly, to King Tentran,\nOn horseback, he ran, and furiously,\nBegan his sword to embrace.\nAnd wounded him, even amidst the face,\nThrough the visor, in his fell hand,\nOn horseback, he might not sustain,\nAnd thus, the Trojans, on Greeks are ironed,\nThat they again, have the field won,\nThey were on them, so jealous and so wild,\nBut Theseus, full knightly, withstood them,\nWith the knights, that he led,\nAnd as I read, Ector's brother had,\nThe story says, that haughty Quyntilene,\nYoung, fresh, and lusty, armed bright and sheen,\nWho with the king called Modernus,\nProudly fell upon Theseus,\nThese two together, of consent,\nFell upon him, with great advice.\nThat finally, to his unfortunate chance,\nthey brought him to outtrace,\nand cast shortly that he shall be dead,\nOf whose purpose, as Hector began to take heed,\nHe unto them, of very gentility,\nWith all his might, loudly began to cry,\nBeseeching them for no thing that he die,\nAnd lowly they, his bidding did obey,\nAnd them withdrew, for to do vengeance,\nFor Hector had fully remembrance,\nHow Theseus, the same day before,\nTowards him, so goodly had borne,\nWhen he him saw, in misfortune and distress,\nAnd knightly thought, quite his gentleness,\nLike as it behooves, to every gentleman,\nAnd Theseus, full lowly though began,\nTo thank Hector, that he was escaped,\nBut King Thoas, though he had raped\nInto the field, with other knights many,\nAnd specifically, with them of Calydon,\nCame Phyloteas, the mighty king also,\nAgainst the Trojans, for to have ado,\nAnd first Thoas, with a spear, ran\nFuryously, to Cassymelan,\nOne of the sons, of King Priamus,\nAnd gave him thus, a wound so grievous.\nWithout recording his fall, he died from the stroke,\nWhen Hector took notice, in his heart he complained,\nAnd in haste, he made his final efforts,\nTo avenge himself against his brother,\nAnd many one, through his knighthood, he freed,\nFrom their horses, all rushing to avenge,\nOn the Greek side, what came in his path,\nSo valiantly, he bore himself all that day,\nUntil Duke Nestor entered the fight,\nWith five thousand armed in bright steel,\nAgainst the Trojans, the Greeks came to support,\nAnd with him met King Eudras,\nSo powerful and bold,\nAnd King Phion in his chariot of gold,\nWith all the noble knights,\nWho came from Argos with Ieconye,\nThe kings' son, renowned and worthy,\nAnd as they seem to have joined together,\nThe same time, many worthy men\nHad lost their lives on either side,\nAnd from slaughter, with wide, gaping wounds,\nLay countless bodies, dead on the ground,\nLike a river, ran with streams of red.\nWith their faces pale and faded,\nMen could wade in the blood, where the slaughter was so great.\nKing Pyrrhus, to the Trojans, was a source of solace and refuge.\nHe put many Greeks to rout and lost his own life.\nThat very day, his sword was sharpened so well,\nBut unexpectedly, he was beset by such a multitude of Greeks,\nThat he stood in doubt of his own life,\nFor it was likely that he would not be able to escape,\nAnd among the Greeks, he would soon be taken.\nUnless he had been helped by worthy Iason,\nWho loudly cried out to Esdras:\nAlas, he said, full of grief and pity,\nWorthy Pyrrhus, the king shall be taken,\nAmong the Greeks, through your negligence.\nBut in all haste, do your duty,\nTo rescue this noble, worthy king,\nAnd at once, without further delay,\nOvercome all who resisted,\nFrom the Greek sword, by mighty violence.\nThey rescued the noble king Pyrrhus,\nAnd with him, they have gone.\nRejoicing greatly, he was glad and light of heart.\nAnd Ector, with many lusty knights, returned, and Dephebus also, Polydamas, and many other Trojan knights who desired to make the Greeks suffer. Of their own accord, they fully intended to enclose the Greeks in such a scheme, so that few might escape. And they began to assail them freshly in the field. The Greeks began to fail in their power and to lose their land. Finally, through the mighty hand and the force of the Trojan knights, the Greeks were brought to confusion that day. But Menelaus and King Thelamus, when they saw them, appeared feeble and retreated. Like men, they defended themselves until Eneas, from Troy, descended, with Euphemus, the Duke, the manly man, and their knights. Again, they began to oppress the Greeks, and Ector, through his worthiness, was like a lion with a stern face.\nEuer one of them, compelled by necessity,\nFled before his sword, and were constrained,\nRight of very need, to see the thing,\nWhen Ajax took heed. He had in his heart,\nGreat compassion, to see the slaughter and confusion,\nOn the Greek side. Guyda made up his mind,\nAnd looked behind him, and saw where many a ward,\nAnd many a banner, and pennon that abode,\nAmidst the field, whole and unbroken,\nReady to be unleashed. If need were,\nIn Troy town, in these wards, without exception,\nWas the entire flower of Greek chivalry.\nTo whom alone Ajax went, as one\nWho was sore in heart moved,\nAnd with his cry he brought them to assemble,\nAmong whom there was no refusal.\nAnd as fast as they began to gather,\nThe earth trembled with the noise of horses,\nFuryingly, as they came together flying.\nThere might men hear the strokes ring,\nOf spears sharp, through the armor born.\nAnd through shields, wrought of steel and horn,\nInto the breast, sturdy square and broad,\nAnd there I find, how Ajax rode\nTo Aeneas, and he to him also,\nSo great envy, was between them two,\nThat not but death might their ire appease,\nFor in their heart, neither could have ease,\nTill with spears, sharp, ground and wet,\nOn horseback, they had met,\nAnd at coupling, so sore they had it,\nThat each other, to the earth smote,\nThat to behold, was a knightly sight,\nAnd after, they both, on foot fought,\nBy likelihood, in their wood rage,\nEither to fall, in full great damage,\nAmong the horses, because they stood\nUpon the soil, a lover spared with blood,\nBut Phyloteas, is to Ajax come,\nAnd has him up, among the horses in the fray,\nThat knightly fought, as memory tells,\nFor truly else, Trojans with victory,\nHad had the field, plainly to proclaim,\nTill Phyloteas, with his two wards,\nEven in the face, manly withstood,\nAnd with a spear, he first to Hector rode.\nAnd upon him, the shaft I found he broke,\nBut truly he, upon his horse awoke,\nKept him so well, for all that fell stroke,\nReversed not, but sturdy as an oak,\nSat in his saddle, upright with his chin,\nAnd with a spear, right as any line,\nInto his body deep, through the shield,\nPhyloteas, he smote into the field,\nThat of his life, his knights were in doubt,\nBut then came in, with such a great rout,\nBynge Humerus and the swift ones,\nAnd with them brought many worthy Greeks,\nTen thousand knights, manly men each one,\nWho went to assoil the Trojans,\nAnd cruelly, on every half certain,\nWith multitude, they had them so laid low,\nThat dispirited and disconsolate,\nAnd from long fight, awakened and a mate,\nBegan to withdraw, fainted in battle,\nAnd also their horses, truly failed,\nBut Paris, though with them of Troy town,\nEntered in, in full manly wise,\nAnd first he met, with the king of Fryse,\nWho was near to Ulixes' alliance,\nWhom Paris struck, with so great envy.\nThat he slew him, of which Greeks were sore abashed, and after with a spear Vixis went to do revenge, if he might. And first, when he, of Paris, had a sight into the rest, he began his spear to throw. That finally, for he bore to lowe, Fayling of Paris, truly as I read, under him he slew his mighty steed. And he, maugre him, was gone to the ground. And he upon him would have fallen anon. But Troilus though met him in the beard. And furiously with his sharp sword He smote Vixis through out his visor. That like a condote or a small river Down by his face, of blood the streams ran. But Vixis, like a manly man, Of that stroke astoned not at all. But on his steed, stiff as any wall, With his sword so mightily began to race Through the umbrer into Troilus' face. That he him gave a large mortal wound. Of which stroke, passingly joyful, The Greeks were supposing in their thought How Troyans finally were brought To out trance, and truly so they had.\nSaith Ector, with Paris and Dephebus, and all his famous knight brethren, Troilus included, for his last wound, joined one against the Greeks. Firstly, Ector began to chase the Greeks, who fled like beasts from death. With his sword, he slew whomever he met or dared to withstand, and on their bodies he renewed the slaughter. That day, in bloody robe and hew, he stained their plates and harneys. Though it had rained blood from heaven, the soil could not be redder, and it remained so, like a swarm of bees. The Greeks, in a panic, fled from his way. According to Guydo, that day Actaeon lay in the front of the Greeks' line, with the knights of his guard behind him, for lack of him, all were out of order.\nWhen he had sought for a long time, and the Greeks saw him return strong anew,\nTo his knights he was again repaired,\nWho in themselves were greatly displeased\nBy his absence, but when they saw him,\nThey were comforted inwardly, and with glad hearts,\nReceived their lord, and their joy was apparent,\nHe spoke to them affectionately and benevolently,\nAnd asked them to remember, knightly in their hearts,\nAnd consider wisely and carefully,\nFirst the wrongs that the Greeks had done to us,\nIn the past and moreover,\nIf the Greeks had won that day,\nFarewell forever to the honor and glory of Trojan blood,\nIn conclusion, we and our town\nWould turn to ruin, and our honor,\nWhich was once renowned throughout the world,\nWould eclipse and turn to darkness,\nBut you this day, like men, you have quit,\nTherefore I pray that no man disgrace\nYour high renown with any cowardice,\nBut set yourselves in a manly way.\nAnd yet, not sparing / for fear of death I pray\nAnd each one / humbly began to obey\nTo his desire / without longer delay\nAnd entering in / by a certain valley\nUpon Greeks / this worthy knight and all\nFollowing Hector / suddenly fell\nFull mortally / or that they were aware\nAnd Hector, though / no Greek would spare\nBut every one / to their confusion\nHe killed and slew / around him\nAnd his knights / riding by his side\nMade them / lose their land & flee from sight\nUntil the king / who was named Toas\nOn Greeks' side / began to array himself for war\nAnd of new / acted knightly and oppressed\nThem of Troy / this king, this manly man\nWho had before / slain Cassybelan\nOne of the sons / of King Priamus\nBut as he rode / fortune turned thus:\nThat all the brothers / met him on a fresh\nWho of assent / had been set against him\nAnd from his saddle / many Greeks beheld\nAmong the horses / some man smote into the field\nAnd of their ranks / first his basinet they rent\nAnd cruelly / they took his head from it.\nFor he stood unarmed in the midst of the conflict,\nSave that the Duke, furious and enraged,\nOf Athenian's rapid advance,\nRescued him in this mortal case,\nWith his knights, who rode about him,\nAnd to his aid, without further delay,\nWith sharp asp, keenly wheted,\nFirst fell upon Quintylene,\nWho was eager to have a slave,\nAnd the brothers, he made withdraw,\nWhen Quintylene was thrown from his horse,\nBut Paris, though, drew up his mighty bow,\nAnd let an arrow glide towards the Duke,\nThrough his plates it pierced his side,\nUpon a rib that caused him to bleed,\nOf which stroke he took no heed,\nBecause only that he was so fiercent in his foot,\nAmidst the horses, that were lying on the ground,\nIn the point of death, with many mortal wounds,\nOnly because he was naked on his head,\nBut this Duke, fully devoid of fear,\nOf his knight, in this perilous case,\nAmidst the foot, helped King Thoas,\nAnd with his life, made him escape free,\nAnd Ector ever, from cruel enmity.\nIlyas refused / for nothing would he leave\nAmong Greeks / his manhood to prove\nForcing him / to their destruction alone\nAnd as he rode / among them up and down\nKing Humerus / has a bow taken\nAnd to shoot / began to make ready\nAnd hatefully / in it set an arrow\nAnd to Ector / he marked so near\nThat he struck him / even beside the face\nBut before he might / pass any further\nEctor struck him / with such great pain\nThat with his sword / he raised his head high\nThe death of whom / when the Greeks knew\nMy Author says / they had a horn blew\nThat unusually / with that dreadful sound\nSeven thousand knights / came up against him\nAbout Ector / without further delay\nBut he, by force / rode through them all\nDespite their might / that him they set upon\nAnd slowed all those / that blocked his way\nAnd stopped not / plainly until he came\nTo his Father / the worthy king Priam\nWith many worthy / full famous in renown\nWho with his knights / lay all day long\nBy the town / with men on horse and foot.\nAs he, a knight, hid in cropped and rooted secrecy, maintaining high prudence, until Ector arrived in his presence and begged him in this great need, to help him with three thousand men against the Greeks in their fierce rage. And then I have this worthy Priamus with his knights, fresh and eager, setting out towards the Greeks, beginning such a slaughter that many Greeks lay dead on the ground. For Priamus, so fierce, had laid them low on every side through his great might. They fled out of his sight, fleeing in haste. He immediately upon them set out and, as I find, they were gathered together. Actor and Ajax, of certainty, were on their strong and wonderfully swift horses. The story says that in all the haste they charged together, like wood lions, they charged together. With such great might, they would have been a match for them or not. On the plain, they were both unhorsed. And in this while, Menelaus the king suddenly came riding.\nHe slew a worthy Amiral of Troy and thus the slaughter, passingly mortal, continued for Celydon's sake. We slew a new king, Thoas, and Madan writes: a Greek king named Cedyus, who with his sword set such a stroke through his umbrer that out of his eye he smote. Sardellus, too, from Troy, was slaying a worthy Greek. A lord, of high prowess, whose name was not expressed as Guydo's, and then also came Margaryton. On the Trojan side, against Thelamon, they both set a fire of high disdain and hateful ire. They met on horseback again and again. King Thelamon, truly as I have learned, gave him a woundfully cruel blow. But the Trojan Phanuell came in and Prothoenor struck him off his steed. And thus, as I read, the sons of Priam suffered no dismay. The Greeks had outmaneuvered them on every side, and so nobly did they fight all day long that many a Greek had lost his life through hate and enmity.\nAnd King Douglas is fallen upon Meneste,\nOf Atheny's Duke and governor,\nWith fierce aspiration and old rancor,\nHe ran at him and struck him beneath the shield,\nBut still he held his saddle.\nAnd for the duke, no spear he had,\nHe rode at Douglas with a sword,\nAnd through the shadow, robbed him near his nose,\nHe stood astonished, as if in a trance,\nWhen he saw the condition of his blood,\nIt gushed out, but still he rode,\nBeside himself, fully devoid of fear,\nUntil he staunched the wound,\nBut Amor, his own dear brother,\nWhen he beheld his mortal, bloody face,\nWith haughty disdain, he rode to Meneste,\nAnd unhorsed him, but he rose up again,\nBefore he could fully rise,\nAnother brother fell upon him,\nSo that the three were upon Meneste,\nDetermined to take his life,\nBut he knightly bore himself in that strife,\nAgainst them, the cruelest of the three,\nWas one Thoras, eldest of all.\nWhiche hero was ever busy in one, for all to behold, they have his basnet. But when that Tenter saw him so beset, A Greek king, as is mentioned, Had in his heart, great compassion, And thought truly, of manhood, to relieve, And if he might, to wound his foes, But all in vain, was his best endeavor. For Ajax and Meneste, Upon Tenter, and had them slain, Whose forces unto Ajax, fast joined, A thousand knights, in his company, To withstand him and Meneste to save, From his hands, if he might have them. But Paris, though, and the king of Perce, With five thousand, as I can recall, Of worthy knights, and many Trojan more, Were unto Ajax, all atones go, In thirtieth wise, riding on a row, For Paris made, a trumpet to be blew. At which there came, knightly enbatelled, Many Trojans, full well apparalled, Which in the field, of Ajax were conveyed, For of one heart, they fully had obeyed, Unto the bidding, of this Trojan knight.\nAll fresh and new / to begin a fight\nAgainst Greeks / as far as they can\nOf whom were slain many manly men\nAnd yet the slaughter / pitously renews\nThat many Greeks / sore in heart grieve\nTheir great loss / and destruction\nWrought upon them / by the people of Troy town\nAnd especially / of Hector, as I find\nWho on that day / as Dares relates\nWith his hand / a thousand knights slow\nWho never were / awakened from their sleep\nFor Greek dare none / in his path dwell\nFor what his sword / he could compel\nThem to leave their ground / out of necessity\nAnd like sheep / before the wolf to flee\nAnd as I read / amidst this victory\nHector met / under a tent\nAmong Greeks / Merion the king\nTo whom he spoke / without further delay\nO thou traitor / thy hour approaches fast\nFor thou art come / truly to thy last\nThy fatal day / has its course run\nTrust well / or westerning of the sun\nI plainly cast / to pay back your debt\nAnd with my sword / in haste your blood to shed\nFor thou so bold were, on this day,\nTo let me from my riches pray,\nAt the spoiling of King Patroclus,\nBecause thou were presumptuous,\nThou shalt be dead, anon,\nAnd down he started, and struck off first his head,\nAnd him to spoil, also did he hasten,\nBut Meneste came upon him, as fast,\nWhen he beheld him traverse at his back,\nAnd with a sharp spear, in which was no lack,\nHe struck him in, with great violence,\nWithout sight, or any warning,\nOf worthy Hector, or any taking heed,\nThe wound of whom, sorely began to bleed,\nBut out he went, and made it fast bind,\nAnd Meneste stole away behind,\nNot in purpose, truly, if he may,\nTo meet Hector, of all that day.\nBut when that he was bound sore,\nHis wound staunched, that it bled no more,\nMore furious than ever he was before,\nRevived is, with anger all tore,\nSo aye the ire, on his heart fretted,\nThat he bore down, all that ever he met,\nSlew and killed, he was so merciless,\nAll those who put themselves in peril.\nOf the hardy ones, he was among them, as Darete's book writes. For truly and in the story it is stated:\n\nIf it be so that men may give faith and credence to the possible,\nAs in Guido's tale, clearly you may see,\nAfter he had caught his latter wound,\nFinally, the Greeks sought to confound,\nSo that it is affirmed in certainty,\nA thousand knights were slain by his hand,\nWithout those I spoke of, rather,\nAnd new he began to bathe his sword,\nIn the Greeks' blood, which suddenly they were,\nSo overwhelmed through his cruelty,\nThat Greek was none, high or low in estate,\nWho was not awed and abashed,\nOf his knighthood and manly excellence,\nFor there was none to make resistance,\nNor utterly, who dared take hold,\nOf that day, King Agamemnon,\nAs Guido says, did not come into the field,\nFor great causes, his presence he withheld,\nOn the Greek side, that all went up so down,\nEctor among them, played the coward.\nThey fled to their tents for refuge, but the proud victors of Troy pursued them by the traces of their blood. There they won treasure and great riches, spoliating them in great distress of their armor and wealth. They fell upon them unexpectedly, and all that they had taken home to Troy that day. For finally, that day, the Greeks had been brought to an uneasy truce without any recourse, in truth, for eternity. On every side, they were laid low through the manhood of Hector and the might of many other worthy knights. Together, they inflicted such misfortune upon the Greeks, clearly bringing it upon themselves through their pride and foolish routines. They had among them volunteers that day who would have held sovereignty and dominion for eternity, recovering through their high renown. Lordship and dominion that would have lasted and been continuous, victoriously and perpetually.\nHave endured, have suffered cruel fate,\nAre ready always with fortune, to debate,\nAgain things, that in willfulness\nMake them fine, always in wretchedness,\nThrough their envious,\nDisposition of sudden change and revolution,\nAnd unwary turning of her false wheel,\nThat will not abide, when a thing is well,\nAlas, poor, deprived of sensibility,\nThe cause was, shrouded in darkness,\nThat had blinded, through false opinion,\nThe Trojans, so, in their discretion,\nAnd particularly, for darkened so the sight,\nOf worthy Hector, the prudent manly knight,\nTo see beforehand, what should follow,\nBy good advice, the misfortune to avoid,\nThat followed them, at the back behind,\nAlas, they were, willfully made blind,\nThe same day, when they set soft,\nBy victory, on the hill a loft,\nThat they could not see, out of negligence,\nThe after fall, of their Felicity,\nSo put a back, was their adversity,\nFor lack of reason, and of high prudence,\nFor they, their happiness, have voided, & their grace,\nThat presently, were set before their face.\nFor a man is not commendable,\nIf Fortune be to him favorable,\nAnd smiling with a forehead clear,\nTo smile on him with a pleasant face,\nOnly for Fame's sake to help him out,\nWhen he is beset about in misfortune,\nIf he refuses his luck of his own will,\nFortune withdrawing through unkindness,\nWhen she entices him with her grace,\nAnother time he shall not embrace,\nWhen he has need to help him at all,\nTo succor him or he catches a fall,\nBut rather than, for his ingratitude,\nFrowardly with mows him delude,\nWhen he thinks he stands in security,\nFortune is ever full of treachery,\nRemovable and ready to flee,\nHer beneficial hour, that whoever likes not to join,\nWith her favor, for to be allied,\nAnother time it shall be denied,\nWhen he was least, find her savory,\nFor in some hour, truly this is noteworthy,\nTo some man she grants his desires,\nWho will not after, in a thousand years,\nPerhaps once descend\nTo his will, or his lust send.\nAs it unfortunately fell upon worthy Ector that day,\nHe spared the Greeks, unwilling to slay them when they were ensnared.\nFor he, like a conqueror, could have brought triumph and honor,\nAnd the palm of conquest into Troy town,\nWhich he refused foolishly.\nAs he rode among the Greeks, Ector cruelly slew\nAjax, not an ally, driven by hate and cruel envy.\nThough Ajax was almost dead, this young, lusty knight\nExerted his power and full might,\nWithout hesitation, to bring him down.\nWhose father was also Thelemachus,\nWho begat him; the story goes as follows:\nOf Exyon's sister, to Priamus,\nAnd this Ajax, flourishing in young age,\nFresh and valiant, of great courage,\nSet Ector apart for his noble prowess.\nAnd as they met, both in their folly,\nThese manly champions on their steeds.\nEvery one like Tigers or lions\nBegan to fall and proudly to assault,\nAnd furiously severe, plate and mail,\nFirst with spears, long, large and round,\nAnd afterward with swords, keenly ground,\nAnd fighting thus, they continued long,\nUntil it befell of chance or fortune,\nA token or sign, or some appearance,\nOr by nature is kindly influenced,\nWhich into hearts does fully draw in,\nNamely of them that are born of one line,\nWhich cause was partly of these two,\nNaturally, their rancor to restrain,\nAnd their ire, for to modify,\nOnly because they were so near of alliance,\nUnaware of other and thereof unsure,\nUntil they were taught only by nature,\nFor naturally, blood will always draw\nTo blood where it may find it,\nWhich made Ector kindly to avert,\nTo be moved and stirred in his heart,\nBoth of knighthood and of gentleness,\nWhen he of Ajax saw the worthiness.\n\u00b6Spake unto him, full benignly,\nAnd said, Cousin, I say truly,\nIf thou list, Greeks here forsake.\nAnd I dare undertake to Troy, I will come to your allies and kin, there you shall be, without any fear, full well received, in party and in all, Of them that be of the royal blood, Sincerely descended and highest in degree, That it is fitting for thee, And kindly be to the pleasure, For to repair to your alliance, To gentle heart, since nothing is so good As being confederated with your own blood, I conceive, by the worthiness Which nature imprints, Of Trojan blood, that thou art descended, Which of the Greeks, long has been offended, Wherefore I advise, to leave them utterly And he answered again, full humbly, Since I, of birth, was a Greek, And was among them fostered also, From the time of my nativity, And taken had the order and degree Of knighthood among them before, And over this bond was and sworn To be true to their nation, Making no exception, He swore he would conserve his promise.\nAnd to Ector he made this request:\nIf you, of manful gentleness,\nOf knighthood and worthiness,\nWill show such affection towards them,\nMaking those from Troy town\nOnly withdraw, and for their tents,\nMake them remember and return,\nAgainst the town of knighthood and compass,\nWithout assaulting or any more affray,\nMade on the Greeks, for that same day,\nIs enough recompense for them,\nThat from the field, in such knightly way,\nThey were fully in possession of manhood,\nAnd finally victors over their foes.\nAs before, this is fully defined.\nTo whose request Ector is inclined.\nAlas, the while of hasty, willful folly,\nHe made at once, without advice,\nMade a trumpet blow in the field,\nSo that the Trojans might know,\nThat he intends they should withdraw,\nAccording to custom and the law,\nAnd the usage, both near and far,\nAmong those expert in war,\nWhen they were most eager to fight.\nUpon the Greeks, to prove their might,\nAnd had chased them low to the shore,\nThey were weak, unable to withstand,\nFor those of Troy, all of one desire,\nBegan to set upon us with wild fire,\nTo burn their ships, and with high mischance,\nEventually putting us at a disadvantage.\nAnd so it was, this the very truth,\nMaking the Trojans repair to the town,\nUngraciously to their confusion,\nAs the story shall afterwards specify.\nFor he put us all in jeopardy,\nLife and death, which might have been sure,\nWhich again they never shall recover.\nThey have cause to complain sore,\nFrom that day, farewell forevermore,\nVictory and laude from the town,\nDenied by dispositions contrary,\nOf mortal fate, which was contrary,\nIn this matter, I wish to tarry no longer,\nFor they of Troy have entered their city,\nAnd shut their gates for more security,\nFrom that day, like as it is said, mind,\nThus was the end, in Euydo as I find,\nThey thought they had done, for the better,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. I have made some corrections based on context and grammar rules, while preserving the original meaning as much as possible.)\nAnd when the sun was going to rest, they took their ease all that night until the morning, when Titan made his shade on Aemelia. Making the day merry, at that time the Trojans, who were whole and lusty for fighting, armed themselves in purpose that day. Their feet met promptly if they could. For that was their will and clear intent, and they also had in commandment before Ector, ready for them to make an agreement. Out of their sleep, a morning when they woke, of which thing they were not negligent. But they had sent messengers to Priam that very day or prime, only for the time of eight weeks, which Priam, by the assent of Ector, had granted them and by authority of the wisest in that city. In this time, while they were resting, the Greeks began to bury and grave the bodies that before were slaves, just as the rituals in their paynim law.\nWith all their might and best care,\nThey enclosed him like themselves in all,\nAnd thus they held the funeral feast,\nFrom day to day during the peace,\nIn which space I find how Achilles\nGrieved for Patroclus, whose death had caused him\nSuch inward love that for the anguish and cruel pain\nHe long remained in lamentation,\nAnd made a large tomb for a remembrance,\nMade the field seem as though it was the usage,\nAmong Greeks, with great reverence,\nLike the honor and excellence\nOf royal burial, so Patroclus and Protesilaus\nWere laid in their tombs of marvelous gray,\nAnd near to each other in a plain they lay,\nThe work about them richly wrought,\nAnd to the Earth they were brought together,\nSolemnly, like the observations\nOf their rituals, with the circumstances\nOf the Greeks used, truly in those days,\nFrom point to point, as long as their lairs.\nOf such as were of the royal estate,\nThe funeral feast was held so solemn,\nWhile the truths lasted, and they of Troy,\nBesieged them urgently with all their might,\nAnd they, their green wounds and injuries,\nBy the advice of those skilled in surgery,\nHealed swiftly, so that in these two months,\nThey were restored to health in every way.\nIn this time, Priam the king,\nWas struck with such sorrow for Hecuba,\nNo one could comfort him of his heaviness,\nDay by day, with inward tenderness,\nHe began to sob and weep,\nAnd kept his body above the earth,\nUntil he had chosen a place\nFor his burial and sepulture.\nAnd as Guido relates,\nIn Venus' Temple, rich as any shrine,\nHe had his workmen mine a tomb,\nIn marvelous gray marble,\nAnd richly metallic,\nIn which he put, full solemnly.\nThe deceased corpse of Cassybellan,\nPresent were many manly men,\nIn the temple of Cytherea,\nWhich thing, when Cassandra, within herself considered and beheld,\nAnd saw lifted off his helmet and shield,\nHis sword also, and unto Mars his steed,\nOf inward woe she felt her heart bleed,\nHearing the noise and pitiful cry,\nThe tender weeping and sorrowing utterly,\nOf those of Troy, and lamentation their own,\nWhich for their friends, throughout all the town,\nBegan to make, those who were slave before,\nWith sudden rage, her heart was torn,\nSo inwardly she could not restrain,\nFuryously to cry and complain,\nAnd said, alas, full often and wellaway,\nO wretched ones, that you be this day,\nUnhappy also, and graceless,\nMisfortune's, and inwardly woe-begone,\nHow may you endure, the sharp harmes,\nWhich you are likely, hereafter to sustain,\nDuring the siege, in this town enclosed,\nSeeing your feet, ready to be broken,\nAbout you beset, on every side,\nTo be avenged, on your great pride.\nI write to warn you, do not avoid them,\nThey shall not, unto death, desist,\nYou each one, besieged in this place,\nMercy, pity, or grace, they'll not grant,\nAlas, alas, why do you insist,\nYou wretched ones, shut in the city,\nWith the Greeks, for peace,\nOr the sword of vengeance, merciless,\nHigh and low, execute your own,\nAnd this noble, worthy town,\nDestroyed be, and brought to nothing,\nWhy did you not, consider in your thoughts,\nHow mothers, with their male children,\nIn the streets shall lie, dead and pale,\nMurdered there, through the Greeks' cruelty,\nAnd young maidens, in captivity,\nWeeping shall, in misery and woe,\nTheir servitude, and this town also,\nSo famous, rich, alas, it is a pity,\nWith Greek fire, shall be destroyed,\nIn short time, truly, this is no jest,\nSince for her sake, we shall each one,\nPore and rich, I except none,\nAn end make, wretched and pitiful,\nTheir ire, so furious,\nUpon us all, there is none other men,\nSave only death, to go between us.\nThis was the noise and pitiful cry\nOf Cassandra, who so dreadfully\nShe began to make in every street\nThrough the town, whomsoever she met\nLike one possessed, out of her mind\nUntil Priamus quickly bound her\nAnd shut her up, it seemed the more routine\nShe was not heard, although she spoke the truth\nFor neither wisdom nor discretion\nCounsel nor wit, prudence nor reason\nTruth nor redemption, without any lie\nNor the spirit of true prophecy\nAwakens not, nor all such wisdom\nIn a place where there is no audience\nFor a man, however wise in counsel or high deceit\nIn working otherwise or in eloquence\nEach thing to see in his adversity\nOr it be fallen before in his reason\nAmidst the Eye of his discretion\nYet for all this, it is the more pitiful\nWithout favor, he is but a fool\nFor unfavored wisdom is worthless\nNeither truth, however dear that it be bought\nLike Cassandra, for all her wise counsel\nWas despised and taken no heed.\nOf them of Troy: but cruelly thrown into confusion,\nI will leave them dwelling there, and tell you of the Greeks.\nFirstly, I will relate how Palamedes\nBegan to grumble against them, as they chose\nKing Agamemnon to have lordship or dominion\nOver them all, since he was not worthy\nTo govern such a mighty east\nThroughout the world, coming from every cost\nOf kings, princes, so renowned\nFor which he had indignation of his own.\nAnd he said to himself, was among Greeks,\nAnd greater in degree,\nConcluding that by no manner of way\nTo his power, he would obey\nIn peace and war, as by subjection\nSince he was not at his election\nPlainly affirming that there were but three\nWhen he was chosen, kings of degree,\nWhereas thirty were absent at that time,\nFor which he swore it was not his intent\nNor agreeing with his opinion\nIn any way, that Agamemnon of Greeks\nShould have such governance.\nLo, what misfortunes lie among lords,\nWhen they do not accord,\nTo draw fully by one cord,\nEnvy is cause of such discord,\nAnd covetousness of dominion,\nEach one would surmount his fellow,\nThis cursed vice often has withdrawn,\nHappiness and grace in many regions,\nFor when discord and false discord,\nHave allied in hearts to strive,\nAmong themselves, this thing no less,\nOf which the Greeks took heed,\nAnd thought not further to proceed,\nIn the matter that Palamedes,\nHad intended among all the press,\nAnd through their wit, they set all in quiet,\nAnd made him let go his rancor,\nAnd to accord fully in his heart,\nBut now I must again diverge,\nUnto the war, and tell the manner,\nAfter the truths, how they met each other.\nLike as the story makes mention,\nThe worthy king, great Agamemnon,\nWhen the truths were passed and gone,\nIn all haste, he began to ordain alone.\nWith all might and waking diligence,\nDeuoid of sloth and negligence,\nHe sets his warders fully,\nAnd to Achilles, he prudently commits the first,\nAnd the second to Diomede,\nThe third to King Menelaus,\nAnd the fourth on the same day,\nAt his leading, in steel armed clean,\nAnd other warders following by and by,\nAgamemnon the king has ordered,\nHow they shall proceed,\nAs he who was in all his work and deed,\nFull circumspect, both in war and peace,\nAnd worthy Nestor was not reckless,\nTo set his warders from the town,\nIn knightly wise, of their own discretion,\nAnd to Troilus, so young, so fresh and light,\nThe first ward, with many lusty knights,\nHe has assigned, and other warders set,\nSo prudently they might be no better,\nAnd forth in haste, he lusted no longer to stay,\nWith many worthy, riding by his side,\nOut at the gates, he went from the town,\nTowards the Greeks, this Troyan champion,\nAnd first, when he saw the fiery Achilles.\nHe could no longer keep his style,\nBut soon his horse swayed in the side,\nAnd towards him cruelly began to ride,\nWhich thing, with a despising eye,\nAchilles truly beheld again,\nAgainst Ector, of manful hardiness,\nWith an envious heart began to prepare,\nAnd in the field, together they met,\nWith sharp spears, the points they keenly sharpened,\nAt the encounter of knightly excellence,\nEach other, through great violence,\nBy force alone, each other brought to the ground,\nAs often happens and is found,\nWhen strong meets with his equal,\nThere is no more, but each had a fall,\nBut Ector first, of strength most assured,\nHis steed again had soon recovered,\nAnd left Achilles, though of gentleness,\nAnd in great haste, he quickly prepared himself,\nAmong Greeks, and wherever he rode,\nHe killed and slew, all that opposed him,\nFor what his sword made, it widened their wounds,\nAnd through the breast, and some through the side,\nHe pierced them.\nFor in his heart, he thought it good\nTo bathe his sword in Greek blood\nThis continued till Achilles\nCaught his steed again among the press\nAnd entered among them of Troy\nAnd with his sword he made a large way\nSlew and bare down whomsoever he met\nFor there was none hardy enough to let him\nUntil it befell, in his melancholy,\nAnd when they saw each other come in fear\nWithout delay, every man caught a spear\nAnd ran together, there was no more retreat\nBut Hector first struck him in the breast\nThat his spear plainly pierced through\nAll divided, into small pieces\nAchilles, of necessity,\nFell to the ground, it would not be otherwise\nAnd Hector then, in all the haste he could,\nForced him to catch his steed\nBut many a Greek came to rescue\nAchilles in this great need\nAnd for his love, put themselves in danger\nThrough their help, his horse he re-mounted\nEnhancing him with all his might and pain\nTo be avenged / of his great mercy,\nAnd suddenly / in his wood fury,\nWith a sword / full sharp ground and whetted,\nHe smote Hector / upon the basinet,\nThat from his saddle / he made him to remember,\nThe which stroke / he might not escape,\nBut for all that / this noble worthy knight,\nOf very force / through his great might,\nMaugre his foot / his saddle has recovered,\nAs he that was / in manhood most assured,\nAnd suddenly / in heart / he became so wrath,\nThat in rage / to Achilles he went,\nAnd with his sword / so smote him on the head,\nThrough the basinet / that the blood all red,\nBegan to run down /\nLike a river / his cheeks were enervated.\nBut he himself / defended as a knight,\nAnd though of new / began the cruel fight.\nIt seemed to them two / that it was wonderful,\nFor every stroke / great as the dent of thunder,\nRang in the air / for none would other spare,\nAnd this is the truth / in their fight they fare,\nLike wood tigers / or boars in their rage,\nOr stern bulls / when they are savage.\nThat it seemed, in very swiftness,\nIf these two, so full of worthiness,\nContinued long, in fighting and endured,\nThe fate or both, of cruel adventure,\nMust have been dead, of necessity,\nWhich thing, had been pitiful,\nBecause they were, worthy knights both,\nBut while they, in fighting fell and wrathful,\nMost busy were, the Greeks, to begin,\nWith their weapons, to enter in,\nAnd they of Troy, the story makes mind,\nLeft not behind, on their part,\nBut in the field, hastened them each one,\nIn knightly wise, to meet with their foe,\nThat with the press, here and also yonder,\nThe knights two, were separated,\nAnd thus came in, stern Diomede,\nWith the knights, whom he did lead,\nLustily, in the selfsame place,\nWith whom had met, proudly, in the face,\nWorthy Troilus, on his horse's back,\nWho never had, yet in manhood lacked.\nAnd as the story teaches us,\nEvery unhorsemanly knight,\nBut first, his horse, recovers Diomede.\nAnd in all haste, he hastened to assail Troilus, standing on foot. When he saw that there was none other knightly enough to oppose him, but Diomede, burning with envy and hatred for desire, with his sword of rancor, the rich Circe, full of precious stones at that time, had cruelly rushed at Troilus' basinet. But Troilus would not yield, for all that it drew him. He defended himself and seized the steed on which Diomede sat at that time. Diomede, enraged, was forced to alight. When they were both on foot, they exerted their might and their cruel pain, each one against the other with sharp swords, so that plate and mail were severed. They fought like woodland lions with mortal cheer and face, until the Greeks, strong, stout, and fierce, as my author relates in his book, had through their might made Diomede suddenly retreat.\nAnd Troyan knights / on the other side\nHave Troilus brought / a steed for to ride\nAnd when they were / horsed both two\nWithout more / again together they go\nWith strong forces / and often ran\nEach at other / as fiercely as they could\nUntil at last / cruel Diomedes\nLike as you may / in my Author reads\nWhether by chance / happenstance or adventure\nIn which no man / can fully assure\nOr by Fortune / with her false visage\nHad that time / of Troilus an advantage\nFor he himself / was fallen at misfortune\nWhich thing / to him was no dispreference\nThough he took / among so great an array\nOn every side / with Greeks set about\nSince doubt is ever / the fine of fight\nNow up / now down / now dark & after bright\nFor no man / can always be victorious\nIn peace or war / nor such as Ilion\nLet every man / since chance is set in doubt\nTake his turn / as it comes about\nThough Troilus now / was taken by Diomedes\nAnother time / he shall him repay\nFor as the story / tells in this place\nThis Diomedes / but a little space\nTroilus led forth as prisoner,\nArmed clearly in a steel stele,\nMany Trojans came, pressing in this need,\nDespite all the might of Diomede,\nThey took Troilus from his hands,\nAnd thus began the slaughter for his sake,\nOn every side, it's a wonder to tell,\nOf the Trojans and Greeks who fell,\nThen entered the field was Menelaus,\nWho that day avenged himself on Trojans,\nFull busy was he, an implacable enemy,\nAnd when Paris saw him in the field,\nHe held the way towards him,\nAnd each set upon the other,\nUntil they met,\nAnd thus the battle and the slaughter began,\nOn the other side, many manly men,\nAnd all this while, Hector would not cease,\nAmong the Greeks, cruelly pressing them,\nAnd new and new, as I read,\nA like fresh, the blood of them to shed,\nFor from his sword, the traces were seen,\nThe Greeks could not sustain,\nNor stand before his face,\nBut wherever he rode, they gave him way.\nTyll, the knight named Boetes, young of age, saw how Ector slaughtered the Greeks mercilessly on every side. He pressed on, determined to increase his name and fame, and without mercy in his heart, he cast himself into the fray. When Ector was alerted to this, his heart was seized by such fierce rage that he struck Boetes down to the very gut with his sword, filled with indignation. From the crown, the pain was so great that he lay in two in the field. Ector then assigned his horse to a squire and ordered it to be led to Troy without delay. All this while, he rode furiously among the Greeks, mercilessly slaying all who put themselves in his way and shedding their blood in contempt.\n\nKing Archylaus, riding nearby, saw and approached, witnessing how cruelly Boetes, his cousin and ally, was being taken captive by Ector. He drew near in haste.\nUpon his death, avenged to be taken,\nAnd dealt with great cruelty,\nIn full purpose, Ector meant to quit,\nSuddenly, as he began to strike,\nUnaware, he struck him on the head,\nSo mightily that he fell down dead,\nDivided into two, by cruel adventure,\nUnyielding, his mighty strong armor,\nAgainst his stroke, it was of no consequence,\nFor it was given, with such violence,\nThat it helped him, in no manner at all.\nThen, anon, Prochenor the king,\nOf hateful ire and foolhardiness,\nOf servitude and haste,\nOf melancholy and indignation,\nCaught in his heart, a presumption,\nTo assail Ector, of inward folly and pride,\nAnd went to him, a traitor on the side,\nFuryously, with a despising heart,\nHis coming he might not anticipate,\nOnly because he came at his back behind,\nAnd unaware, in Guydo as I find,\nAnd Ector struck, from his horse to the ground,\nIn whom there was, so much manhood found,\nThat he at once, with a knightly heart,\nWithout delay, into his saddle sat.\nAnd right fiercely, Protes or pursues,\nWho finally relinquishes his hand,\nFor with his sword, he marks him so well,\nThrough the basinet, by his breastbone's steel,\nThat into twain, without any fail,\nHe robs him down, into his pound of meat,\nAnd he fell down, in full pitiful way,\nOf which stroke, the Greeks were sore enraged,\nAnd specifically, the fierce Achilles,\nWhen he beheld, looked most ill,\nFor Phoetenor, was his near kin,\nAnd descended, from the same line,\nFor death of whom, he bears such heaviness,\nSo inwardly thought, and such great distress,\nIn all this world, he knew not what to do,\nFor him, he had such pain and woe,\nAnd for the death, of Archilochus,\nTo avenge, he was most desirous,\nAnd in his heart, many ways he cast,\nAnd in the wards, began to seek fast,\nWith many Greeks, against Hector to conspire,\nFully agreed among them all,\nOf one intent, Hector to assault,\nBut all in vain, it would not prevail,\nHe was that day, so cruel in his rage.\nThey might have none advantage\nAnd Troyan knights, by Fortune's favor,\nContinued against the Greeks,\nThrough conveying Ector and his might,\nWhich made them put to flight\nAnd to their tents, despite who opposed,\nIn their pursuit they drove,\nLaying low here and there a Greek,\nMercilessly, the long day,\nUntil it drew to night,\nAnd truly then, for lack of light,\nThese Troyan knights, worthy of renown,\nRepaired to the town,\nAnd entered with honor and glory,\nThat day of Greeks, having the victory,\nAnd thus I leave them, in their town,\nAnd from the Greeks, I will begin.\n\nWhen Esperus, the fair bright star,\nAgainst the even casts his streams far,\nAnd in the west most readily appears,\nWhen the twilight with a pale countenance,\nIn manner of morn, the absence of the sun,\nAnd night approaches with her copies done,\nThe same time, when Titan took his leave.\nThat clerks call crepusculum at eve,\nWhich is not only but the mean light\nOf Phoebus absence and the dark night,\nAnd twilight hat, for it is a mean\nOf day and night, parting them between,\nFully neither, but of both intent,\nOr the heaven, be clustered and deep in painting\nWith bright starry stars in the evening,\nAt which time, Agamemnon the king\nSuddenly has sent each one to come\nImmediately into his tent,\nAnd when they were all assembled there,\nTrust and heavy, and with a sorrowful face,\nThey began to complain of Hector's slaughter,\nAffirming plainly they might never attain\nTo victory while he was alive.\nWherefore they began to conspire, blue,\nThe death of him in many various ways,\nEach one concluding while he was in Troy,\nIt was not likely, Greeks, to win,\nFor he alone of them that were within,\nWas chief difference and protection own,\nAnd sovereignly upheld the town,\nTheir mighty castle and their strong wall,\nAnd unto Greeks, deadly fo to mortals.\nFor they couldn't endure his great force,\nNor could they be sure against their feet,\nHe standing whole, they said, in no degree,\nNor while he flourished in Philoctetes,\nTherefore each one of one accord,\nThey conceded to this conclusion,\nThat by some trick or ruse,\nWhen he was most busy in fighting,\nAmong them, in mischief or distress,\nThat Achilles would do his business,\nWith all his might, unexpectedly attack,\nThat him to kill, for nothing that he fail,\nAnd Greeks all began their prayer,\nTo Achilles, for to undertake,\nOf this empress, finally the suit,\nThrough his manhood, that it be executed,\nThe hasty death, of their mortal foe,\nAnd Achilles, without more words,\nTheir request, assents to perform,\nAnd to their lust, began holy him to confirm,\nFor that time, let him beware I say,\nTo be too hasty, this journey to hasten,\nUpon Hector, his power to contend,\nFavorable Fortune, a frowning face to show,\nTo bring him near, unto his hands.\nThrough chance or folly of Ector,\nHe put his life in Jeopardy,\nIt happened even so to him,\nTo fall himself in the same ditch,\nThat he had shaped and compassed for Ector,\nFor it is wonderful if he escapes,\nSince Ector bore without any fear,\nAs burning iron and great hatred,\nTo pursue Achilles' death,\nIf he found him or in a convenient place for execution,\nI believe there would be no reason\nNor other reward for his heart to quiet,\nBut only death, when they met.\nThis is the end and fine of this matter,\nAs in this book you shall hear after,\nAnd thus the Greeks,\nMade an end of their council and one they went,\nEach of them home to their lodging,\nAnd took their rest till the morning.\n\nWhen Aurora, with silver sheen,\nHer shadow upon the fresh green,\nCo-playing always in weeping and sorrow,\nHer children's death, every summer morn,\nThis to say, when the dew so sweet,\nEnwetting has the flower and root.\nWith lusty Lionel in April and May,\nWhen the lark, messenger of day,\nIn custom ever greets Aurora,\nWith varied notes her sorrow to transform,\nOr Phoebus rises to joy and gladness,\nThrough Amory, leaving his heaviness,\nTaking leave with St. John to borrow,\nThe same time Greeks, with lusty heart,\nEarly arose and armed themselves,\nIntending that day to meet their friends,\nAnd Hector also has, that same morning,\nFully cast off with the Greeks, and issued,\nKnightly, from Troy,\nIn his heart he bore such great desire and joy,\nThe same day with Greeks to fight,\nAnd with him he led many lusty knights,\nOf such as were born in the city,\nAnd forth he rode himself all alone,\nAnd Aeneas followed after,\nWonderfully fast,\nAnd Paris then and next to him,\nAnd Deiphobus,\nAnd Sychaeus, who was courageous,\nWith all the wards made of Troy's town,\nIn which Dares makes mention.\nWithin his book, on the Trojan side,\nThere were one hundred thousand fighting men,\nArmed and ready to go into the field,\nAnd fifty thousand more, who had been cast that day or earlier,\nOf one accord, the Greeks to harm.\nAnd so they met, strongly assembled on the other side,\nRiding full cruelly and with great hatred,\nAnd with them, those who Paris led,\nHe entered in, mighty strong archers from Perse,\nAnd many arbalestres,\nWith their arrows filed sharp and round,\nAnd with quarrels, squared, sharpened and ground,\nMany Greeks had received their lives from him,\nAmidst this mortal strife,\nAgamemnon had come into the field,\nTowards whom Hector had intentionally veered,\nHe threw him from his horse among his knights,\nHe spared nothing for all the great pressures,\nAnd thereupon came Achilles,\nLying in ambush for Hector,\nAnd suddenly, with all his might and pain,\nHe struck Ector on the head so sore.\nThat which your author says no more,\nHis basinet was bowed and crushed.\nOf this stroke, Ector was not amazed,\nAchilles would have fallen had not Eneas and his knights\nAll worthy and loyal, come between,\nWith their sharp swords, began to assail,\nTo hew his plates and pierce his pain,\nAnd thus the slaughter began on every side,\nOf foot soldiers and those that rode,\nLike a conqueror, their wounds began to bleed,\nAnd in this while, cruel Diomede,\nBy chance or cause, met with Eneas,\nAnd right away, as he had found him,\nHe smote at him and gave him such a wound,\nThat likely he would not recover,\nBut if there is a better cure,\nAnd thereupon, full spitefully,\nThis Diomede, in his melancholy,\nReviled this Trojan knight Eneas,\nAnd said to him, all hail for you are he,\nWho once gave to Priam, the king,\nA cruel counsel, hasty and biting,\nMe to slay by sudden violence.\nWhen I was last at Troy in his presence,\nTrusting me well and keeping it in mind,\nAmidst the field, if I should find thee,\nThou shalt deeply regret thy counsel then,\nIf Fortune grants, in future, to bring thee\nTo a rightful place in my hands,\nAt a good leisure, here in thine own land,\nI am fully set to repay thy labor,\nAnd here my truth, this sword shall rend and bite,\nSo keenly, thy Trojan blood to shed,\nThat finally, death shall be thy reward.\nWhich I bear, between my hands, two-handed,\nAnd with that word, he could not restrain,\nThis Diomede, but suddenly rode upon Aeneas,\nAnd struck at him so furiously,\nHe struck him with such pain and great might,\nThat from his horse, he made him fall,\nDespite the might of his knights, all,\nThis stroke, he liked ill,\nAnd in this while, Aeternus has assaulted Achilles,\nThrough his basinet he pierced him,\nAnd with his sword, him smote,\nAnd so narrowly brought him to the point.\nOf high misfortune, and thus constrained,\nHe had to take refuge, or only be\nSuddenly rescued, from his fierce pursuer,\nCalled the son of Tydeus, I mean the dreadful Diomede,\nWhom Achilles had helped in this need.\nFor he, through the strength of his arms twice,\nStruck Ector, though, with such great pain,\nThat he gave him a grievous wound.\nBut he (my Author writes) was not angry,\nYet this knight, this manly man,\nWith his sword, in all the haste he could,\nStruck Diomede so furiously and angry,\nThat from his horse to the earth he went,\nFor all his pride and his surrendering,\nWhich Troilus at once, as he saw,\nWithout delay, down from his steed leapt,\nWith Diomede, a foot to fight.\nAnd each of them, in truth, as manly men,\nAcquitted himself, like a manly man,\nNeither small nor insignificant,\nIn no degree, of manhood to know,\nAnd while they fought, Ector and Achilles,\nTogether met, again, among the press.\nAnd they ran fiercely in their rage, as wood lion when they rampage. Right so in truth, they proceeded in their fighting. And in that time, Menelaus the king proudly showed himself to the Trojans for supper. Ulysses also, and Polymetes, followed him. Next came Neptune, Pallas, and Sclemus. Duke Menestee, Nestor, and Thoas came after. Currinulus and Philotheas followed, as well as Theseus, with his knights. On their side, all the kings came, without exception, to make resistance against the Greeks. Except the knights whom Ajax led and the guards he had made. According to the Latin book, the field was taken in knightly fashion that day. And they began the mortal fight in which many worthy knights fell in battle. Among the guards, Fortune fell. Agamemnon, the noble and mighty king, suddenly met Pantysylaus on his way.\nAgainst whom ever his horse he set,\nAnd he to him full knightly rode again,\nAnd as they met, there is no more to say,\nOn horseback while they were angry.\nOf violence, they were both unhorsed,\nAnd Menelaus met Paris anew,\nThe two, who together knew,\nBoth eager for each other's death.\nBut Menelaus caught a spear first,\nAnd Paris, with all his inward care,\nBut for the certainty of his strong armor,\nAnd mighty plates, his wound was but small,\nWhich in effect, caused him no pain at all,\nBut with that stroke, he fell to the ground.\nOf this fall, Paris grew right angry,\nWondering, confused, and ashamed,\nLest the report reach the ears of Queen Helen,\nThat on that day he could not attend,\nWith Menelaus, to hold a truce,\nLikely to be led into his subjugation.\nThis thought grieved him deeply in his heart,\nAnd Adrastus, the king, found him riding,\nAnd they fought hand to hand.\nAnd as they fought to the earth, low\nUlysses throws him from his horse.\nAnd proudly, in sign of this victory,\nHe sends his horse home to Tentyrion.\nIn that time, among all the press,\nSuddenly, King Palamedes\nFalls upon him with his locks flowing.\nIn his anger, he wounds him sore,\nAnd he falls dead and groaning to the ground.\nHis mortal sword was so keenly ground.\nBeside him, Neptoleon\nAssails King Archilochus.\nHe himself manfully defends.\nBut as they fought and spent many strokes,\nIt would be none other way.\nEach of them unhorses the other.\nAnd riding on his steed,\nPolydamas comes and takes charge.\nAmong the ranks, a little way off,\nWhere King Palamedes rides,\nHe cruelly, like a manly man,\nStrikes his steed and runs to him,\nDespite his might and worthiness.\nOnly to avenge the death of King Hupon.\nFrom his stead, he proudly bared him down\nAnd in his rage and cruel heat,\nOf that contempt began he to rebuke,\nAnd there beside, King Scelenus,\nWith deadly hate and heart full of jealousy,\nMet King Carras by chance.\nAnd furiously from his stead, he smote,\nAnd then also, King Phylimene,\nFell upon the Duke, Athene's son,\nWho despitefully, both his manhood and might,\nHe had taken away in this fight.\nAnd led with him, proudly by his side,\nWhere he pleased, that it should abide.\nAnd Phyloteas, the worthy king also,\nAt the same time, with Remus had contended,\nAnd every other, truly as I read,\nHis fellow had made to abandon his steed.\nTheseus, the king, it was so strong,\nAmidst the field, rode among them all,\nIn the great press, had met Curialus,\nThe worthy knight, of knighthood right famous,\nAnd both two, in arms so strong,\nFought each other, till each other, with fresh and green wounds,\nFrom horseback, his fellow threw endlong.\nAnd afterward, I find that they two\nFoot to foot, knightly had their encounter\nIn arms, simply desirous and famed in manhood,\nPassingly, the son of Priam bore them well among the Greeks,\nRiding up and down prudently, they remained together,\nMaking a slaughter of pitiful Greeks,\nOf kings, dukes, and famous lords,\nAnd as I read, Thelamon met with King Sisypheus,\nAnd with their sharp-edged spears, each wounded mortally,\nThrough shield and plate and mail, as the story relates,\nTheir armor turned red, and they filled almost with death,\nAt great misfortune, among the horse's feet,\nThe soil became wet through their armor,\nAs it could distill through their armor.\nWhile King Thoas and the fierce Achilles,\nAs kin and allies, fought in the field,\nEctor saw him, and they went against him in accord,\nAs he fought, beset by his foot.\nAnd if it would harm him, they assaulted him on every half. Born of hate in their hearts from old, they beset this Troyan knight so sore. They struck him, smiting him on the head. By violence, they shattered his rich basinet and wounded him cruelly there. Yet he took no heed. This worthy man, flower of chivalry, defended himself, though mightily. King Thoas struck him in the face, and with a stroke, he rent his nose in two. Nature, brother to manly Ector, swiftly came to his aid when they first saw his great misfortune. They bore him home to their tent, and King Thoas went home to Troy. The Greeks, who could offer him no further help, were powerless against Dephebus and Antenor.\nHe sent him to Troy, and Menelaus began to see\nAs he rode, Paris stood aside\nAnd stopped him briefly from hate and cruel pride\nIf it had fallen, suddenly misfortune\nBut he was aware and kept himself close\nMenelaus marked him with an arrow\nThe head of which was anointed with poison\nIntoxicated at the precise point\nThe king, in great alarm, summoned his men\nWho quickly bore him to his tent\nAnd he immediately sent for surgeons\nWho first removed the head from his wound,\nAlthough it was deeply embedded,\nThrough his armor, deep into the bone\nBut skillfully they performed their craft\nTo draw it out with their instruments\nAnd subtly with certain ointments\nThey searched the wound around\nTo make it clean from corruption\nAnd prudently, they first stopped the poison\nCircling it in a ring, they cleansed it around.\nAnd after that, he fortified it securely on every side. And Menelaus no longer wished to stay but in haste brought forth his steed. In purpose full, Paris went to pay his debt if he found him on the same day. He desired no longer to delay whatsoever fell from his green wound. And he rode forth until he had found him. By chance, unarmed in the field, without sword, poleax, spear, or shield, or bow in hand, was it through recklessness or to refresh himself after weariness. And Menelaus at once took a spear and in his anger rode towards Paris. And should have slain him, as likely as not. But Eneas, who witnessed this entire affair, took up the staff with his strong shield to defend him in this encounter. Paris was in such peril at that time. Therefore, in haste, has this Eneas ordered knights, armed brightly in steel, around Paris to keep him safe from all harm and confusion.\nHymn to Convey to Troy town,\nIn spite of King Menelaus,\nWho lay in wait for Paris,\nWhich Ector had suddenly taken,\nAnd led to Troy utterly,\nNo Greeks had come against him\nTo make resistance.\nWhen Ector came among the Greeks,\nMany Greeks fell dead,\nAnd the remainder fled,\nThrough whose means the Trojans made the Greeks flee,\nTo their tents of necessity,\nAnd them to see, never willing to leave,\nBut sleep and kill till it drew to an end,\nThen Phoebus began to set,\nTo draw them home, they thought for the best,\nFor Titan was going down,\nWhen they entered into Troy town,\nTheir gates were shut, they went to their lodgings,\nAnd of this day thus they made an end,\nUntil on the morrow,\nThe red waves of Phoebus' chariot,\nSpreading before his uprising in the Orient,\nAt which time, King Priam sent\nFor such as were with him most private.\nAnd of his council, inwardly secret,\nHe specifically summoned by name,\nThe greatest in fame, Ector,\nParys, Dephebus,\nFresh and eager, Troylus,\nAnthonor, Polydamas,\nAnd the Trojan called Aeneas.\nHe who that day had not been present,\nTo meet with his friends,\nWhen they arrived, these lords,\nThe right way to the king, named,\nUnto his palace,\nAnd when the usher had shut the door,\nAnd each had taken his place,\nHis due seat,\nThis worthy king, as mentioned,\nBegan to declare,\nHis heart's motion, and explicitly,\nSaid, \"Sires, it is known to you all,\nHow King Thoas is here,\nIn this city, taken prisoner,\nAnd is still, in prison,\nAn enemy great to his power,\nWho has offended us, both far and near,\nIn many ways, we are but little avenged,\nAs far as he could, his force might stretch.\"\nAnd now, with Greeks present, came to siege our town,\nAs he who will not destroy us,\nAnd therefore has done his business.\nWherefore of doom and righteousness,\nBoth of reason and equity,\nI plainly say, as it seems to me,\nIf it is acceptable to you,\nAnd if you think my counsel commendable,\nLike as he has cast our death and shape,\nI hold it rightful that he not escape,\nBut that of death, he receive his reward,\nFor right requires and also good reason,\nThat death for death is sky-filling rewarding,\nTo my wit and rightly fitting,\nSay your advice now plainly in this case,\nAnd first of all, though spoke Aeneas,\nAnd said, \"Lord, so it be no offense,\nTo your highness, to give me audience,\nThrough the support here of those who are full of wisdom,\nI shall plainly rehearse my purpose\nIn this matter, it seems to me first,\nMy liege lord, your noble, royal excellence,\nShould consider with full high prudence\nIn every work and operation.\nTo cast in conclusion, I say this plainly: A wise man only sees the beginning and the end, but both pay in his thought. Those who follow the fine line without repentance, why, I mean this: King Thoas is one of the principal among the Greeks and of the royal blood. If you consider this, if he were to be slain while in prison, it might happen in conclusion that you and yours, who assent, would later regret it. I prove it thus: If by chance, through fortune, some of your lords were, in another day, taken as captives by the Greeks, or your sons, so worthy of renown, or kings who are in this town, trust me well, they will repay you when in similar circumstances.\nFor them to find favorable,\nWhich no man can constrain or bind,\nTherefore, my lord, keep this in mind,\nFor if Thoas, of short temper,\nIs now deceased, through hasty judgment,\nAnother day, Greeks will quench our strife,\nAnd for rigor, make their malice bite,\nOn some of you, whoever it be,\nAnd neither spare, high nor low degree,\nThough he were, in appearance, of your blood,\nThis thing, for all this world's good,\nIt might happen, that you would not see,\nWherefore I advise, let King Thoas be,\nHonestly kept, in prison,\nLike his estate, staying here in this town,\nAs I said, another day,\nSome lord of yours, as it may happen,\nCasually taken by chance,\nBy exchanging him, you might best recover,\nWithout strife, your own man again,\nIn this matter, I can no more say,\nBut finally, this is my full advice,\nTo which counsel Ector gave good heed,\nAnd because it was, in accordance with reason,\nHe commended it, in his open court,\nBut Priam ever, of one mind.\nStod always / to this conclusion\nPlainly affirming / if Greeks may see\nThat we this king / spare of gentility\nThey will arrest / cowardice at once\nThat we dare not / avenge ourselves on our foe\nFor very fear / having no hardiness\nNor heart neither / to do righteousness\nYet nevertheless / after your consent\nThat he shall live / I will in my intent\nTo your desire / fully concede\nAnd of this counsel / so they made an end\nWithout more / save Eneas goes\nAnd Thylus also / and Anthenor\nInto a hall / excelling in beauty\nThe queen Hecuba / purposefully to see\nWith whom was also / Ecbas the queen\nAnd other ladies / worthy to behold\nAnd many maids / that were young and lusty\nAnd worthy Troilus / with this Eneas\nDid their labor / and their busy pain\nTo comfort / the fair queen Hecuba\nAs she who stood / for the war in fear\nBut for all that / of very womanhood\nThat time / with all her heart entered\nAs she could / make them good cheer\nHaving knowledge / inwardly sufficient\nBoth of cheer and of dalliance.\nAnd Eccuba being in this hall\nWas an example to women all\nOf bounty having sovereign excellence\nIn wisdom also and in eloquence\nShe besought them, though wondrous womanly,\nAnd counseled also full prudently,\nFor any haste, both near and far,\nAuspiciously to keep them in the war,\nAnd not Iupiter their bodies folly,\nBut to advise and cast prudently,\nIn difference, knightly of the town,\nThem to govern by discretion,\nShe spoke of faith, and could nothing feign,\nAnd then of her, and after of Elaine,\nThey took leave and no longer dwelt,\nBut went their way, and forth I will you tell,\nHow the Greeks, on the same morrow,\nAmongst themselves complained and made sorrow,\nTheir harms great in Murmur and in rage,\nThe loss, the costs, and the great damage,\nThat they had endured folly,\nLasting the war, and knew not why,\nThe death, the slaughter, of many worthy man,\nSince the time that the war began,\nHunger and thirst, watch and cold also.\nThis was the noise and rumor that ran\nThroughout the host that day from man to man,\nAnd most among the poor soldiery,\nWho bore the burden ever of such showers,\nAnd the misfortune of war commonly,\nAnd though they complained, they had no remedy\nFor things which set them full unsothe,\nAnd thus the Greeks complained often,\nOf many misfortunes that had befallen them,\nWhich they might have avoided all,\nIf they had not, through folly, gone to war,\nOut of Greece, not come half so far,\nTo their misfortune and confusion.\n\nThis was that day their lamentation.\n\nWhich to increase, the same next night,\nSo dark was the sky without star light,\nSo cloudy black and so thick of air,\nDimmed with skies foul and nothing fair,\nSo windy also with tempest all laid low,\nAlmost fordrowned with the smoky rain,\nAnd in the field astonished here and yonder.\nWith a sudden stroke of the dreadful thunder,\nAnd with the opening of the hideous lease,\nIt seemed in the high heaven\nThat the Cataractys had been undone.\nFor the clouds and skies both two,\nSuddenly became so black,\nLike as the goddesses would have taken wrath,\nAnd had of new assented to be in one,\nThe land to drench, of Deucalion,\nAnd all this world, without more refuge,\nTo overflow with a fresh deluge.\nThe wind also, so sternly blew,\nThat their tents, standing in a row,\nWere possessed and beaten down,\nAnd furyously to their confusion,\nThe flood reached from their steadying place,\nAnd bore them forth, a full large space,\nIn misfortune and in great distress,\nIn great labor and heartily grieving,\nThe Greeks bade all the same night,\nWhat for the tempest and for lack of light,\nTill the flood again withdrew,\nThe wind to appease, and the day began to dawn,\nAnd the heaven began again to clear,\nWithout clouds, freely to appear.\nAnd Phebus, with fiery heat,\nhad dried up the wet soil,\nand moisture enriched the plain.\nGreeks had set up their tents again,\nand were awed by their night's sorrow\nthrough the appearance of the ghastly morning.\nThey arrayed themselves, undeterred by the peace,\nand first into the field went Achilles,\nas you shall hear, that day to fight\nagainst those from Troy.\n\nWhen the lusty large plain was dry,\nwith Phoebus' beams, as I have said,\nthe Trojan knights, worthy of renown,\ndescended and came down,\nand took their fighting positions in the field.\nBut Achilles went out before them,\nas I told you, with his lords and bold knights,\nand I find, without further delay,\nUpon whom, furiously he rode,\nI mean Hupon, who was of his stature,\nlike a giant, as books assure,\nWhom Achilles pierced through the body\nwith his sharp spear, so fiercely.\nHe filled him with death; his wound was keen.\nAnd after this, King Octavian, as he fiercely intended to go against Hector, Hector implored him to stay and cruelly quit his fatal reward. And suddenly, against Diomede, Ector began to assault. As Zanthus, the worthy king, drew near, he became a slave, and right away, King Epyscrophus, and also the king named Cedyus, of one accord, proudly engaged in battle. Ector mortally assailed Epyscrophus with a spear, and with a despising heart, he ran at him. And as Guido also did decree, he rebuked him in an ungodly manner. So sorely was he provoked in his heart that Ector furiously agreed, and had made his wound so large that he did not receive plate, shield, nor target. For he had slain him among his men, each one. To whom Ector bade him go, To the Furies deep down in hell. Such words among them to tell, For here said he, men take no heed. And thus, when he was engaged for his reward, Anon his brother, Cedyus, called out, Such sorrow did Cedyus make for Epyscrophus.\nSo sadly and so woefully,\nHe pities and here laments,\nInwardly on his death he thought,\nWith a thousand knights he brought,\nTo avenge himself by manhood of them all,\nDespisingly, on Ector he fell,\nWhere he found him fighting with his foot,\nThrough the force of them, every one,\nSo sore envyroused, they had him beset,\nThat from his steed, they had him smitten down,\nWhom Cedyus, in his cruel rage,\nWhen he saw, to his advantage,\nEctor unhorsed and he on his steed,\nHis sword he left, filled with inward hate,\nMarking him with such great pain,\nWith all the force of his arms twice,\nDetermined in purpose, without more delay,\nTo kill Ector, openly if he may,\nBut ere his stroke descends,\nEctor, filled with hate and indignation,\nWith his sword, that was full sharply whet,\nFrom his shoulder, has his arm severed,\nAnd after that, he revived him his life,\nThen Aeneas, amidst this strife,\nCame riding in, wooded and furious.\nAnd as he met King Amphymacus,\nHe fell on him and slew him in his rage.\nGreeks followed, holding their passage.\nFirst came Menelaus, then King Thelamonyus,\nThe great Duke of Athena, whose manhood was evident,\nUlysses and cruel Diomede,\nAnd also King Machaon came with them,\nLastly, great Agamemnon with all his warders,\nFilling suddenly upon the Trojans,\nThey fought manfully against the proud Greeks,\nDefending themselves as they could,\nEach against the other with spear and sword,\nEnviously they set upon them,\nSo mortal hate was between them,\nAnd when the sun was meridian,\nAn angel passing hot and shining,\nThe Greeks grew faint in their hands,\nSo mightily did they fall upon Troy,\nForcing them to give way,\nNecessity and force compelling them,\nAchilles, full of cruelty,\nAmong the ranks, drew his sword.\nThe king Philem enviously has taken slave\nAnd among Greeks, at the same time, Ector\nDespite them all, killed King Alphenor\nAnd also the king, called Dorus\nUpon them he was so cruel and irate\nThrough the virtue of his knightly hand,\nTrojans have won back their land\nAgainst Greeks and made them flee\nAt that hour, from Troy the city,\nEpiscophus, full of manliness,\nThe field has taken, through his worthiness,\nAnd against Greeks, proudly for the nones,\nWith his knights, he falls upon them all at once,\nAnd separated them, making them twine,\nAnd began the field to quickly win,\nHaving that time in his company,\nAmong others, whom he granted life,\nA certain Archer, whom I find,\nWas monstrous and wonderful in kind.\nFrom the middle, up to the crown,\nHe was a man, and the remainder down,\nBare of horse likeness and figure,\nAnd horses he had, this monster in nature,\nHad on his skin, growing envious and rough,\nThick and of his voice, you hear a sound.\nWas like the neying of an horse I read,\nAnd though his face, both in length and breadth,\nWas manifold in shape, yet in steadfastness\nHis color was, in likeness,\nTo the Fery hot, burning delight,\nWhose eyes also flamed, reading like\nThe blast of an oven's mouth,\nAnd because he was, in sight, so unkempt,\nWherever he was met in the herd,\nBoth man and horse were in fear,\nHis face was, so hateful and so odious,\nAnd his look, so hideous and horrifying,\nAnd ever he had, in custom and usage,\nAs in books is made remembrance,\nTo go unarmed into the field,\nWithout sword, spear, axe, or shield,\nFor he nothing could of that mystery,\nBut as I find, he was a good archer,\nAnd bore a bow, stiff and wonder strong,\nAnd for he was, also of tiller long,\nHis arrows were like, to his tiller,\nIn a bushment, trussed wonder near,\nBy his side, ever ready to his hand,\nWherever he were, other on sea or land,\nAnd as I find, how that none armor\nAgainst his shot, plainly might endure.\nAnd there was no horse or courser that dared approach, neither near nor far, but fled at once with all their might, as fast as they could when they saw him. He was so passing dreadful, so like a devil and so monstrous. And there was found none so bold a knight on horseback who had the strength or power to hold his horse when they could see him. But he would immediately flee and of this archer it is also written that he slew full many that day and wounded them with his sharp arrows through their plates, forged bright and shining. For there was none before him who remained. But they had to ride quickly to their tents. They could not endure his hideous look until a wonderful adventure occurred. While they were besieging Troy with the help of this archer, they pursued the chase to their lodging near, and slew many beside a tent with this archer, out of fear and in haste. They met there Diomede with this archer, and out of necessity. For it stood so that he could not escape in any way or turn his back.\nFor life or death, he could not escape\nSo many Trojans, they pursued\nIn his flying, he was headed for disaster.\nTherefore, immediately, this worthy Diomede\nWith cruel heart, he eagerly approached\nAnd proudly towards him, prepared to dress him\nBut this Archer, by great cunning\nFirst struck Diomede with an arrow\nThrough his armor, it made him bleed\nFrom this wound, he became so enraged and angry\nThat to this monster, so hideous and detestable,\nHe went unarmed and found him\nAnd with the sword, which he held in his hand,\nHe gave him his last fatal wound\nHe fell dead, groaning onto the ground\nThe death of whom, the Greeks rejoiced\nAnd in haste, they began to comfort themselves\nAnd into the field, proudly they advanced\nBy conveying Polixena,\nThe worthy Duke, who bore him so well,\nUpon the Trojans that day in the field\nBut when Hector beheld the slaughter of him,\nUpon this Duke, immediately he set out\nAnd on their horses, furiously as they met.\nEctor rode out among the presses, and encountered Achilles. With their large, round spears, each determined to confound the other. They clashed, both enraged and rightfully so. With a despising heart, Achilles was the first to fall from his saddle. And Ector, in his eagerness, seized him by the reins, intending to deprive him of it forever. He commanded his men to lead it home as a prize. There was no one else but Ector, standing among the Greeks and his men. He called out loudly to his knights, urging them to retrieve his horse. They quickly complied and fell upon Achilles, taking it from him against his will. They carried it away and returned it to Ector, who was assured of his victory in knighthood.\nDespite his sadness, he recovered. Afterward, they fled from him in fear, as if he were a lion, working among them all day. And as death pursued them, they feared his sword. Through his manhood, the Trojans began again to fight against the Greeks on the field. But it happened among them, in the midst of their great fight, that Antenor, a certain Trojan knight, was taken. Among the press, he was sent in haste to their tents. Although his son, Polydamas, tried to rescue him, no negligence was found in him. And through his worthiness, he bought many Greeks that same day. But for the cause of only darkness, and because it began to draw towards night, they made an end, only for the lack of light. And the Greeks went home to their lodgings, and the Trojans until the morning. Then Phoebus began to show his bright adornments, and Aurora began to dew the sweet herbs and the green leaves.\nBoth on Hayes and in fresh greens,\nSilver bright with round pearls fine,\nThat so clearly against the sun shine,\nAnd show themselves so Oriental and shine,\nOn hill and dale and on every green,\nThe rosy morrow till the hot beams,\nOf bright Phoebus with his fiery stems,\nVapor rises up, their moisture into air,\nThe weather clear, agreeable and fair,\nAnd tempered also by his heat,\nWhen the Trojans cast themselves to dine,\nWith their women, placidly if they may,\nAnd out they went in their best array,\nWith their wards into field by row,\nAgainst whom Greeks were not slow,\nBut showed them forth without longer delay,\nTill they together had manfully met,\nAnd with their spears and their swords clear,\nThey ran together with a despotic cheer,\nTill shield was met with a separate spear,\nOn strong shelters, they clad themselves,\nAnd Ryuen was on many targets,\nAnd with javelins, round and broad and large,\nOn basinettes, as they smite and shed,\nFull many knight mortally began to bleed.\nIn swiftness, and as I tell, on the same day,\nMany a man was slain on the other part,\nBut most of Troy's town, Alcides (Hercules)\nShows no mercy to any person,\nOn neither side, but in general,\nExcept he concludes, plainly, that this fight\nLasted from morning till it was night,\nWhich Troyans had fully paid for,\nFortune helped them not at all,\nBut turned it all to their confusion,\nAnd so they returned to the town\nAnd to their tents, the Greeks pressed them hard,\nUntil on the morrow, they sent Diomedes\nWith Ulysses to Troy, the city,\nFor a truce, only for three months,\nIf King Priam would consent,\nAnd as they two went on this message,\nA certain knight, born of Troy's town,\nWho was called Dolon, of great discretion,\nAnd also famous for riches,\nHis deeds and diligence\nBrought them to convey\nTo the presence of Priamus, in his royal palace\nAnd in his sea, chief and principal.\nWhereas he sat, his lords surrounded him,\nMany knights, renowned, spoke first,\nThey specified to him the substance of their embassy,\nAnd the truths they intended, they declared,\nIf it was so, he would assent,\nAnd the king, benevolently listening,\nAnd by advice, prudently responded,\nThat therefore, to save his honor,\nAt a good leisure, he would have a council,\nWith his lords, and govern fully,\nIn this matter, as they discerned,\nAnd to conclude briefly, each one assented,\nExcept Ector alone,\nTo the truths, and would not deny,\nBut Ector said, that of treachery,\nOnly of slaughter and false treason,\nTheir asking was under occasion,\nFirst, to bury Greeks who were dead,\nAnd under color of that, out of fear,\nAfterward, to avenge themselves,\nFor he well knew that their cause was failing,\nAnd to prevent them from dying,\nThey sought a space, themselves to pursue,\nBy outward signs, that he did spy.\nWherefore said he, I dislike lying.\nBy appearance, as I dare presume,\nWhile we waste and consume our stuff,\nAs it is to dread, they will provide,\nOf what they have need,\nFor all that is to them advantage,\nMight be to us hindrering and damaging,\nAnd while they increase and amend,\nWe shall our store decrease and dispend,\nNevertheless, however it be,\nConcerning this truth, for three months,\nSince you all assent and accord,\nFrom your sentence, I will not discord,\nIn no way, to be varied,\nAnd thus the truth was confirmed by grace,\nOn the other side, they thought for the best,\nBecause they should, in quiet and rest,\nEase them and relieve,\nAnd those who felt their wounds sore grieve,\nMight have less, themselves to recover,\nAnd while the truth did thus endure,\nThey filled in Troy and in communing,\nOf Athenor and Thoas the king,\nThat Athenor should be king Thoas,\nAnd so Thoas should to Greece home again.\nOnly by exchanging, as you have heard me say,\nOne for another, as it accorded was,\nAnd in this while, the bishop named Calchas,\nRemembered him upon his dear daughter,\nCalled Crisydes, with her eyes clear,\nWhom in Troy he had left behind,\nWhen he went, as the book makes clear,\nFor whom he felt passing great pain,\nSo tenderly she was set at his heart,\nAnd imprinted, both at eve and morrow,\nAnd the chief cause, and ground of all his sorrow,\nWas that she left him behind in the town,\nWithout comfort or consolation,\nAs he cast, truly, in his absence,\nAnd specifically, for his great offense,\nThat he had wrought against the Trojans,\nAnd as he thought, he should never have joy,\nTill he had recovered his daughter again.\nTherefore, Calchas, the story says certain,\nIn his wits, many ways he cast,\nHow he might, while the truths last,\nRecover his daughter by some manner way,\nAnd as I find, upon a certain day,\nIn his portal, humbly and pitifully,\nWith weeping eye, he went.\nIn complaining of terrors allegedly reigning,\nWhose inner woe was not feigned,\nHe fell on his knees before the great king Agamemnon,\nBeseeching him with all humility,\nOf very mercy and high pity,\nWith other kings sitting in the assembly,\nTo have pity and grant grace,\nAnd on his woeful state to have compassion,\nThat he might have restitution,\nOf his daughter whom he loved so,\nPraying them all to grant his request,\nThrough their prudent mediation,\nFor Antenor, who was in their prison,\nIf they pleased, of their benevolence,\nTo grant his release,\nAnd they granted it and forthwith they sent,\nTo King Priam, for Cryseisde,\nFor Calchas' sake, and with her all they charged,\nThe responsibility for her,\nTo those who went for this embassy,\nTo Troy town, and to King Priam,\nTo whom Calchas was so odious,\nSo hateful also throughout the town,\nThat this report was of him both up and down.\nThat he was a Traitor, and false,\nWorthy to be honored by the half,\nFor his Treason and his doubleness,\nAnd moreover, they said expressly,\nThat he deserved, by right of law,\nShamefully, first, to be drawn,\nAnd afterward, the most horrible death,\nThat he may have, to yield up the breath,\nLike a Traitor, in as despised wise,\nAs any heart, can think or devise,\nEveryone affirming, as by judgment,\nThat death was none, fully equivalent,\nTo his desert or to his falseness,\nAs young and old, plainly bare witness,\nConcluding also, for his iniquity,\nThat they would assent in no degree,\nTo anything that might please his heart,\nNor of Crisydes, for his ease,\nThey cast not, to make delivery,\nLeaper they had, to give him mockery,\nIf they him might, at good large price,\nBut finally, the effect of all this charge,\nIs so far driven, to an end,\nThat Priamus has granted she shall go,\nWith king Thoas; shortly there is no more,\nTo her Father, for Dawn Anthenor.\nWhoever grumbles at the king in Parliament,\nHas given judgment so utterly,\nIt may not be replied to,\nFor with his word, the sentence was assured,\nThat she must part with her eyes glad,\nAnd of her sorrow, playfully that she made,\nAt her parting, you shall hear,\nWhen it again comes to my matter.\nThe truths confirmed, as you have heard decree,\nOn the other side, those who were wise,\nAnd fully agreed, each one,\nUntil three months have come and gone,\nLike as I read, on a certain day,\nWhen the morning was agreeable and gray,\nBlandishings and pleasantly delightful,\nEctor in his heart caught an appetite,\nLike Guydo, desiring to write,\nThe same day, Greeks to appease,\nFull well aware, and wonderfully rich,\nWith many worthy, in his company,\nAnd to the tent, first of Achilles,\nI find in truth, this Troyan knight,\nMounted on his steed, took the right way,\nJust like a man, as is mentioned,\nNow Achilles had great affection.\nIn his heart, both day and night,\nWorthy Ector longed to see\nNever in his life, by any cause,\nCould he inspect or behold him,\nUnarmed, he could never see him,\nBut knightly they appeared, as much in demeanor as in fear,\nAnd manly, in their countenance,\nAt last, they fell into combat\nBut Achilles first drew back\nAnd to him spoke thus:\n\"Ector said, 'It pleases me greatly,\nThat I may see you, naked,\nSince I could never have seen you,\nBut when you were armed as a knight,\nNow it will be grievous to me,\nWho am so envious inwardly,\nBut you of me, there is nothing more to say,\nBe slain at once, with my hands.'\nFor truly, it is my pleasure,\nTo take vengeance by cruel death.\"\nFrequently in war and fight,\nI have felt the power and great might,\nOf your strength, through many sharp wounds.\nThat upon me is fresh and green in many places,\nBy shedding of my blood, thou were on me,\nSo furious and mad,\nAye come,\nFor many a day,\nThy sharp and cruel,\nAnd mortally as I can sign,\nMy plates strong, perced and hewed,\nAnd my head,\nMight not endure,\nIn thine eyes,\nThat thy sword,\nInto my flesh, full deep and full profound,\nAs it shows,\nOn my body large, long and wide,\nThat yet appear, on every side,\nAnd day by day, full sore, ache and smart,\nFor which reason, it seems to me that my heart\nEnvelops new, now, when I remember these,\nOf high spite, avenged to be,\nSo am I filled, of envious rage,\nThat it may never, in my breast, be assuaged,\nTill the vengeance and the fatal suit,\nOf cruel death, be on the execute,\nAnd of one thing, most is my grief,\nWhen I have, fully remembered,\nAnd in my mind, considered up and down,\nHow thou made a monstrous thing,\nOf me, alas, and of Patroclus,\nSo young, so manly, and so virtuous,\nWhom I loved, as it was heavenly and right,\nRight as myself, with all my full might.\nWith as whole heart and truly kindness,\nAs a tongue may tell or express,\nNow hast thou made a departure\nOf us that were by whole affection\nBound in one of heartely alliance,\nWithout parting or disseverance,\nSo entirely our faithful hearts twain\nWere linked and locked in a chain,\nWhich might not, for none adversity,\nOf life or death, a twain be severed,\nTill cruelly thou didst make us part,\nWhich through my heart so inwardly doth dart,\nThat it will never, in truth, out of my thought,\nAnd trust well, full dear shall be bought,\nThe death of him, and be no thing in were,\nPerhaps or ended be this year,\nFor upon the only for his sake,\nRevenge shall be taken, cruel and sure,\nI ensure, without other bond,\nIf I may live with my own hand,\nI shall of death do execution,\nWithout abode or long delay,\nFor right requires, without any fear,\nDeath for death, for his final reward,\nFor I myself, thereon shall be wroked,\nThat through the world hereafter shall be spoke.\nHow Achilles avenged Patroclus, whom he loved so,\nAnd though I may seem envious and desirous of your death,\nNeither know I not, nor put blame on me,\nFor I well know that you are the same to me,\nAnd have desired my death many days,\nAnd therefore inwardly conspired,\nAnd thus, shortly after we met,\nThere is but death between us without further words,\nWhen Fortune has the time and shape,\nI hope fully that you shall not escape,\nTrust none other, I say utterly,\nTo whom Hector spoke not hastily,\nAnswered again with sober countenance,\nAroused well in all his dalliance,\nAs one who was in nothing reckless,\nAnd even thus he spoke to Achilles:\nSir Achilles, without any fail,\nYou ought not to marvel in any way,\nThough with my power and my full might,\nWith heart and will of very deep right,\nDay by day I conspire your death,\nAnd ever in one compass it and desire,\nAnd do my labor earnestly and also late,\nTo pursue it by full cruel hate,\nYou ought not to marvel in any way.\nBut fully I know, by sentence,\nIn no manner, he who takes heed\nOf righteousness, it may not proceed,\nThat other I, or any other wight\nShould love him, who with all his might\nPursues my death and destruction,\nAnd over this, to more confusion,\nHas laid siege about this city\nOn my kindred and also upon me,\nAnd therefore, truly, with mortal hate\nOf war intends to consume us all,\nI truly cannot find in my heart,\nAs by law of kind, such one to love,\nNor have him cheer, truly in no degree,\nFor of war, may no friendlyness\nNor of debate, love, a right proceed,\nFor truly love, most in special,\nOf faithfulness, has its original,\nIn hearts joined, by agreement,\nOf one accord, whom no difference\nOf doubtfulness may in any degree\nNor in joy nor adversity\nFor life nor death, a separate nor dissever,\nFor where love is, it continues ever.\nBut of hate, all is the contrary,\nOf which truly, from hearts when they vary.\nProcedeth rankle at the eye, as men may see,\nDebate, envy, strife, and enmity,\nMortal slaughter, both new and old,\nThe mother of which, in truth, is war,\nThe fine reason for which, long or short,\nSeparates hearts and friendship cuts asunder,\nAnd causes love to be laid full low,\nBut for all this, I will well that you know,\nYour proud words, in heart nor in thought,\nIn very truth, do not displease me right,\nAnd if I shall, furthermore, break the truth for to speak,\nI say plainly, hence or two years,\nIf I may live, in these wars here,\nAnd my sword of knighthood, forth achieve,\nI hope in truth, so mortally to grieve,\nThe Greeks all, when I meet them,\nThat they and thou, shall feel full unsweet,\nIf you continue, and the wars haunt,\nI shall your pride and servility advance,\nIn such a way, with my hands two,\nThat either the war, fully be done,\nFull many Greeks, sore shall it avenge,\nFor well I wot, of old and not of new,\nThat the Greeks, gathered here in one.\nOf surquedry are found everyone,\nOnly for lack of discretion,\nTo undertake a siege to lay,\nAnd yourself to overcharge in vain,\nWith emptiness without a fable,\nBe of weight to you importable,\nAnd the pains of such great heaviness,\nThat finally will press us all,\nAnd your pride will humble and incline,\nThe berthone also will encourage back and bind,\nAnd unwarily will cause you to fall,\nOr you have done, I say to one and all,\nAnd over more be full in surety,\nThou Achilles I speak to thee,\nThat fatal death first shall assay,\nBefore thy sword in anything avail,\nAgainst me for all thy worthiness,\nAnd if so be that such great hardiness,\nCourage of will, vigor, or might,\nMove thy heart by manhood as a knight,\nTo take on the quarrel, as in dering do,\nFor to dare here between us two,\nThat quarrel, however it may fall,\nFor which we strive all,\nI will assent plainly to Jupiter,\nTill that the death, one of us departs.\nThere is no more, these lords here\nKinges, princes, will agree ever,\nThat it be done, fully by one assent,\nAnd hold stable, of heart and intent,\nWhich in a field, only we two,\nAs I have said, this quarrel may delay,\nAnd it shall end, by this condition,\nThat if it happens, through your high renown,\nI will you make, full assurance,\nThat first, my lord, Priamus the king,\nShall unto Greeks, in all manner submit,\nWith scepter & crown, wholly him subdue,\nAnd in a point, vary neither flight,\nFully to yield, to your subject's rule,\nAll his lordship, within Troy town,\nAnd his lies, in captivity,\nShall go their way, out of this city,\nAnd leave it quite, in your governance,\nWithout strife, or any variation,\nAnd thereupon, to ensure,\nTo divide, all ambiguity,\nBefore the goddesses, by oath and sacrament,\nWe shall be sworn, in full good intent,\nAnd over more, our faith also to save,\nTo assure you, in pledge, you shall have.\nThe men while and keep them on your side,\nAt your choice, hostages to abide,\nFrom Troy town, of the worthiest,\nWhom you please and also the best,\nSo that you shall, of nothing be in want,\nOf all that ever I say to you here,\nAnd Achilles, without further words,\nIf you please, accord fully with this,\nThat I have said, your honor to increase,\nTo make this war, suddenly to cease,\nIt is likely, for to last long,\nBetween Trojans and the Greeks, strong,\nYou shall not only, with honor and fame,\nThroughout the world, get the name,\nBut also all, and that is not small,\nThrough your knighthood, to many profit,\nWho from death shall escape a life,\nAnd to his country, whole and sound arrive,\nWho likely are, by cruel adventure,\nFor to be dead, if the war endures,\nCome therefore, and let not be prolonged,\nBut let the day, at wene, be joined,\nAs I have said, in condition,\nIf in difference, only of this town,\nI have victory, by fortune on the.\nI am not an expert in ancient English text, but I can make some attempts to clean the given text based on the requirements you provided. Here's my attempt:\n\nI am not but anyone who\nBreaks up siege and the war lets\nAnd suffers us to live in quiet\nInto Greece, home when you are gone\nTo this thing, Achilles alone\nHot in his Ire and furious also\nBurning full hot for anger and for wo\nSententia with a despised cheer\nAnd began at once to Ector to dress near\nAnd said he would deliver him utterly\nFrom point to point his asking by and by\nAnd there made none exception\nBut of whole heart and intention\nHis request accepted everyone\nAnd as it seemed, liked it right well\nAnd for his part, he cast a glove down\nIn sign and token of confirmation\nFor life or death, that he will hold his day\nAgainst Ector, happen what may\nUnto which Ector lifted up\nAnd took it up with as glad a heart\nAs ever yet did man or knight\nThat quarreled with his foe to fight\nThere can no man, in truth, a righteous decree\nHow glad he was of this high Empire.\nOf which the noise and the great sound\nRan to the Erythraean Sea of Agamemnon.\nAnd he came down to their tent\nWith all the lords of his Parliament,\nWhere Achilles and Hector were present\nTo write their will as in this matter,\nWere they willing finally\nTo put the quarrel fully in judgment\nBetween the two knights as you have heard,\nAnd with one voice, the Greeks deny,\nAnd said they would not of such a company,\nOf kings, dukes, and lords also,\nBoth life and death, Iuparte between two,\nNor to the course of Fortune submit\nThat can change her face all day,\nAnd some of Troy in conclusion,\nIuparte would not give up their lives or their town\nIn the hands only of a knight,\nTo put all in adventure of fight,\nPriam except, who fully assented in this case,\nPlainly to put and set in judgment,\nHonorfully his royalty,\nSupposing always as memory makes known,\nThat Hector should have had the victory,\nOf this empire, if he took it in hand.\nBut for Pryam could not withstand\nAgainst so many of one entreaty,\nWho were contrary to his opinion,\nBoth of Greeks and Trojans side,\nHe held his peace and let it slide by,\nAnd so the Greeks parted each one,\nAnd Hector is from Achilles gone,\nHome to Troy, where I leave him a while,\nWhile I direct my style to tell,\nOf Troilus and his lamentable woe,\nWho that he made to part his lady from.\nAlas, Fortune, unstable and ready,\nTo be changeable as the stormy face,\nWhich people most trust to embrace,\nYour joy away to turn and wreak,\nUpon wretches, your power to kite,\nRecord on Troilus, it from the wheel so low,\nBy false envy, you have overthrown,\nOut of the joy which he was in,\nFrom his lady to make him forsworn,\nWhen he best thought for to have been shielded,\nAnd of the woe that he had endured,\nI must now help him to complain,\nWhose heart felt such great pain,\nSo inward woe and such great distress.\nMore than I have the ability to express, he knew the parting of Cryseyde. Almost for love and for pain, he died. And fully knew, she would depart. By sentence and judgment final, his father's decision was given in Parliament. For which, with wo and torment, all to rent, he was in point to have fallen in rage. That no man might have peace or quiet, the heavy pains which in his breast began to dare, like a man in fury, he began to fare. And such sorrow, day and night to make, in complaining, only for her sake. For when he saw that she would leave, he would rather have died plainly than to live behind in her absence. For him, without her presence, he was but dead, there is no more to say. And into tears, he began to rain. With which his eyes began to boil, and in his breast, the sighs up to swell, and the sobbing of his sorrows deep, that he cannot but roar and weep. So sore love, his heart began to constrain, and she felt not a little pain.\nBut she wept and cried pitifully, desiring always to die rather than part from him outside Troy. Her own knight, her lust, her life's joy, wept by her cheeks, the tears distilling, and from her eyes, the round drops trickling. And all for dew, had her black wede (wedding veil) spread out, like golden wire, rent and torn. Yanked from her, not with shorn sherries, and over this, her fresh rose-hue. Whilst in ancient times, with white lilies new, weeping woefully, distraught, in April all reigned, or flowers fresh with the dew's sweet. Just so her cheeks were moist and wet, with crystal water ascending high, out of her breast, into her heavenly eye. And ever among her lamentations, she filled a swoon down. Deadly pale, for dimmed in her sight, and often she said, \"Alas, my own knight, my Troilus, alas, why must we part? Rather, let death with his spear dart through my heart and the veins cleave.\"\nAnd with his rage, do not let me try to part from my knight,\nAnd of this woe, O death, that I am in,\nWhy won't you come, and help make an end,\nFor how should I leave Troy and go to the Greeks,\nThere to dwell among my cruel foes,\nAlas, alas, I wretched creature,\nHow should I endure the war there, I, a woman,\nAmongst the men of arms, every one,\nThus she cried, all the long day,\nThis was her complaint, full of great fear,\nHer pitiful noise drew it to night,\nThat unto her came her own true knight,\nFull trustworthy and heavy-hearted,\nHe had found Cressida, lying on the ground,\nAnd pitifully to her he went,\nWith a wretched face and took her in his arms,\nAnd took her up, and between them two,\nBegan anew such deadly sorrow,\nThat it was a sight, at once, to pity and grieve.\nFor she was pale and green of face,\nAnd he was like one dead to ashes.\nAnd from her face was gone all the red,\nAnd in his checks was the blood deceased,\nSo wofully between them two it stood,\nFor she could not speak a single word,\nAnd he was ready with death to wreak\nUpon himself, his naked sword beside,\nAnd she frequently began to grind\nHer limbs out of his arms as if filled with sorrow,\nAnd he himself began to drown in tears,\nShe was still and dumb as any stone,\nHe had a mouth, but words he had none,\nThe weary spirit flickered in her breast,\nAnd of death stood under a pause,\nWithout pretense, truly as of life,\nAnd thus there was, as it seemed, a strife\nWhich of them two should first pass away,\nFor death portrayed in heart or face\nWith such color as men go to their graves,\nAnd thus in woe they came together in rage,\nDisconsolate, the long night through,\nIf I were to recount the whole process\nOf their sorrow, it would occupy me long.\nOf every thing, I shall mention\nAnd tarry here in my translation\nIf I should, in her story proceed,\nBut it seems to me that it is not needed\nSince my master Chaucer here before\nIn this matter has so well performed\nIn his book of Troilus and Criseyde\nWhich he made long since that he died\nRehearsing first how Troilus was constrained\nTo ascend up on love's stair\nAnd how that he, for all his servility,\nAfter became one of the company\nOf love's folk for all his old game\nWhen Cupid made him full tame\nAnd brought him low to his subjection\nIn a temple, as he walked up and down\nWhen he his eyes and hooks laid by\nBeside Criseyde's, closely hid\nWhich on that day he might not avert\nFor through his breast, it pierced and his heart\nHe went home pale, sick, and wan\nAnd in this way, Troilus first began\nTo be a servant; my master tells it thus\nUntil he was helped after by Pandarus\nThrough whose comfort and medical care\nAs in his book is recorded.\nWith great labor, he first came to grace,\nAnd continued by certain years' space,\nTill fortune turned, and frowns upon him,\nForcing him out of town,\nSuddenly, and never to be seen,\nBehold the end of false Felicity,\nBehold the end of worldly pleasures,\nOf fleshly lust, behold its instability,\nBehold the double, variable,\nWorldly bliss, and transmutation,\nThis day in mirth, and tomorrow in woe,\nFor aye, the fine, alas, of joy is sorrow,\nFor Crisyde with King Thoas,\nAnthenor must go forth, alas,\nTo Greeks, and ever dwell with them,\nThe whole story, Chaucer can you tell,\nIf you please, no man lived better,\nNor the process half so well described,\nFor he, our English tongue, gilded with his words,\nRude and boisterous, first by old days,\nThat were far from all perfection,\nAnd held in little reputation,\nTill he came, and through his poetry,\nBegan our tongue to magnify,\nAnd adorn it with his eloquence.\nTo whom honor and reverence throughout this land be given, and sing, so that the laurel of our English tongue be given to him for his excellence, as Columna, by the Cardinal, was given to Petrarch Francesca in Italy. Let the report never fail, nor the honor of his name be dimmed, to be registered in the house of fame among others in the highest seat. My master Galfrid, as the chief poet who ever was in our language, the name of whom shall pale in no age but always shine without eclipsing. And for my part, I will never fine him unworthy, in my writing, clearly until I die. And God I pray, his soul bring in joy. And where I left off, I will again of Troy, the story tell, and first how Guido speaks within his book to Troilus, reproaching him uncurteously, that he sets his heart folly upon Cressida, full of doubtfulness.\nFor in his book, Guidolyste expresses\nThat their tears and complaining\nWere meant with feigning and flattery,\nAnd outwardly disguised with many a false lie,\nFor beneath the surface, all the variation\nWas contrived above with feigned countenance,\nAs women can falsely borrow terrors\nIn their heart, though there be no sorrow,\nLike as they would, in very truth, die,\nThey can think on and another side,\nAs a serpent hides beneath fair flowers,\nIts venom hidden where it resides,\nThe sugar before, the gall hid behind,\nAs fitting is, to their kind,\nTo be diverse and double in nature,\nRather deceiving when men are most assured,\nFor under color, every thing they work,\nThe fair above, the foul in the dark,\nThey hide so that no man may discern,\nAnd though so be it, that with a woeful eye,\nThey can outwardly weep pitifully,\nThe other eye can laugh covertly,\nWhose sorrows all are tempered with allies,\nAnd their color ever is meant with rays.\nFor upon change and mutability,\nStand fast your trust and your certainty,\nSo that you be, sure in doubtes,\nAnd always double in your surity,\nSeeming one when you best can vary,\nLike a cord when you be contrary,\nAnd thus you be, varying in accord,\nAnd holiest seem when there is discord,\nAnd Guydo says, how few or none\nAre in their heart agreed,\nAnd yet they can, be it one or two,\nTo three or four, in their speech seem,\nLike as they were, to one and to no more,\nHold in their love, for well and woe,\nThat every one shall, of himself deem,\nThat he be next, like as it seems,\nAnd thus in hope, stands each of them all,\nThe truest ever, readiest to fall,\nWho serves best, next to be paid,\nAnd thus in change, all their love is faired,\nLet no man trust, but catch when he may,\nFarewell to morrow, though it be sure to day,\nThe fair of change lasteth over year,\nBut it is folly, for to buy to dear.\nThis treasure, hard to possess,\nBut flies away when most needed,\nIf no merchant be at hand,\nYet all day it can be seen,\nIt displays itself at large windows,\nOn high and low chairs in halls,\nAnd in windows, too, in every street,\nAnd also, men may dine with them,\nAt pilgrimages and oblations,\nAt spectacles in cities and towns,\nAs Guydo says, and all is for sale,\nBut after him, I can tell no further,\nAnd he also says, in his opinion,\nThere is no fraud fully commensurate\nTo the fraud and cunning contriving\nOf a woman, nor like in working,\nFor he who puts all his trust\nIn them, seeking stability,\nWill find them steadfast as the moon,\nWhich is in the point of changing soon,\nIf he is young, they incite him to rage,\nIf he is old, he falls into dotage,\nTherefore my counsel is to both,\nCast off the bird, and lightly let them go.\nThis teaches Guydo, God wot and not I.\nThat hath delight in speaking cursedly,\nThroughout all his book, as men may see,\nWho so list to look thereon,\nHe had envy in particular,\nOf whom in good faith I am right wroth,\nThat he with them listed to debate,\nFor the reason that the Latin to translate,\nInwardly, my heart bled,\nOf high despite, his clauses to read,\nThat renowned, in conclusion,\nOnly of malice to accuse,\nOf these women, full evil might he through,\nSo generally, their sect to describe,\nWhich made not, through discreion,\nOf good nor bad, none exception,\nHe was to blame, foul might he fall,\nFor cause of one, to hinder all,\nFor I dare well affirm by the rod,\nAgainst one bad, be a hundred good,\nAnd though some one double be and new,\nIt hinders not, to them that be true,\nAnd by example, also though he show,\nThat some one, whylon was a scoundrel,\nThey that be good, take no heed,\nFor it, no hindrance, is to womanhood.\nFor there again, at Colchester,\nA thousand virgins, in that holy place,\nA man may find, and in our calendar,\nFull many maids, perfect and enter,\nWho to the death, stable were and true,\nFor some of them, with the roses they wore,\nOf Martyrdom, the bliss of heaven won,\nAnd some also, as books tell, knew,\nWith the lily, of virginity,\nAnd violets, of perfect chastity,\nHad ascended above the starry clear,\nAnd the sphere, of the ninth,\nWherefore joy everlasting and gladness eternal,\nWherefore in truth, as I can discern,\nThough some clerks may have erred,\nLet no good woman be misled,\nFor lack of one, all are not to blame,\nAnd likewise, of men, may be said the same,\nFor to the true, it is no reproof,\nThough it so be, another may be a thief,\nFor what is he, the worse in his degree,\nThough the other, may be hanged on a tree,\nNor unto women, hindrance is it none,\nAmongst a hundred, though that there be one,\nOf governance, that be vicious.\nFor there agayne / a thousande vertuous\nIf that ye lyste / lyghtely ye may fynde\nAnd though Guydo wryte / they haue of ky\u0304de\nTo be double / men shulde it goodly take\nAnd there agayne / no maner grutchyng make\nNature in werkynge / hath full great powere\nAnd it were harde / for any that is here\nThe course of hir / to holde or restreyne\nFor she wyll nat be gyded / by no reyne\nTo be coarted / of hir dewe ryght\nTherfore eche man / with all his full myght\nShulde thanke god / and take pacyently\nFor if women / be double naturelly\nWhy shulde men / ley on them the blame\nFor though myn Auctor / hyndre so their name\nIn his wrytynge / oonly of Cryseyde\nAnd vpon hir / suche a blame leyde\nMy counsayle is / lyghtly ouer passe\nWhere he myssayth / of hir in any place\nTo hyndre women / outher eue or morowe\nTake no hede / but let them be with sorowe\nAnd skyppe ouer / where ye lyste nat rede\nTyll ye come / where that Dyomede\nFor hir was sent / into Troye towne\nWhere ceryously / is made mencyowne\nFirstly, she was delivered to him for Anthenor and King Thoas, and how Troilus began to convey her with many others to bring her on the way. After this, Dionede led her by the way until he brought her to her father's tent. Calchas received her, lodged her there where he lay, and from her speech during the entire day and all the details, it is recounted carefully and well in Troilus' book, as I have told you. To write it often, I hold it to be in vain. But Guido says it was long or night had not come. How Crisyde forsook her own knight and gave her heart to Diomede, of tenderness and womanhood. Troilus grew cold in her heart without fire, as these ashes are old. I can give no other excuse but only kind's transmutation, which is fitting to her nature. Seldom or never stable to endure, as experience teaches men often. But now, I must return to my matter, though I am far.\nAs I began to write of the war,\nThe time passed of the truce's take\nThe next morning, Whitas had forsaken\nThe under party of our Emysperre,\nWhere all night long he had been full merry\nWith Aurora lying by his side,\nBut in his bed he longed no longer to abide,\nBut shipped himself up and cast his streams shine\nOn Troy's wall, where Aeneas, armed clean,\nEntered the field and swiftly advanced,\nFifteen thousand in his company,\nOf worthy knights and manly men,\nAnd as I find, Troilus had ten\nKnights also, whose banners he bore,\nAnd in haste, Paris went forth\nWith Perce long and them, each bearing a bow\nAnd sharp arrows, trussed by their side,\nAnd of knights that rode about him,\nHe had also three thousand, as I find,\nAnd Dephebus came next, with three thousand knights,\nWhose plates shone with the sun's full shine,\nAnd next him came the Trojan Aeneas,\nAnd truly, that very day they were with Troy's town.\nA hundred thousand knights of renown, as recorded by Dares Phrygius, and Guido writes in his book: And with the Greeks, all before that day, went Menelaus with seven thousand knights, each one whom he led, and with as many went Diomede. Next to them followed the hardy Achilles with his Myrmidons. Three thousand knights whom he led into the field against them of the town, and lastly came Agamemnon with such a number of Greeks that it is wonderful to tell. And when the warders in the field had taken their positions, Agamemnon, who was called Agrecyssus by Phyllys, saw him sitting on his horse. Immediately, as he caught sight of him from Ector, he threw his spear at him. But when Ector perceived his coming, he took up a spear and rode to meet him. Through his shield and his round plates, he gave him his last, fatal wound. Upon his death, avenged.\nFull many Greeks fled from Hector,\nThe first of all, the worthy king famous, named Antiphus,\nDue to high disdain, only for Phyllis' sake,\nSet his course towards Hector and with a spear,\nRan at him rightly,\nBut Hector first, with such might,\nThrough his armor pierced his spearhead,\nAnd Antiphus fell to the ground, dead.\nThe Greeks mourned his death,\nAnd they exerted their strength and pain,\nFurious and mad,\nTo avenge themselves on Trojan blood,\nThrough his passing, they began to oppress the Trojans,\nSo that many one that day could not endure,\nThrough breast and heart,\nTo be dead and slain among the press,\nAmong whom cruel Achilles,\nSlew Lycaon and Euphorbus,\nNoble knights, right worthy and famous,\nWho had come,\nAgainst the Greeks, to help the city,\nWhile the Trojans were so closely confined,\nWith spear, quarrel, dart, or arrow.\nEctor was wounded through the visor into the face, which was like a river. The red blood began to gush down. But his harneys (heralds) through his avenue were astonished, when they had a sight of it. Full many Trojans took him to flight and drew close to the city. At the chase, full many one was taken slave. Or they might have removed themselves from the field. And ever in one, Greeks pursued. To the walls of the town, almost, Ector, the Trojan champion, began to take heed. Although his wound bled sorely, he comforted them and rallied them into the field. Namely, when he had inspected, on the walls and towers of the town, he saw Eleanor and Hecuba the queen, and his sister, fair Polyxena, with many other ladies, beholding him. His heart grew cold at once. Of very shame, his knights should flee. And like a lion in his cruelty, he made them turn back manfully, each one. In his way, he met Meryon.\nA king, not an ally of Achilles, struck him with his sword, severing him in two pieces. When Achilles saw him fall, he seized a spear and intended to pierce Ector through shield and mail. Enviously, Ector rode towards him, and beside the shield, he dealt a cruel blow. But Ector never faltered; he sat firmly and made no delay. With his sword immediately, Ector ran to Achilles with an envious thought. He gallantly approached on his courser. And on his crest, which shone so bright and clear, Ector struck with such might that he pierced through his basinet. He also raced away from his entourage. With that stroke, many pieces of mail were dislodged. Achilles was compelled to lean and bow his back at that moment. At this time, Ector spoke to him:\n\n\"Achilles, I duly warn you,\nThe great envy of your cruel heart.\"\nAnd specifically, that thou hast to me, but beware, I counsel thee. Thou thyself put so in adventure. For one thing, I plainly ensure, as I desire, at my last some day, here in the field if I thee meet, Trust me right well, there gains no succor. That I shall so, acquit thy labor. So mortally, I do understand, With this sword, that I hold in hand, That with thy life, thou shalt not escape, So cruelly, the vengeance shall be taken, Eft'wn when we meet, even upon thy head, Of which thing, when Achilles took heed, Adverting all that he heard him say, Right as he would have answered again, Worthy Troilus, knightly entered in, And made them a sundry for to twine, And through the manhood of his company, Of worthy knights, that he did choose, And high prowess of his own might, He hath the Greeks put again to fight, And slain of them that day out of fear, Six hundred knights, truly as I read, For loss of which, the Greeks fast flee, To their tents, of necessity.\nKing Tyllus made haste to heal the field, restoring it through his skill. The battlefield of the Greeks recovered instantly. But King Odymus, rushing from Troy, arrived and attacked Tyllus in the same spot. He inflicted such a wound on Tyllus' face that he feared for his life. Odymus was certain to take him, with the help of Troilus, and lead him to the town. But the Greeks came in such numbers to save him in this critical moment that Odymus could not advance further.\n\nKing Tyllus, meanwhile, encountered Diomede and his men. Troilus was among them. Suddenly, Diomede unhorseed Tyllus, just as it was his destiny to do so. Afterward, Tyllus remounted and asked a squire to lead his horse to Cythera, pleading with her to accept it for his sake.\nAs for a gift / from her own man\nSince he that day / for her love it won\nAmidst the field / through his great might\nOf him that was / once her own knight\nAnd he in haste / on his way is gone\nAnd thereof made / to her present\nPraying her / in full humble way\nThis little gift / that she not despise\nBut it receive / for a remembrance\nAnd with all this / that it be pleasing\nOf very pity / and of womanhood\nOn her servant / called Diomede\nTo remember / that was come her knight\nAnd she at once / with heart glad and light\nFull womanly / bade him return again\nTo his lord / and plainly to him say\nThat she might / of kindness and womanhood\nRefuse him plainly / from her grace\nThat was to her / there in strange place\nSo kind he found / and so comfortable\nIn every thing / and so servable\nThat it may not / lightly out of mind\nTo think on him / that was so true and kind.\nWith this answer / the messenger is gone\nTo his lord / and told him anon.\nWord by word, just as she had said,\nAnd he, content, thought plainly in his heart,\nHe was recovered, his pain's torment eased.\nAnd forth he had him, in arms as a knight,\nBut that day, during the strong fight,\nThey of Troy so manfully bore themselves,\nThe Greeks could not withstand them before us.\nTo their tent, they had chased them down,\nThe one who would have been King Agamemnon,\nThe Greeks would have been driven out of the field.\nWhich thing, at once as he beheld,\nHe came upon with many worthy men,\nAnd those of new, the battle again began,\nOn every half, upon the large plain,\nThe Greeks had the Trojans so laid low,\nThat again they won the field.\nSo that Trojans, compelled, began to lose their land,\nUntil Polydamas, with his knights,\nBegan to fall upon the Greeks endlessly,\nThem of Troy, full manly to sustain,\nAnd the Greeks, he began to press,\nWhen he came in, they lost their ground,\nAnd to the shore, even upon the sea.\nThrough his knighthood, he made them flee,\nWhose lives were in fear,\nThe which misfortune, when that Diomede\nBeheld and saw,\nHow Polydamas\nPursued him on horseback in the field, a fearsome sight,\nWith cruel heart, he seized a spear at once,\nAnd springing out, rode to him right away,\nAnd he again, to acquit himself like a knight,\nAs one who desired on no side to feign,\nOf his steed, held against the rain,\nAnd seized a spear & threw it in the rest,\nAnd Diomede, he struck him so on the breast,\nThat mortally, as it is found,\nHe unhorsed him with a grievous wound,\nAnd right away, with a knightly heart,\nPolydamas, all at once, arose,\nTo the horse of this Diomede,\nAnd by the reins, proudly began to lead,\nTo Troylus, where he stood on foot,\nAll bathed, in the Greeks' blood,\nOn every half, which touched him,\nAmong them, so knightly he had treated,\nThat they could not endure nor sustain,\nHis sharp sword, ground was so keen,\nAnd deliveredly, despite all his feet.\nInto the saddle he stepped up,\nUnexpectedly, armed as he was,\nWith sharp swords, for the nones sharpen,\nAs Achilles and he together met,\nWorthy Troilus, of rancor and pride,\nAchilles struck, and he fell aside,\nDown from his horse, low to the ground,\nNot resisting, his green mortal wound,\nHe rose again, and quickly sped,\nIf he might, to recover his steed,\nBut all in vain, it would not avail,\nSuddenly, with a fresh battle,\nThey of Troy, as is mentioned,\nEncircled him wisely,\nEvery one of them, armed bright and clean,\nAnd Hector, in his furious hold,\nAs Dares tells, described the manner,\nThe same day, a thousand knights slow,\nWho opposed them, only in difference,\nFor Achilles, to make resistance,\nThat time of death, standing in jeopardy,\nThat certainly, but if books lie,\nBy likelihood, he might not escape,\nIn that misfortune, to be dead or take,\nHector upon him, was so furious,\nBut as I read, Thelamonius.\nRescued him in this great need\nAnd caused him to recover his stead\nNotwithstanding all the great pressures\nFor the Duke and lord of Athens\nWas in this case of heart and whole intent\nTo help Achilles, so diligent and valiant\nWho brought with him many noble knights\nBut because it drew towards night\nAs the story makes rehearse\nThey made an end, as of that battle\nAnd they of Troy entered the town\nAnd afterwards, as is commonly known\nBy and by having delays\nThey fought mortally for thirty days\nWithout any interruption\nOn the other part, to great destruction\nBut almost for all their great pride\nThey lost most on the Greeks' side\nSave Priam, lost in particular\nSix of his sons, called natural\nFor whom he had full great heaviness\nAnd as the story liketh to express\nThis meantime, Ector in certainty\nWas wounded in his face again\nAnd thus they have, on every part, received great damage\nUntil king Priam from Troy sent down\nFor a true truce to Agamemnon,\nFor six months if he would agree,\nAnd thereupon, a council held,\nWith his lords, what was best to do,\nAnd each one accorded thereto,\nAnd granted his request in conclusion,\nAnd all this while, within Ilion,\nDuring the peace, on other parts assured,\nOf his wounds, fully to be cured.\nLay worthy Ector, protector of the town,\nBut of this rich, royal chief dwelling in Ilion,\nThat Ilion, in Troy, bore the name,\nWhich of building had such fame,\nIf I should come to describe it so down,\nAs Dares does in his description,\nI want skill, my terms to apply,\nFor in his book, as he does specify,\nIn this whole world, was there none so rich,\nOf high design nor such building,\nThe which stood, the more to delight,\nAs he records on twelve white stones.\nOf Alabaster, shortly to conclude,\nAnd twenty paces, the latitude,\nThat ground yielded through and crystal clear,\nAnd up on high, performed every wall,\nOf all stones, that any man can find.\nOf Diamonds and sapphires, inde\nThe royal ruby, so orient and light,\nThat the darkness of the dim night\nEnhanced was, with its beams sheen,\nAnd ever among, were emeralds green,\nWith stones all, that any man in this world\nCould devise or reckon,\nThat were of price, value or riches,\nThere were wrought, of large and great redness,\nAs Dares Phrygius says,\nAnd thereupon, set at the corners\nOf pure gold, all above in height,\nThere were images, wonder huge in weight,\nWith many pearl and many rich stone,\nAnd every pillar in the hall had one,\nOf massy gold, borned clear and bright,\nAnd wonderful, to any man's sight,\nFor of this work, the marvelous fashion\nWas more like, by estimation,\nA thing made and founded by fairy,\nThan any work wrought by fantasy,\nThrough wit of man, as likely seems,\nFor in his book, Dares bears witness,\nThat it was like, to reckon sight and all,\nIn appearance, a thing celestial.\nSince in this book, you get no more of me.\nFor in writing, I might never see it be\nThough all other things it excelled to be\nNo more of this, I think now to relate\nBut return again to Priamus\nWho all this while was only eager\nWith all his might and his busiest care\nTo ordain for the sepulture\nOf his sons that before were dead\nAnd all that time, Diomedes\nWith love's dart was wounded to the heart\nAs one who felt inwardly smote\nOf woeful sighs which in his breast abated\nFull often a day for love of Criseid\nFor he was shaken with a new fever\nThat caused him to be full pale of hue\nAnd to wax both meager and lean\nFor pitifully, he began to abstain\nFrom meat and drink and from all pleasure\nAs was seen in his dying face\nAnd often a day to her he would complain\nOf his disease and his mortal pain\nPraying for grace that she would see\nUpon his woe, for to have pity\nAnd of mercy, for to take heed\nOf her servant, only of womanhood\nOr plainly else, there is no more to say.\nFor her sake he said he would die.\nBut cunningly and in full sleighty wise,\nTo keep him low under her service,\nWith delays she held him forth on hand,\nAnd made him, in a wary state,\nFull unsure between hope and despair,\nAnd when that grace should have had repair,\nTo put him out of all heaviness,\nDanger of new brought him in distress,\nAnd with a disdain to increase his pain,\nOf double woe she brought him in a train,\nAs women can hold a man full narrow,\nWhen he is hurt with Cupid's arrow,\nTo set on him many fell assaults,\nDay by day to put him in delays,\nTo stand unsure between hope and fear,\nJust as Crisseyde left Diomede,\nOf intent to set him more on fire,\nAs this woman kindly desires,\nWhen they have a man,\nUnevenly to hang him in the balance,\nOf hope and fear to link him in a chain,\nAnd of the fine unsure of both twain,\nTo drive him forth years them to serve,\nAnd do no force where he live or thrive.\nThis is the fine/ of love's fiery rage,\nAnd for she would/ have him in service,\nShe locked him/ under such a key,\nThat he knew not/ where to live or die,\nAnd in doubt thus/ I let him dwell,\nAnd forth I will/ from the story tell,\nAnd to my mother/ also return,\nAnd as my Author/ records in certainty,\nAfter the truths/ were worn out and gone,\nTwelve days/ sighing all in one,\nThe Greeks fought/ with them from the town,\nTo great damage/ and confusion,\nOf other party/ and adversity,\nAnd in this while/ a great mortality,\nBoth of sword/ and of pestilence,\nAmong Greeks/ by fatal influence,\nOf noxious heat/ and of corrupt air,\nWas engendered/ that in great despair,\nOf their life/ in the field they lay,\nFor day by day/ suddenly they die,\nAnd their number/ quickly decreased,\nAnd when they saw/ that it would not cease,\nBy their advice/ King Agamemnon\nFor truths/ sent to the town,\nFor thirty days/ and Priamus the king,\nWithout more/ granted his request.\nWhen the plague and the woeful rage of Pestilence began to abate, and the truces were worn out and gone, the Greeks came together with their kinsmen. On a day, in plates armored clean, when Phoebus rose with his beams shining, pleasantly and began to shed his light, I find before the very same night, Andromache, the faithful wife of worthy Hector, whom she loved as her life, by whom he had gotten children two. They were seemly and inwardly fair. And Lamedon was called the elder, so young that he could not yet go. And Astronant I read that he was named. He was well-featured and passing fair to see. And as Guido delights to write, of his mother at the papal white, for very young, that time was suckling. And with his arm, her breasts he was embracing. And she that night, as is mentioned, had in her sleep, a wondrous vision. I note in truth what I may not be false to: either a dream or truly a vision or a revelation. As once had the king Scipio.\nOr a showing, either of an oracle or a warning by miracle. In her slumber, as she lay, her thoughts clearly expressed to her that the next day:\n\nEctor would go, armed for battle as was his custom,\nIntending to escape utterly from Fates' hands,\nAnd Antropos would find, for eternity,\nHis life's thread twisted into two.\nHe would display the might of his fierce power,\nWhen the Parody of this worthy knight,\nA proximate one, without words,\nWould enter the field, plainly if he goes.\nUpon seeing this, she would be astonished,\nStruck speechless and short of breath,\nWhere she lay, suddenly raised up on death,\nAnd with a sigh, cease to sleep and weep,\nPiteously, for the constraint of her heart's sorrow,\nParticularly on the mournful morrow,\nWhen she beheld this stock of worthiness,\nAs he was wont, manfully preparing himself,\nTo arm himself, in the bright steel born,\nThis Trojan wall, Ector, the worthy knight,\nShe can no more but fall down lowly,\nDeclaring herself a vision.\nWith quaking heart, of very womanhood,\nGod took little heed, yet had indignation,\nPlainly affirming that no discretion\nWas to be trusted in such fantasies,\nIn dreams they showed, gladly meant with lies,\nFull of japes and illusions,\nOf which plainly, the conclusions\nWere but to delude the people,\nAlthough these people rude,\nFor a while had affection,\nTo judge and deem in their opinion,\nDiversely, what they might pretend,\nAnd often fall and happen as they thought,\nAnd following like, in conclusion,\nFor fear of which, the Lamentation\nBegan to increase from Andromache,\nAnd in her swoon, first she cried, \"A!\",\nSaying, \"Alas, my own lord, so dear,\nYour true wife, alas, why will you hear\nWhose of such faithfulness, whole affection\nDesires always your saucy behavior?\"\nAnd up she rose, deadly of visage,\nAnd like a woman, caught with sudden rage,\nTo king Priam and Hecuba, the queen,\nIn haste she went, herself to be mean,\nAnd of her wifely heart, true as steel.\n\"Ceriously declared every dele,\nHer pitiful dream, which through miracle,\nTo her only, by divine oracle,\nI showed was, through God's providence,\nAnd told them also, the final ordinance\nOf Fortune's false dispositions,\nFully pursued, to destruction,\nOf her lord, without further delay,\nInto the field, if he goes that day,\nWherefore she prays, with a deadly hue,\nTo the king of Mecca, for recompense,\nFor compassion, to order,\nHis lordship and sovereignty,\nThat her lord not be destroyed,\nOf recklessness or wilfulness,\nAnd with that word, of very kindness,\nIn whom love was ever found,\nBefore the queen, in a swoon fell to the ground,\nAnd said, \"Alas,\" with a full pale face,\nHelp in this case, my own mother dear,\nOf womanhood and pity, grant me grace,\nThat my lord not enter, nor proceed,\nAnd do you, with maternal pity,\nBenignly and goodly, to behold,\nHis knighthood and his high prowess,\nTo restrain, his renowned noblesse.\"\nThat day, a man should handle spear or shield, and he should not go armed into the field unless both agree for the best and consent to her request. Finally, they agreed and came together. When the gates were ready, Troilus went out first, followed by Paris. After him, the Trojan Eneas, King Sarpedon, and Polydamas went out. King Hector and King Epistrophus also went out, along with King Forcyus. All were armed and clean in plate and mail. Lastly, King Phylamenus came with all the kings and lords of renown from the town. With the Greeks, they were to engage in a knightly debate. Pryamus himself went to the gate and conveyed them out. He set their guards wisely through his prudence. Afterward, he gave them leave and permission to fight against the Greeks, who were ready to do the same. Their forces were with royal apparatus standing by the field.\nBut Pyramus, in this meantime,\nJust like Guido, in his style remembers,\nFor the fair one, whom you have heard me call,\nWorthy Ector, has returned again.\nHe contradicted him, that he should not\nGo that day to fight against their foe,\nFor which thing, in high contempt, he burned,\nWhen he saw other lords depart\nAnd he alone remained behind.\nTherefore, he became furious and mad.\nHe earnestly pleaded with his wife,\nSo tender-hearted for his life,\nPutting on the disguise of his absence,\nIn consideration of her worth,\nAnd the diminishment of his high prowess,\nHe lifted himself up through tongues,\nThrough false report, it would be a disgrace,\nHe cast aside, from a full knightly heart,\nFor life nor death, it would not hinder him,\nTo be found in the field that day,\nThough it were with many mortal wounds,\nHe would be separate on pieces,\nDismembered here and there,\nSo whole in manhood was his heart set.\nThat he any longer delayed,\nAgainst his father's command, he was diligent,\nAgain the precept and command\nOf his Father, and rode forth on his way,\nFor fear that she would die,\nHis wife of new, cried and shouted,\nAnd with her parents, also hanging out,\nHer little child in her arms twain,\nBefore her lord, began to weep and complain,\nBeseeching him of mercy and pity,\nIf he would, to her sorrow,\nAt the least, for her wife's truth,\nThat he of manhood, have in heart mercy,\nUpon her child and on her also,\nWhich she bore in her arms two,\nAnd could not him from crying keep,\nWhen he saw, his woeful mother weep,\nAnd kneeling down to him she said,\nIn her sobbing, as she might abate,\nMy own lord, have mercy now on me,\nAnd on this little child, which you see,\nSo pitifully, before you weep and cry,\nHave mercy, lord, on us, or we die,\nHave mercy, also, upon this city,\nMy own lord, have mercy, or we shall all perish by cruel death.\nFor lack of help, alas, when you are gone,\nCried Andromecha and his sister Cassandra,\nEccuba and fair Polyxena,\nAnd Helen, the lusty, fresh queen,\nWho all together fell before him,\nWith their uncontrollable weeping and tearing,\nAnd loudly cried out in the place,\nBeseeching him for mercy and grace,\nFor that day to stay in the town,\nAnd in his heart to have compassion on them,\nSince all their trust was in him alone,\nAnd all resistance,\nFor against death he was their chief defense,\nAnd in him wholly was their affiance,\nTheir safety and their sustenance,\nIn every thing that might grieve them,\nAnd yet all this could not move his heart,\nTo stay yet, out of goodness,\nThey begged him to their womanly ways,\nHe would incline his hardened heart a little,\nJust a moment of pity, on their woeful faces,\nWhich was likely to renew and revive,\nEventually, their destruction.\nFor the city/southly and the town,\nHis unwelcome/were endless ruin,\nBut yet all this/could not incline\nHim not to/in conclusion,\nSo indomitable/and hearted as a lion,\nHe was always/continuing in his rage,\nWhose heart/might a soft or a swage,\nNor prayer/nor entreaty\nCould restrain/from his opposition,\nFor every peril/he laid aside\nAnd on his way/began at once to ride,\nWhere through his wife/no other help can\nBut in her rage/to the king she ran,\nSo mad/in her mortal woe,\nThat she could not/uneth with might speak him to,\nSo diffident/and wretched of her sight,\nThat by her hew/knoweth her no one,\nFor lost she had/both might and strength,\nAnd plied she filled/to the ground a length,\nBefore the king/that rout was to see,\nBeseeching him/of intent full clean,\nOf his grace/to consider her wo,\nFor but he help/Ector was a go,\nAnd he seeing/her faithful womanhood,\nAt her request/mounted his steed straightway,\nAnd pricked after/only for her sake.\nIn such great haste, worthy Ector took the city and seized the reign with great difficulty, despite his reluctance. He could not avoid the necessity of turning back. Although he was reluctant, he could not prevent himself from resting. For he would not again strive against his father. Despite feeling his heart swell with melancholy, heartfelt anger, and newfound disdain, Ector's blood was inwardly stirred, making him act like a tiger or a lion. He had just come from battle, and the Greeks and Trojans met in fierce conflict, clashing swords up and down, in stark contrast to the town.\n\nTroilus, on his bay steed, first encountered Deidamia. Each was filled with pride, and they rode toward each other, brandishing sharp spears. Guyon declared fearlessly, \"One or both would have been dead.\"\nMenelaus, a knight, encountered Meriem, the mighty king of Frisia. Menelaus marked him well and, in a furious temper, dismounted from his horse. Meriem, in turn, unseated Menelaus and threw him to the ground, a stroke he could not sustain. Menelaus was so enraged that it seemed likely he would not escape there with his life. The Greeks were closing in quickly. Meriem intended to surround him on every side and cruelly assault him, along with all the destitute in this dreadful case. But Polydamas came to Menelaus' aid with his knights, drawing near when they saw him taken prisoner. Despite their opposition, Polydamas freed Menelaus, resulting in a great uproar. Many lost their lives rather than allowing Menelaus to escape from their hands.\nThey were cast down / so that he would be dead\nFully determined / to have had his head taken\nHe stood in trouble / in such great discord\nBut help came / just in time\nTroyus arrived / most knightly attired\nAnd from his manhood / caused such commotion\nAmong them / in the king's rescues\nHe terrified them / at his coming\nThis mighty lord of Phrygia\nWas delivered from cruel death / as you have heard\nBut then Thelamonius came\nProud in arms / and ever surly\nWith three thousand / each one worthy\nHe unhorseed Polydamas / immediately\nAmong his knights / and proudly bore her down\nBut Troylus / through his high renown\nGained possession of his horse again\nBut they of Troy / were so overwhelmed\nOn every side / through Greek pride\nThat they could not endure / before them\nFor new and new / the bold Achilles\nAssailed them / with his Myrmidons\nThey were forced / by necessity\nIn trouble / they were made to flee\nBack to the walls / and gates of the town\nTo great damage and confusion of their party, a man named Margaron saw how the game went back. In his heart, he grew wroth and was determined to avenge himself. He was both hardy and famous, and soon also a knight to King Priamus, a noble and worthy man. When he saw the misfortune and distress of the Trojans and how they began to flee, he cast himself among their knights to avenge them. But alas, that day he slew Achilles, despite his great might. Achilles was forced to engage him in battle. Among his knights, but Achilles fell, cruelly slain. The Trojans could not endure the field any longer and began to retreat, making a great noise and crying. First for the death of Margaron, and for the pursuit that King Thelamon made on the chase through his cruelty.\nHome of Troy's gates, the city that always slew and killed,\nAlthough Paris manfully withstood, with his brothers born,\nBut they left and forsake utterly the field,\nAnd home they went, and brought on a shield\nThe dead corps of Hector,\nAnd after that, they shut their gates at once,\nThis misfortune, as Ulysses beheld,\nFilled him with great anger, and his heart grew cold,\nAnd he said plainly, without more delay,\n\"I will avenge his death the same day,\nAnd make haste, mount my steed,\nUnaware the king or who was left or right,\nThere was no gain, I go forth until I've passed\nThe gates of the town,\nMore furious than Tyger or lion,\nAt his coming, thick as swarm of bees,\nGreeks fled before his sword,\nThey thought it was time to withdraw,\nFirst, I find out how he had slain,\nTwo worthy dukes, as he encountered them.\nThe name of the first was Eurypalus, and the other was Hascydius. The Trojans had once again won the field, and began anew to sow and follow on their tracks. But Polydamas was causing trouble for them at the same time. The Greeks were taken, but Ector had borne himself so valiantly for her sake that he was the most grievously wounded. Through his knighthood and worthiness, he had put the Greeks in such distress that wherever that day he rode, his sharp sword was bathed in their blood. He was so cruel and merciless. But a knight named Leothides approached him, urging him to dine with him. While Ector was still in a furious rage, and presumptuously setting himself before him, Ector, however, showed no mercy. He slew him on the spot and threw him in the field. When Achilles beheld the great slaughter and the wide wounds that Ector inflicted on every side, he was filled with compassion in his heart.\nAnd up and down/cast and advertise,\nHow the Greeks never can be sure\nAgainst their foe to fight or endure,\nNor keep a field with them to strive,\nWhile Ector was alive.\nWherefore he cast and showed many a way,\nBy what engine Ector might die,\nAt an advantage, if he might find,\nAnd therewith also Polyenes of mind,\nA worthy duke, was also in agreement,\nOnly for her heart and whole intent,\nIn hope stood, his sister's wife,\nFor love of whom he felt his heart rise,\nIn her grace, better for to stand,\nHe cast fully, to take in hand,\nThis high enterprise, as I have told,\nBut while he was on him most bold,\nEctor him slew, there was none other gain,\nThe which anon, as Achilles has seen,\nFor wrath he grew, in his heart as wood,\nAs bore or tiger, in their cruel mode,\nVpon Ector, avenged for to be,\nAnd furiously, on him he began to fle,\nBut Ector caught a quarrel sharp and ygrove,\nAnd threw at him & gave him such a wound,\nThrough out the thigh, on other side.\nThat in the field he could not stay\nBut drew him and went home with his men,\nImmediately making a surgeon to bind\nHis mortal wound, and when he was staunched, and the bleeding ceased,\nIn all haste, he took his steed,\nLest he should die from that wound,\nAfterward, as great fear,\nHe first thought to avenge,\nUpon Et cetera, if he might see him,\nBy chance or sort, if it would fall,\nFor he thought it to be the best remedy,\nOf his hand, if he might die,\nFor of his life he bore no amity,\nLet it be that Et cetera might quit\nDeath for death, in conclusion,\nFor that was his whole intention,\nFulfillment of his desire,\nBy unexpected death to give him mischance,\nBut all this time Et cetera, up and down,\nAs he was wont, played the clown,\nAmong Greeks, in many various places,\nAnd with his sword began to enchant them,\nSo that as the death where they might see him,\nThey fled before him like a swarm of bees.\nFor none so hardy was he, in this while,\nA Greek king he met, by chance or adventure.\nHis coat of armor, in truth, was embellished\nWith many a rich stone that gave a light,\nWhen the sun shone bright and clear,\nPerly's white and Emeralds green,\nMany there were in his presence,\nAnd on the circumference of his basinet,\nAnd round his avenue, of his retinue,\nIn velvet fret, all above the fray,\nSaffron and other red stones,\nOf array when Hector takes the lead,\nTowards him, he drew near with haste,\nFirst, I find, how he had him in thrall,\nAnd after that, by the strength of his manhood,\nHe seized him up, before him on his steed,\nAnd swiftly rode away with him.\nFrom the gates, a little out a side,\nAt good leisure, plainly if he may,\nTo plunder him, of his rich array,\nFull glad and light, of his new empire,\nBut alas, on false covetousness,\nWhose greedy desire, the which is great pity,\nIn hearts may not easily be quenched.\nThe Etik gnaws/ it is so greatly distressed\nThat it defaces/ the high worthiness\nFrequently/ of these conquerors\nAnd of their fame/ rents away the flowers\nDesire/ to have in a greedy thought\nTo attain noblesse/ sincerely longs for nothing\nNor such plunder/ spoiling or robbery\nBelong not/ to worthy chivalry\nFor covetousness/ and knighthood/ as I learn\nCannot be intertwined/ in one chain\nFor it is that often such plunder\nHas caused the ruin/ and root of the ruin\nOf many worthy/ who so desire heed\nLike as you may/ now of Hector heed\nWho suddenly was brought/ to his ending\nOnly for plundering/ this rich king\nFor the desire/ to have him that he had\nOn horseback/ out when he called him\nRecklessly/ the story makes mind\nHe cast his shield/ at his back behind\nTo wield himself/ at more liberty\nAnd for to have/ opportunity\nTo plunder him/ and for no reason spare\nSo that his breast/ disarmed was and bare\nExcept his plates/ there was no difference\nAgain the stroke/ to make resistance\nAlas, why was he so reckless,\nThis flower of knighthood, beyond compare,\nWhen his foe, all that same day,\nLay in ambush for him, in stealthy way,\nIf through mischance, of hate and envy,\nIn the field, he might spy him,\nThis Achilles, cruel and venomous,\nOf heartfelt hate, most melancholy,\nWho cunningly, hiding himself,\nWhen he saw Ector disarmed ride,\nHe seized a spear, sharp and keen,\nAnd in his hateful hand,\nUnawares, or Ector might have noticed,\nAlas, the while he struck him to the heart,\nThroughout the breast, that deadly blow he dealt,\nDown to the earth, this Trojan champion fell,\nThrough negligence, only of his shield,\nThe death of whom, when Odysseus beheld,\nThe worthy king could not restrain,\nBut to Achilles, he rode with all his pain,\nAnd he, amidst the press,\nMaugre the might of his Myrmidons,\nGuyda says for certain,\nOf that wound, he felt the pain on the plain,\nBut his knights, on a shield aloft.\nThey laid him and carried him softly\nTo his tent in all the haste they can\nAnd there I leave this mortally wounded man\nUntil he may recover\nAnd after that, when it was due\nThe Trojans with great reverence\nPerformed their labor and diligence\nTo carry the dead corpse into town\nOf worthy Ector, when Tytan fell down\nAnd to the temple they mournfully went\nAnd of that day, this was the sad end\nI can no more but thus the long night\nIn heaviness as it is sky-blue and right\nI will leave them and again return\nTo my mother to help them mourn.\nBut now, alas, how shall I proceed\nIn the story, that for woe and fear\nMy hand trembles and quakes\nO worthy Ector, only for your sake\nOf your death, I am so loath to write\nO who shall now help me to endite\nOr unto whom shall I call or name\nCertus to none of the Muses all\nThat by agreement sing ever in one\nUpon Pernasus beside Elycon\nSo angelically in their harmony.\nThat tongue is not one that can specify\nThe great sweetness of their lovely song,\nFor no discord is found among them,\nIn their music they are harmonized so,\nIt sits them not for help in woe,\nNor with matters that are mournful sent,\nAs Tragedies, all torn and rent,\nIn complaining, pitifully in rage,\nIn the Theatre, with a dead visage,\nTo them I call, alas, I dare not cry,\nMy troubled pen, of grace for to guide,\nNot to Clyo nor Callyope,\nBut to Allecto and Proserpine,\nAnd Megera, who eternally complains,\nAs those who live, ever in woe and pain,\nEternally and in torment dwell,\nWith Cerberus, deeply down in hell,\nWhom I must pray, to be gracious,\nTo my mother, who is so furious,\nFor a wight that is complaining,\nA dreary fear is right well fitting,\nAnd to a mater, mournful in heaviness,\nAccords well, a countenance of dreariness,\nTo be allied, as by unity,\n\nTherefore help now, thou woeful Nymph,\nSome dreary tear in all thy pitiful pain,\nInto my pen, dolorously to rain.\nAnd help also thou cruelly Xanthius,\nAnd Belides, who has taken the bogeyman,\nAnd with thy stone help thou Zephirus,\nAnd in thy river help Echo also,\nWho for hunger hastes such huge pain,\nThis woeful plaint help me to finish,\nMe to further do your business,\nFor now the stock and root of worthiness\nOf knighthood grows of maiden hours and well,\nThat before all bear away the bell\nOf derrying do this flower of high prowess,\nAnd was an example also of gentleness,\nWho never could do amiss or say,\nAlas, Ector, alas, why must you die,\nO cruel Parcas, why did you not heed,\nSo cruelly to twine his fatal thread,\nYou were too hasty, alas, why were you so,\nAnd namely, the thread to break a two,\nThou Antropos, through thy great envy,\nO Troy, alas, well mayst thou weep and cry,\nAnd make a woeful lamentation,\nWhose haste has brought to thee new confusion,\nLost thy difference and thy strong wall,\nThy bear up thy royal surte,\nBy whom thy honor chiefly was begun.\nAlas, alas, for now your bright sun\nIs eclipsed, and you stand desolate,\nOf all comfort, and disconsolate,\nYour light is lost, and you in darkness,\nI plunged in art, for in truth's fastness,\nOf all the worthy, you have the worthyest,\nThis day lost, and the knightliest,\nWho is or was, shall I ensure,\nBe ever born, while the world may endure,\nNo wonder that you weep sore,\nAnd day by day complain him evermore,\nHe was your shield, both in joy and woe,\nWhom you were wont for to love so,\nSo tenderly, with all your heart's fullness,\nThat it may not lightly leave a stir,\nTo have him ever in your remembrance,\nWhich was in truth your full sufficiency.\nFor as Guydo makes mention,\nThere was no man dwelling in the town,\nThat he had not, of very kindness,\nFor love of him, as he writes express,\nHis child more life to a dying man in this case,\nOther his eye, so well beloved he was,\nIf the gods' fate or destiny\nHad disposed it might have been,\nWoman also, of every manner age.\nFor his death, a furious rage spread through the city in every street, with sobbing and salt tears wetting the faces of young maidens and old matrons. They rent their garments and cried out loudly, saying finally:\n\nAlas, now our Fathers cruelly shall be slain day by day.\nAlas, the while, and no man shall say nay.\nFarewell our help, now Ector is gone.\nIn the presence of Pyramus the king, he had been accustomed to rest, but now he was dead. As soon as he lost the office of speaking, he drowned himself in salt tears and pitifully filled a swan with his cries. Upon the cold corpse, he was deeply desirous of dying at once, but was held back by force. His brothers too, when they took notice, were trust and pale for sorrow, barely alive.\nAnd have them all in rage torn apart,\nNever before, I believe, seen such brotherly care.\nEach one of them, with himself, began to fare,\nAs if they would have died on the corpse,\nFor of their life, plainly, they gave no forsake,\nBut at the ground, with many sorrows sore,\nLike wild bulls, they cried and roared.\nTheir deadly woe to see,\nAn heart of steel, it could not sustain.\nWhat shall I say of Hecuba the queen,\nOr his sister, young Polyxena,\nOr Cassandra, the prudent and the wise,\nOr of his wife, the sorrow to describe,\nWho rent themselves in torment and in woe,\nAs finally, they would themselves for do,\nBy cruel death, so they wept and wailed.\nIf I should recount their sorrows and complaints,\nTheir pitiful sobbing, weeping,\nTheir woeful cries, and pitiful sounds,\nTheir dreary plaintive and lamenting wails,\nAnd all their woe, to specify,\nA large book it would occupy,\nIf each thing, I should tell in order.\nI believe it was too long for anyone, tedious to hear,\nFor many days after, as I learned,\nThe women wept before the corpse lying,\nThemselves defacing in their complaining,\nThat wonder was how they might endure,\nBut that they had it truly of nature,\nAnd of kind, for to weep and wail,\nTo sigh sore and into tears rain,\nTill the tempest of their woeful rage\nMay little by little be assuaged,\nAnd thus I leave them, sigh and sorrow make,\nThese celestial women, in their clothes black,\nShrouded their faces, and wiped more in vain,\nWhile I turn to my matter again,\nTo tell plainly how King Priam,\nIn his heart, was inwardly desirous,\nTo cast away, in his intention,\nThe corpse to keep from corruption,\nWhich naturally, but men heed,\nCorrupt must be, right of very need,\nFor of kindly disposition,\nThere may be made none opposition,\nAbove the ground, if the body lie,\nThat of reason, it must putrefy,\nBut if craft be above nature,\nUncorrupt, it might not endure.\nThe king ordered the preparation to preserve it from harm and abomination, and with clever operation, ensure that it appeared not horrible but lovely and visible to the eye, as if it were quick in existence. What it cost, the king would spare nothing. He summoned before him the most skillful masters of the town, those with the greatest discretion, to carry out his request faithfully with all their will and eager diligence. In the Temple, most revered of all the crown, once dedicated and consecrated to Apollo of ancient foundation, there stood a gate called Tyber. Near this gate, in the phase I speak of here, they first built, by the high altar, a small oratory, perpetually to be remembered. A rich receptacle was set within, made in the manner of a tabernacle.\nA large image, raised on a rich stage, was borne up at each of its corners by four pillars, upon which angels stood, craftily made of pure gold. Each angel held up the work with archangels, raising it wonderfully clean. Above the work bowed an angel, curing it with such marvelous craftsmanship that the roof and closure were plated with fine gold, knotted with curious graves, and adorned with stones of every kind, so royally and in such thriftiness that the darkness of the black night was enchanted by their clear light. From the ground, they shone upwards in a straight line. Degrees were made for men to ascend, made so well that no man could amend the craftsmanship. All were performed in crystal stone, reaching up from the table base where the standing and resting were.\nOf this rich and crafty tabernacle,\nAbove each pinnacle stood a rich ruby,\nAnd atop, high and bright,\nAn image, huge and heavy,\nOf massy gold, bearing the likeness,\nOf worthy Hector, turning his face,\nTowards the Greeks, where he once stood,\nWith his sword in hand, he placed them,\nAmidst this great wealth,\nBy good advice, they had set,\nThe dead body,\nOf this worthy knight,\nStanding upright,\nBy subtle craft, as if alive,\nIn face and countenance, and quick looking,\nAnd in color, truly and in hue,\nAs fresh as any new rose,\nAnd like in all things, as if supposed,\nAs he lived, in his apparel,\nUpon his seat, just as it is told,\nThrough small pipes, wrought and made of gold,\nThat by measure were bent down,\nTo an entrance, made in his crown,\nBy great advice and subtlety,\nTo each party and extremity,\nOf his body, livingly project,\nThrough nerve and sinew, driven and directed,\nBy secret pores, craftily extended.\nWherby the lycour could descend\nTo keep him whole from corruption\nWithout any transmutation\nOf hide and hue in any part to turn\nAnd at his head was an urn\nThat was filled with natural balsam\nThat ran through pipes artificial\nThrough neck and head into many places\nPenetrable by ways of the face\nThat through virtue and force of the lycour\nHe was conserved\nLively of color\nFresh of hue, quick and nothing pale\nSo mightily the balsam did endure\nCompanioned with, as it were, a vegetable soul\nWhich, without sensibility,\nMinistered life in herb, flower, and tree\nAnd seemingly into every vein\nOf the corpse, the virtue did attain\nBy breast and arm spreading around\nFor the moisture, by diffusion\nTo hand and foot, truly as I read\nThrough bone and joint, his virtue shed\nAnd distilling, mightily it wept\nAnd at his feet, full of sweet gums\nA vial stood, tempered with balsam essence\nThat by process, not false,\nDay by day, increases and amends,\nOf which the vapor upwardly ascends,\nCausing the eye, envious to be delighted,\nTo resemble, a very paradise,\nFor the flavor, more wholesome was and sweet,\nThan the odor of spice, gum or root,\nAnd of pure gold, were four lamps light,\nBefore the corpse, burning day and night,\nWith oil in truth, if it be believable,\nThat was by craft, made in extinction,\nFor it could not, my Author says for certain,\nNor with teapot wind nor rain,\nNor by process, wasteth no years,\nWhich in the air, brightly borned wires,\nCraftily, a loftiness raised,\nOf whose sweetness, men rejoiced often,\nIn their courage, it pleased them so well,\nAnd when this work, was completed every dell,\nRound envious, full rich and fresh to see,\nThey made, a parclose of ebony tree,\nThat so long, lasts and endures,\nThe which tree, only of nature,\nWhen it is cut, smells wonderfully sweet,\nAnd may not waste, nor burn with no heat.\nThough it lies among the colts' redede,\nMydde the flame of many fiery glede,\nIt not consumeth, though men assay oft,\nAnd in water it holdeth eke a loft,\nAnd kindly to the ground it goeth,\nToswymme on height, in truth it is so loath,\nAnd like also, as Pliny teaches,\nThis tree once was passing famous,\nOf so high price and reputation,\nThat in the large, mighty region,\nAnd worthy land of Ethiopia and India,\nOf yore agon, the folks as I find,\nHad this tree in so great honor,\nThat they gave tribute to the Emperor,\nAs is remembered of Antiquity,\nOf gold and ivory and this rich tree,\nWith these gifts, famous and royal,\nTo quote their debt to him in particular.\nAnd when Pyramid, in full thriftiness,\nPerformed this rich work, noble and excellent,\nOf heartfelt love, in all his best intent,\nHe also ordained, as Guido can you tell,\nA certain number of priests to dwell\nIn the Temple, in their devotions,\nContinually with devout orisons.\nFor the soul of Ector, I pray that the goddesses allow it to convey,\nEternally with them to dwell yonder, in joy and bliss above the stars clear.\nThe priests, to whom the king gave mansions and possessions,\nWhich he had mortified for them perpetually, as you have heard devised.\nAnd while they kneel, pray and wake, I bring to a close my third book.\nFinally, on my rude manner, as I undertook, and while they of Troy weep and mourn,\nUnto the Greeks I will again return, and with dull style, on the story trace,\nOnly born up with the support of your grace.\n[Explicit, Book Three.]\n[Beginning of Book Four.]\nEctor did this, as you have heard said,\nAnd Achilles, in his tent, lay down\nWith his wounds, mortal and fresh and green,\nUpon a morn, when the sun had chased\nAway the dark night.\nAgamemnon, the wise, worthy knight,\nIn all haste, had sent forth his men,\nAnd when they were assembled, each one.\nWithin his tent, he said to them at once,\nSirsyquod he was, and lords who are here,\nKings, Princes, and Dukes alike,\nIf you discover, by clear inspection,\nYou ought each one, with high devotion,\nTo call upon our gods with pure hearts,\nAnd be merry, in wardrobe,\nIf you consider and wisely heed,\nHow our enemy, Ector, is now dead,\nWho once bore up Troy,\nTheir full trust, honor, and joy,\nTheir entire difference, and protection,\nAnd to us, death and confusion,\nUnlikely ever, victory for us,\nWhile he flourished in his glory,\nAgainst whose sword we could not prevail,\nHe did not slay us at our approach,\nIf you remember, on the first day,\nThe noble king, called Protesilaus,\nAnd after next, if I do not deny,\nPatroclus, he parted evenly,\nIn the field, among us each one,\nHe did not kill, the worthy king Menelaus,\nArchylogus, and also Prothoenor,\nAnd the king, who was called Alphynor,\nPhyllis also, and Epistrophus,\nAnd to his end, he brought Zantipus.\nAnd the mighty strong king, Meryon,\nIn his way, as he came riding,\nHe slew and killed two other kings,\nCedyus and Drodyus, also,\nPolycenes and strong Polybete,\nLetabonia and the king Phylete,\nThe manly knight, the king Isidius,\nAnd the king as well, who was named Humerus,\nFor in his anger and his cruel hand,\nOf worthy kings, he slew eighteen,\nWho came here from Greek land,\nBy the power of his mighty hand,\nNow praise and honor to all the gods,\nWho have caused this to happen,\nThat he is dead, to our increase of joy,\nAnd to disperse of our sorrow in Troy,\nAs they shall find in experience,\nAnd praise also, praise and reverence,\nBe to Fortune, that has helped us well,\nWith the turning of her double wheel,\nTo high comfort and consolation,\nFor each one of us sitting envious,\nThrough his death, he did us so oppress,\nAnd what may they now wait on the town,\nBut after death and destruction.\nHastily, for to end in woe.\nNow that their trustee, Ector, is gone,\nWithout whom they cannot long endure.\nTherefore we may be fully assured\nOur purpose will be achieved, and finally,\nDawnte them so and grieve,\nSo that it becomes important to them\nOf one accord, if we stand firm\nFor their party turns on the wreak,\nAnd their hope is fully put to the test,\nAnd despairing,\nIn uncertainty,\nThey and their city\nShall more and more depend on death,\nAnd we, in truth,\nShall day by day amend,\nWith help of God, both at sea and on land.\nFor now victory is ready to our hand,\nVoid of ambiguity,\nExcluded at Eye as you see,\nBoth of want of trust and of foreign fear.\nBut I counsel, or that we proceed\nAny further upon our feet to ride,\nPrudently, a while to abide,\nAnd keep us close, for to pass our bounds,\nUntil Achilles is healed of his wounds,\nAnd then each one, by mighty violence,\nOppress them, when they have no defense.\nAs I have said, through help of Achilles.\nAnd let us now send for a peace for two months to King Priam, if it is likely that he grants it to us, as it seems likely that he will. And while we are there, we may consume the funeral pyres of the dead bodies that lie above every hill and valley. By report, they infect the air day by day, engendering pestilence through the field with such great violence. And while we are at ease and rest, our wounds may cure. And they assent to this, everyone. And the messengers are gone to Troy and have obtained the truce from the king. And they are returned without further delay. And they have made a full report to the Greeks before Agamemnon. And after that, when all was at an end, each lord returns to his tent. And while the truce lasts and the peace is among the Greeks, King Pallamides complains bitterly to Agamemnon that he holds dominion over them all, having them in envy.\nAnd in a day of deep despair and indignation,\nHe fully expressed his rage with few words,\nUntil one day, wise Agamemnon,\nConceived this thing with great discretion.\nHe declared it openly before them all,\nThis noble, circumspect king,\nFull of inner virtue, well-advised, and prudent,\nWhen he understood the meaning and intent\nAnd the conception of Palamedes.\nHe was not hasty nor reckless,\nBut, through prudence and reason,\nHe remained within the bounds of discretion.\nWhose tongue was only of Wisdom,\nSo restrained that no negligence\nOf hasty speech could make a word\nEscape his lips.\nUnyielding for nothing could sway him.\nBut it was first examined in his heart,\nFor ever his speech, in such thriftiness,\nWas conveyed by doctrine of the wise,\nUnder the reign of wit and high prudence,\nAnd after that, by the form of eloquence,\nAlways he said, that reason went before,\nSo that no word was in his tale learned,\nAnd in this way, showing his sentence,\nTo all in open audience,\nSaid even thus, when all was peace,\nTo the king, called Pallamides.\n\nSothly said he, if you heed,\nIt seems plainly to me that it is unnecessary,\nAuspiciously, if he pleases,\nTo muse so, nor grumbling in your heart,\nOf all his host, that I have given audience,\nWisely considered, every circumstance,\nHow I, the estate, which no man may deny,\nWould in no manner, never occupy,\nBy other title, than free election,\nNot interrupted,\nBy medicine, rooted on meed,\nAlways under my meaning, with favor or falsity,\nDepict with color, of true intention,\nTo support such, false ambition,\nOf which thing, here I will make my quit.\nBefore you all, I am not native to writing\nIn any way, of such high offense\nBut I stand clear, in my conscience\nWithout spot, of any such vain glory\nTouching the estate, which is transitory\nYet nevertheless, I have done my duty\nWith all my wit, to help and procure\nThat every thing, touching the commonwealth\nPersevere might, in prosperity\nHaving the eye, of my inward sight,\nUnto the estate, of every manner of man\nThat were committed, to my governance\nWith great labor, and busy attendance\nIndifferent, unto high or low\nTo help and foster, where I could know\nThat any stood, in danger or in need\nDay and night, for to take heed\nAs I best could, by advice\nAye diligent, that not fell in distress\nFor truly, who so looks a right\nMy days thinking, and my watch a night\nAnd of my heart, the inward admonition\nWithout fraud, sloth or negligence\nWas faithfully, with all my full might\nMe to acquit, to every manner of man\nLike his estate, without exception.\nSo that no man justly can reasonably\nBlame me, Greek or other, alive,\nFor any falsehood, engine or treachery,\nOf love or hate, favor or flattery,\nIn any cause named specifically,\nBut I have been, like an equal,\nTo one and all, with all my best pain,\nNo man has a reason to complain\nFor his party, high or low,\nAnd to divide,\nAll rancor and debate among you,\nI have done my duty,\nIn general, all things and particular,\nThat here toward me nothing has schemed,\nAnd God knows well, it should not grieved\nTo my heart, to choose, by your discreet advice,\nSome other, to this dominion,\nAnd I to have been, in subjectation,\nWith ease of heart and tranquility,\nLike other lords, here of my degree,\nAnd in my will, fully have obeyed,\nLike one of you, utterly to have died\nIn the quarrel, that we have undertaken,\nIf destiny had it so I shaped,\nI say in truth, I am full loath to feign,\nAnd over more, also where you play.\nThat I was chosen without your consent,\nYou were not present at Meruayle, nor long after, if you remember right,\nOur way was not towards Troy,\nIf you consider, it was over two years ago,\nAnd we had to wait so long for your coming,\nIt would have been a great hindrance, harm, and huge delay to our voyage,\nFor if we had waited for your coming without any reason,\nIt is likely that you cannot well say no,\nTo have been there still until this day,\nAnd where you thought it was not credible,\nI also affirm, it was an impossible thing,\nThat the Greeks should in any way dare,\nTake on themselves any great enterprise,\nManfully to achieve it in your absence,\nIt is but wind, nothing to leave,\nFor so it was, to you no offense,\nThe Greeks have, without your presence,\nThrough force, both on water and on land,\nPerformed many things with their hands,\nAnd achieved it through their worthiness,\nAnd of one thing that you may suppose,\nThis to say, that of my degree.\nI should in my heart rejoice\nOf this lordship and this great estate\nThe more to be pompous and elated\nIn this place that I occupy\nBut I will truly and not lie\nAnd divide all suspicion\nI will make a resignation\nBefore you all for to excuse me\nNow be advised discretely to see\nWhom you list have again tomorrow prime\nWithout setting of any longer time\nProlonging forth or any more delay\nAnd thus they made an end of that day\nAnd they went their way only for that night\nTill on the morrow, Jupiter had his light\nAt which time, a council general\nThe Greeks held, but most in particular\nOf lords, was there a congregation\nAs I have told, for the Election\nAnd when they were all met together\nAgamemnon spoke thus with sad countenance:\nLo, sirs, said he, touching governance\nThat I have had and dominion\nI have herewith whole affection and clean intent\nThat every thing might in willfulness.\nTo your increase, I record, of God and Fortune,\nWho have preserved and the cause be,\nThat your honor and your high noblesse\nStand whole and sound, yet in sickness,\nAnd while your fame is most in flourishing,\nAs it seems to me, it is rightly sitting,\nMy estate fully to resign,\nSpecifically, while Fortune is benign,\nFor of so many that are now present,\nI am alone, in sufficient,\nWithout help, to bear the charge,\nMen with too much may overload a barge,\nAnd especially in tempest and in rage,\nSince you are so discrete and sage,\nOf my burden, let me be relieved,\nSo that no man with it be agreed,\nBut let us all of one intention,\nWithout strife or discord,\nChoose such one that is most acceptable\nTo each one of you and most capable,\nYou to govern by discretion,\nAnd they each one with whole affection,\nAssented be, to speak in general,\nHere men may see how it is natural,\nMen to delight in things that are new.\nThe people's trust is feeble and unfaithful,\nUnwise and full of duplicity,\nAnd inconsistent in their loyalty,\nFickle in their allegiance,\nChanging and transmute,\nSeldom or never steadfast,\nOne day they love, the next it is gone,\nIn whom true loyalty is seldom found,\nExcept for newfound fancies,\nWhich have seized their affection,\nThey have in place of Agamemnon,\nOnly of favor have chosen,\nPalamedes, to be their governor,\nAnd of all Greece, like them,\nTo have the Scepter of the whole Empire,\nAnd to be called Emperor of the Greeks,\nJust as before was Agamemnon,\nAnd this was fine and conclusive,\nFor that day of their parliament,\nAnd after that, every man is gone,\nTo his lodging, home the right way,\nBut in his Tent, wounded as he lay,\nThe hardy knight, the hardy Achilles,\nWhen he heard of Palamedes,\nFrom point to point, and of the lesson,\nHe was displeased in his allegiance.\nAnd plainly thought, as to his advice,\nAgamemnon was passing wise and discrete,\nTo governance, more than the other, as to his pleasure.\nAnd said it was none election,\nBut a manner, subrogation.\nBecause he himself, in the parliament,\nWas not there present, at the changing,\nWas great offense, that the choice was made,\nIn his absence. With inly wrath, he was,\nBut where so be that he be left or loathe,\nThere is no more, but in conclusion,\nIn his strength, stood the election.\nThe Trues passed, and every wound healed,\nThe next morning, after Priam,\nIn his heart, was inly desirous,\nWith the Greeks, manfully to fight,\nTo avenge Ector's death if he might,\nThis old Priam, knightly in the field,\nThat when the Trojans, in themselves beheld,\nThe great will and the high courage,\nOf him that was so far run in age,\nThey began to rejoice and lift up their heart,\nAnd particularly, when they beheld,\nHis great manhood and his worthiness.\nHis lofty prowess and every manner of man armed him that day to live or die with Priam, and into the field they proudly conveyed him, a hundred thousand and fifty from the town, just as Dares makes it known, and worthy knights they all were, none other than those who went with Priam, and all before him went Deiphobus and Paris next, and then Priam, Menon the king and worthy Aeneas, and lastly came Polydamas. And as I find stern and full of pride, Pallamides came to the other side. Into the field with many strong battle they went, and firstly when each other began to engage, King Priam knightly made his way through the gates and unhorsed him through his high renown, and like a knight he killed and brought down the proud Greeks wherever they rode. None was so bold that his sword remained, for so narrowly he urged them on that their ranks he made a separate part. Upon them he was so fierce and furious.\nFor he who that day performed marvelous deeds in arms,\nA marvel to behold was how he could sustain\nOf such great age, in the field to endure.\nIn credible fashion, I assure you,\nYou would see how he, through his great might,\nMade the Greeks put to flight. Dephebus was not behind,\nHe answered him knightly, making them retreat.\nSarpedon also was not lacking,\nHe had fallen before Neptune.\nThe proudest Greek and most surrendering,\nAnd most famous for strength and might,\nHe rode directly against Sarpedon,\nWith a round spear he delivered the strike,\nAnd Sarpedon, full courageous in his heart,\nRose up without delay,\nNeptune, in his burning anger,\nThrough his thigh he struck with his sword,\nThen immediately, the king of Perse's land,\nSo worthy and famous in his hand,\nTook notice of Sarpedon,\nRestored his knightly steed to him.\nMenelaus, filled with contempt, was there with the Duke of Athens. Among the great crowd, the king of Perseus was at risk of falling, and he slew him, as he was among them all. Menelaus fought knightly, like a champion, surrounded by a multitude of envious enemies. He was alone, destitute in this mortal case. Through his error, the people of Troy began to withdraw until Sarpedon helped them recover their land. Full of rage, Priam and his sons, called natural, rode against them. Parting not clearly from his side, the king and they rode, and the Greeks were confounded. Priam, with many cruel wounds, had killed many worthy men among them. On horseback, among them as he ran, there was none that day, young or old, from Troy, so hardy or so bold.\nOf none estate, who among Greeks had so well requited\nAmong Greeks, he was confusion and destruction.\nTheir outer misfortune and discomfiture\nBefore whose face they might not endure\nFor things two, in his mortal ire\nInwardly, he set himself a fire\nThe heartfelt hate that he bore of old\nTowards Greeks, it doubled manyfold\nWith the death, he had in remembrance\nOf worthy Ector, by countenance\nWhich plainly, through his worthiness\nWith his sword, he showed himself to redress\nFor the fretting of hate and the constraint of his pain\nWere truly those two things\nBy which that day, whoever looked upon a right\nHis force was doubled and his might\nThrough him, he took cruelly vengeance\nAnd thus, he brought Greeks to outmaneuvering\nAnd through his knighthood, he put them to flight\nBut Greeks then, in turn, did their might\nBy assent, they assembled into one\nAnd for a trick, a side out they went.\nBetween Pryam and Troy, in a plain and large and fair to see,\nPyramus alone, as any lion strong,\nWith his sword began to ride among them,\nAnd severed them with wide, large wounds,\nAnd slew all those who would not yield,\nParis also had them so surrounded,\nWith mighty shot from his strong archery,\nAnd with the pursuit of his arbalest,\nThat they could not endure the sharp shot,\nBut fled away, each one to his tent,\nKing Priam so closely pursued them,\nThat through the slaughter and cruelty,\nOf his sharp-whetted and ground sword,\nNo Greek was found in the field,\nBut each one fled away.\nAnd they of Troy went to their city because it drew fast toward night. Phebus had withdrawn his light, and so the honor, the praise and memory, perpetually, and the palm also, of his high victory, Pryam the king had won, and no more. For on the next morning, he had sent out of Troy town, for atreves, to Agamemnon. Which was granted the same day at prime. Although there is no time here recounted how long it lasted in the book, during which they did their business, heartily laboring and inward diligence, to arrange how the worthy king of Perce land, without further delay, with kingly honor, should be carried from Troy town, into this realm, to be buried with his predecessors and other kings, his progenitors. This thing was accomplished by the advice of Alysander, who was called Paris. And first, the corpse was richly embalmed.\nConveyed was the body, solemnly written as Guy de Rodas with an huge retinue of his knights riding him about. Trusty and heavy, clad in black each one, and with the chariot, they went the right way towards Perce, leading the dead corpse towards his burial. Which funeral, royal was, like his estate, and in this while, the funeral feast was held with great devotion. By worthy Ector, within Troy town, like the custom of those days, and the rites of their penance. The which feast, as mentioned, from year to year by tradition, was held in a space of fourteen nights. With many flame and many hideous light that burned envy in the sanctuary, and called the Anniversary. For that it came about year by year, a certain day in their calendar. In which custom, for a remembrance, the people should by continuance play and weep, and also pray and read, for their friends that before were dead. Full pitifully, with their hearts rent.\nMorning in black, and kneeling always before,\nThe dead body of this worthy knight,\nWho in his time, passing was of might,\nAnd this was done while the truce endured.\nSo that Greeks, trustingly might assure,\nWhen they pleased, at good liberty,\nWithout danger, enter the city,\nDay by day, and Trojans might also,\nTo Greeks, freely come and go.\nAt which time, with full great delight,\nAchilles caught an appetite,\nTo enter and see the manner of the town,\nWithout wisdom or discretion,\nFor to behold plainly and to see,\nHolly the manner of this solemnity,\nAnd forth he went, on a certain day,\nTowards Troy, in all the haste he may,\nUnarmed, truly, as my Author says,\nWithout assurance or any other faith,\nExcept the truce, who so leave or loathe,\nAnd first of all to the temple he goes,\nOf Apollo, hallowed was the feast,\nThroughout the town, down to the least,\nThat called was, the Anniversary.\nAs you have heard, what should I longer stay?\nAnd many worthy presents were there at.\nAmong the temple's high and low-ranking lords and ladies, gathered from every part of the town, was the corpse of this worthy knight. His complexion was as fresh as a rose, and he appeared as lively and quick in hue as any rose or lily white. Through the virtue of the gums' sweet balm and the fragrance that surrounded him, his every joint and extremity were touched. At this feast and solemnity were present Eccuba and young Polycene, who were so womanly and beautiful to behold. With them sat many others of high and low estate, before the corpse arranged in a row. Eccuba, clad in black wedges, looked so pitiful that it was a sight to move both laughter and tears. How they mourned and lamented the death by men of worthy Ector, renowned for his knighthood. But believe me, as Guido desired to relate, Polycene, in all her woeful rage, had changed her countenance. Her natural color was as fresh as a rose or the lilies white. Other than the freshness of her red lips.\nFor all the tears she shed,\nOn her cheeks, as any crystal clear,\nHer hair also, resembling gold where,\nWhich lay abroad, like unto the sight,\nPhebus beams in his bright spear,\nWhen he to us does his light convey,\nAnd she rent, with her small fingers,\nHer golden hair on her black weede,\nOf which thing, Achilles took good heed,\nAnd marveled greatly in his thought,\nHow god or kind, ever might have wrought,\nIn their works, so fair a creature,\nFor him thought, he might not endure,\nTo behold the brightness of her face,\nFor he felt, through his heart's pace,\nThe perspiring streams of her eyes two,\nCupid's burning brand, had him marked so,\nFor love of her, that in his desire,\nHe burned as hot as any fire,\nAnd after soon, with sudden cold he quenched,\nAnd ever fixed on her, he had his look,\nSo that the arrow of the god Cupid,\nPerced him even through the side,\nTo the heart, and gave him such a wound,\nThat never was, likely for to be healed.\nAnd in one look upon her he cast,\nAnd drew nearer, pressing towards her,\nWith his eyes alone, intending to die,\nBut if he found grace in her, there was no gain for him in that place.\nNewly had he been ensnared in love's snare,\nWhich filled him with health and all welfare,\nYet he was displeased in his heart,\nAnd knew not what to do.\nEach other thing I assure you,\nHe set aside and took no cure,\nHis thoughts were wholly on her and no more,\nThe long day thus he went to and fro,\nUntil Phoebus' chariot began to decline,\nHis golden axle that so clearly shines,\nThis to say, the sun went down,\n\nWhen Hecuba, queen of Troy town,\nAnd her daughter Polyxena also,\nFrom the temple went to the palaces,\nAnd Achilles beheld her,\nWhile he might, till lack of light,\nHe might have no more opportunity to look upon her,\nCursed be Fortune,\nFor which in haste he made his retreat,\nWith his knights, to his Tent.\nWhere he was not long without going to bed,\nComplaining all the while, in his mind and reason,\nFrom head to foot, her beauty delighted him,\nAnd in his heart, he felt and knew full well,\nThe final cause of his languishing\nWas Polycene, of surpassing beauty,\nFor love of whom he felt so much pain,\nThat with the heat, he thought his heart was melting,\nWallowing on his bed, to and fro,\nBecause of the constraint of his heavy sorrow,\nAlmost thinking it was death,\nAnd to himself, he sighed,\n\"Alas,\" he said, \"how my woe has lasted,\nThat from my sorrow, there is no end known,\nFor I suppose, since the world began,\nThere was never a more wretched man,\nFor I, who once were of such great might,\nSo renowned by every kind of man,\nThroughout the world, both high and low,\nFor there was none who could know,\nA man in arms, more famous or victorious,\nBefore this time, remembered by no style.\n\"To this day, alas, neither Ector openly, nor any other of Polymenes, who had the power when we met, could set me overpowered in battle or frighten my force in the field. But now, alas, a maid of tender age has suddenly brought me to such a pass that with the streams of her eyes twain she has pierced and closed every vein of my heart, so that I may not stir to be dead through the constraint of my pain. For who shall now wish me well or teach me, or who, alas, shall now be my healer? Or who shall now help men or save? There is but death and after that my grave. For other hope plainly is there none, save in her mercy, alas, and that is gone. For neither prayer, treasure nor riches, nor force, nor might, nor high birth, nor kinship can move her or avail or help in this need. Upon my woe, ever to have comfort.\"\nWhat new fury or unexpected rage\nHas brought my heart into such outrage,\nAgainst whom I cannot debate,\nTo love her best, who hatefully hates me,\nAnd little wonder, though she hates me from the heart,\nSince I have come hither from so far\nTo wage war on her kin,\nIn which, to my confusion,\nHer knightly brother, most worthy of renown,\nHave fatally, with my hands slow,\nWhom in this world had no equal,\nIn worthiness or manliness,\nAlas, alas, now I quake and fear,\nAnd of my life, fall into despair,\nFor how should I be bold to have recourse,\nOr dare, alas, come in their sight,\nI, the wretched, I, the unhappy wight,\nOr how shall I be hardy to appear,\nIn their presence, of eyes clear,\nCertainly I see none other way,\nBut finally, that I must die.\nSo despairing, I stand on every side,\nOf other help, I cannot provide,\nAnd right away, with deep sighs,\nThis Achilles burst out to weep.\nWith pale and funerary countenance,\nAnd face turned to the wall,\nHe was racked with deep-rooted anguish,\nAnd pitied were those who beheld\nThe fierce torment of his sharp pains,\nSo oppressed was he in thought,\nBoth of life and death, that he felt naught,\nAnd this continued till it drew to night,\nWhen Titan had withdrawn his clear light,\nAnd ever in one such wretched guise,\nPale and wan, without sleep,\nHis sorrow so consuming,\nUntil Lucifer, on the morrow,\nBefore the sun, with his bright array,\nAppeared most lustily,\nIn the east, when this Achilles,\nUnyielding, without rest or peace,\nQuaking ever in his new-found fear,\nAs clearly shown in his aspect,\nUntil he broke free from his anguish suddenly,\nAnd called one whom he trusted well,\nTo counsel with him, and unto him,\nHe revealed every detail,\nFrom beginning to end,\nAnd sent him forth, with full advice and knowledge,\nOn his errand, straight to Troy town.\nOf this matter to Queen Eccuba,\nThrough his wisdom, to be amenable,\nIf he might, by his discretion,\nFind any way, for saving,\nTo his lord, whom he loved so,\nAnd to the queen, he was on his way,\nHis mother wisely conveyed before,\nLest he of grace, would pray for audience,\nFor in his tale, there was no offense,\nHe was no fool, nor new to learn,\nWherefore the queen, graciously heard him,\nOf all that ever, he liked to say,\nThere was no word lost nor spoken in vain,\nFor his tale, no man could amend,\nAnd craftily, he began to discern,\nTo the substance, and told clearly out,\nWith premises, well brought about,\nThat finally, in conclusion,\nThe chief he said, of his intention,\nEffectually, if it would be,\nWas for making peace and unity,\nBetween Greeks and the people of Troy,\nTo which thing, he knew no better way,\nThan of the war, for their elder ease,\nBy his wit, prudently to appease,\nThe mortal strife and the bitter rage.\nBy alliance only through marriage,\nIf this worthy queen,\nHer daughter, fair Polyxena,\nMight be wedded to Achilles,\nThrough their might, a final peace,\nIf Ecuba, through her discretion,\nThrough her wit and medicine,\nAnd her prudence, might bring\nPriamus to full consent,\nThat Achilles might take his daughter as wife,\nSo that it might be performed as blue,\nAs I have mentioned,\nBy covenant only and condition,\nThat the Greeks,\nShall they leave their war,\nAnd allow him to live in peace,\nIf the marriage of these two,\nIs performed and knitted in a chain,\nAnd when the queen,\nHas known his intent,\nShe sighed full soberly,\nBy good advice,\nBefore any word was spoken,\nShe sighed pitifully in her heart,\nAnd at last, with a sober face,\nShe said thus to the messenger,\n\"My friend,\" she said, touching your request,\n\"I can no more make promises,\nBut at the least, I will concede,\nWhat lies in me to bring to an end.\"\nThy lords will, with all my heart, enter into this matter. But first, I must request the king's consent for the purpose for which you are sent. I must also inquire of Paris, if he is willing, regarding every detail. I will faithfully make inquiry from Priam and Paris. In the meantime, what is their advice? This should not take more than three days. At that time, return to me from Achilles if he is willing to send you. Finally, you shall know an end to this matter and a clear answer. He goes home to Achilles again. With full glad cheer, he pleases his lord further. Discreetly, he has made his relation. He told his tale in such a thrifty way that he who could, could devise such words to bring hope into his lord's heart. With full release from his pain's torment, he made his sorrow withdraw. Thus, while hope began to allay his sorrow.\nAmyd his breast, Eccuba the queen spoke to Priam about this Polycene, touching upon the subject of Achilles and his quarrel for making peace. She revealed everything to him, forgetting nothing. Astonished, Priam remained silent for half an hour, prudently considering what it could mean that Achilles wanted Polycene, his wife, from him. At last, filled with great wonder, he revealed the thoughts in his heart and said, \"Alas, how grievous it is to me that I cannot have peace. The great offense of Achilles towards me, openly declared when he slew worthy Hector through his cruelty. He alone was my shield and protector, the very truthful light, sheltering and guiding me and mine. And with his manhood, he opposed the mortal rage of the Greeks' war in my old age.\"\nBut now, alas, he is slain, so worthy of renown,\nBy Achilles, whom I cannot forget from my mind,\nIn my heart, I cannot find\nTo be allied with my mortal foe,\nRotten and ground of all my sorrow and woe,\nIt would be hard, my heart to appease,\nTo love him that causes my unrest,\nOn every side, where through my cruel foe,\nThe proud Greeks, their hearts are set against me,\nNow Fortune is contrary, my quarrel to appear,\nCausing the Greeks, mad and furious,\nAgainst me, alas, to be presumptuous,\nBut only for Hector, am I bereft a way,\nSince I have no other choice may,\nAgainst my heart, though it rues for anger,\nIn this matter, I shall strive to try,\nThough I am loath and sits me full sore,\nYet to avoid harms that are likely to fall,\nAnd for to save my other sons all,\nI will consent, that this Achilles,\nSo that he makes a true final peace,\nBetween Greeks and also this city,\nWithout more, plainly how that he.\nHave to wife, my daughter Polyxena, but let him ensure that he does not betray my will. My wish is that it proceeds, and let him bring it to an end without deceit. This is my advice. Paris also assents to this counsel. And moreover, in conclusion, there was no exception made in this treaty regarding Queen Helen. Menelaus should never again approach her to reconcile with his wife. Paris was fully in agreement with this, hoping perpetually for Helen to possess, and no man shall object. And three days after this, Achilles has sent a messenger to Ecuba. She told him the king's response. He earnestly and sincerely agreed to this, and Paris and she herself also agreed. If it were so, she plainly told him, touching upon the matter that holds the purpose.\nAnd firstly, let him bring about his horse,\nSo he need not doubt his purpose in vain,\nAnd if he works prudently and well,\nThen with this messenger from Troy town,\nHe may depart without delay,\nAnd reach Achilles, keeping the right way,\nAnd tell him the whole effect of this matter,\nHis heart burning fiercely, full of desire,\nSeeing no other way but these two things,\nAs I have told you, and his breast swells with sighs,\nFor the love of Polycetes.\nAnd casting aside his sharp pains,\nHe sets his purpose in motion,\nAnd while he is occupied with this thought,\nHe doubts how to bring his purpose to fruition,\nBut suddenly, in a rage, he is seized,\nHis heart taken cruelly,\nThrowing him into such a state,\nThat he thinks it within his power,\nExcept he fears the less.\nEvery thing / to ensure certainty\nWishing no Greek / would quench his desire\nFrom his desire / he was thus favorable\nTo perform / and deny nothing\nAll that was pleasing / to his fantasy\nAs is the manner / of lovers each one\nWho suppose / a queen an immediate prize\nWhat thing it be / that they grasp in hand\nIn what disarray / that the matter stands\nAlthough it be / a very impossible\nIn their folly / they are always so credulous\nAnd so Achilles / finally trusts\nTo fulfill / his commands utterly\nSupposing / always for his worthiness\nFor his courage / and his high prowess\nIn which he did / glorify himself\nSomewhat of pride / and of servility\nHow the Greeks / should be despised\nBoth of their trust / and their might appeared\nTowards the Trojans / to win any land\nIf it were so / he withdrew his hand\nTo help them / and with that also\nHome into Greece / that they would go\nFrom the siege / only for his sake\nAnd their quarrel / utterly forsake\nBut it was this day fiercer than Achilles,\nWith them abode the Cyte to spy,\nAmong them all was this Achilles,\nBy the bidding of Pallamydes,\nAnd when they were gathered all together,\nBefore them all, as you shall hear.\nThis Achilles had his tale gone on,\nAnd said, sirs, that some could\nBoth of wisdom and of high prudence,\nSo renowned also of sapience,\nThroughout the world, and of discreetness,\nAnd was worthy also of renown,\nKings, dukes, of whom the royal name\nFlourished yet from east to west,\nBoth of knighthood and of manliness,\nTo this I say, I pray you heed,\nThis to say, if that you consider,\nThe plain intent of our coming hide,\nBy good advice and destruction,\nHad no ground founded on reason,\nNor cause rooted on any title of right,\nIf it so be that you lift up your sight,\nAnd advert your mind clearly,\nFull far back, wisdom was set behind,\nPrudent looking and foresight.\nFor the first time, we took upon us, in folly and haste,\nTo return against the Trojans, to begin a war,\nAnd to Iupiter, we dedicated our lives each one,\nFor the love of one man alone, you all know, I believe,\nWhom I mean: King Menelaus, defended from his queen,\nI did not wish to tell the truth,\nFor you all know, only that Helen was angry and beginning,\nOf all this debate, worthy of estate,\nRecalcitrant of any remedy,\nLife and good had put us in Iliad,\nOur lands and our reigns,\nOur cities also and our rich towns,\nWhich by our absence stood desolate,\nWives and children, too, were disconsolate,\nIn woe they abided, mourning and distressed,\nWhile we, the truth to express,\nFrom day to day, beset on every side,\nLay in the field and our death awaited,\nIn sorrow and care, in labor and in woe,\nAnd you all know this well also,\nSince the time that the war began,\nOf our Greeks, how many worthy man,\nHas lost his life, through fatal wounds.\nThat which might have lived and been sound at home in Greece, assured well in joy,\nIf they had not come to Troy, it is full great pity. And over this, I say also for me,\nAmong Troyans in their cruel mode, I have lost so much of my blood,\nThat has often made pale my hue. This other day, also green and new,\nI had such a mortal wound from Hector,\nWith a quarrel sharp and ground above the thigh,\nSo keen was the head. The same day, before he was dead,\nOf very happiness, as it was I believed,\nThat from death I yet might escape.\nWhich yet all fresh is upon me seen,\nLarge and wide, and as yet but green,\nThe pain of which sore yet I complain,\nAnd in good faith, it seems to me that Eleyne,\nIf you advise wisely in your thought,\nWith such a prize, should not be bought.\nWhere through our life and our good yfer,\nAnd our honor are put in peril,\nAnd dreadfully hang in balance.\nFor if you, in your remembrance,\nConceive a right, and cast up and down.\nThe sudden change and revolutionary turn of events\nThat have brought about the war\nHave caused the slaughter and death\nOf many worthy men, who for her sake\nHave lost their lives\nYet the worst of this mortal strife\nMost harms and disavantages us\nAnd is likely to increase further\nIf order is not established, and remedy is not sought\nOn the other side, by fine only,\nThat Elaine abides with the Trojans still in the town\nAnd lets us cast, by good inspection,\nFor our ease, some other means\nSo that the king, called Menelaus,\nGrant him a wife in some other land\nLike his estate, by surrendering or bond\nUnder marriage, confirmed anew\nThat to him will be found true\nSince we, without guile or sin,\nMay by law, separate from Elaine\nFor various reasons, it is known throughout the world.\nOf adultery, for the foul vice,\nThere is no prejudice.\nThough Menelaus justly forsook her,\nWhen it pleased him, and another took her,\nThat shall help both sides, and it will be of great ease when the war is brought to an end, which is likely to cause many men to shed blood. If it continues, the great labor is so demanding that we shall not be able to sustain it for long. For this is true without any doubt. The Trojans are still boasting in their might, and with them there are many worthy knights to help them, of high and low degree. And with such strength in their city, we are not likely to win. In our purpose, though we may ever abide, let us avoid pride and willfulness, only for prudence's sake. Let us have the eye of our caution for our profit rather than vain glory. And while our honor shines through victory, wisdom is to withdraw our hand. Since we cannot constrain fortune by any bond, let us wait for her to stabilize. Therefore, I advise, or she be changeable, this goddess of fortune with her double nature.\nLet us give up such a thing as lies within us\nWhile we may save our worship\nFor of the war, the laude yet we have\nConsider well, how by your manhood\nOur most noble Ector is now dead\nAnd while we, in our honor, flourish\nMy counsel is, or Fortune's allure\nAs I said before, to change her bright face\nWhile we stand best, we in her grace\nBy one consent and one opening\nWithout any contradiction\nOf heart and will, both of one and all\nOr our honor, on any party fall\nInto Greece, that we home return\nFor if we linger here, sojourn\nOn the quarrel, that we have long sewn\nDoubtless, it may be shown\nFull great damage, this without fail\nOr we have done, shall follow at the tail\nWherefore best is, our folly to resign\nAnd while our happiness is well-being and kind\nMost blissful and fair in appearance\nThe time is best, to make our repair\nWhile we stand, in party and all\nWith our enemies, in honor peril\nAnd far above, plainly if that we\nI have an eye for our Felicity,\nWhile it is in its ascendancy,\nLest some man makes objection,\nThat we may not save our honor,\nPlainly to return, but we have\nHelen again, who is the cause of all,\nAnswer I shall, if any man,\nIn his fantasy,\nTo dishonor or villainy,\nWould arrest us in any manner kind,\nWe to go home and leave her behind,\nShortly to say, I hold, it is no shame,\nSince we have one as great in name,\nAs is Helen, and of birth as good,\nAmong us, come from kings' blood,\nSister to Priam, lord of Troy town,\nExyona, whom Thelamon keeps,\nIf I shall not feign,\nIn Troy town, as Paris has Helen,\nAnd since now it may be none other,\nLet the tone be set against each other,\nAnd the surplus of old enmity,\nBetween us and Troy the city,\nMy counsel is, for both our ease,\nBy one assent, wisely to appease,\nThis and some, and that we hence intend,\nI can no more, my tale is at an end,\nTo whom alone, King Menelaus.\nFor very irate and furious,\nAnd King Thoas, the Duke also of Athene,\nAs they who could no longer endure him,\nThey spoke all at once to Achilles,\nNot only they, but through impetence,\nThe court disturbed, without providence,\nWith tumult, went to reprove,\nThis Achilles, and proudly came against him,\nAnd said briefly, in conclusion,\nTo his red, they would never assent,\nNor condescend to anything that he intended,\nTo be governed by him in this case.\nFor which thing, immediately, Achilles was,\nSo full of ire and rancor in his heart,\nThat suddenly, from his sea, he started,\nAnd went his way, as if in a rage,\nTristis and pale, and a wild visage,\nAnd shortly said, for he would not willingly speak,\nThat he would no longer help them,\nAgainst Troy, for no manner of need,\nAnd bade at once, this headstrong Achilles,\nTo his knights, called Myrmidons,\nThat they no more, with spear nor shield.\nTo help the Greeks enter the field, but keep them close at home within their tent, in this year he gave commandment to all his men, as you have heard decree, to withdraw at every high endeavor, whensoever they go into battle, and in this while, scarcity of victuals, fill the host of flesh, of bread, and wine, that many Greek, brought unto fine, might not endure for distress, constraint of hunger did them so oppress, till at the last, King Palamedes, he that was in no thing reckless, has made provision and ready ordinance, and by assent and counsel of each one, he has sent wise Agamemnon, the worthy king, to Messina there beside.\n\nFor the Greeks, if he might speed them,\nThem to relieve, in this great need.\nAnd Telephus, king of that land,\nOf gentleness, has put to his hand,\nAs he that was large and wonder free,\nAnd renowned of humanity,\nTo succor them, commanding anon,\nHis pursuers in all haste to gone.\nFrom every party around Enyeron,\nThrough all the lands of his region,\nAnd faithfully to search every cost,\nTo take up provisions for the Greeks' host,\nAnd after that, full hastily he made,\nTo stuff their ships plainly and to load,\nWith every thing that was necessary,\nTo the Greeks, and by water carry,\nAt Agamemnon's request,\nWithout tarrying or delay,\nAnd so the king, with plentiful provisions,\nFraught and Ylade began anon to sail,\nToward the siege, he and his men,\nCosting them dearly by the Greek sea,\nThe wind was good, & the king as blue,\nWith his navy, at Troy arrived true,\nIn few days, and Greeks at once were light,\nOf his return, were full glad and bright,\nOf his expedition, and his good speed,\nThat he so well had borne in this need.\nAnd after this, Palamedes anon,\nAs Guido says, is to his ships gone,\nFor to consider and look all about,\nWhere need was, within and without,\nAny of them, to amend or repair,\nAs he that lists, for no cost to spare.\nIn every thing, without negligence, touching his charge, to do his duty, until the Truces were fully run, and the wars new again began. Which many men, truly and earnestly, to write how they fought. My purpose is plainly in sentence, under your patience. Drying in one, the deadly cruel hate, that may cease nor by any date, Between Greeks and those of the town, To great damage and destructive. On other part, feeling full unsweet, till on a day they cast for to meet, As they were wont, proudly with spear and shield, With their wards entering into the field. Army'd full bright, on other side. And engaged, stout and full of pride, Full knightly they have chosen, they take, Their large banners, with the wind shake, Till they suddenly have met, And firstly, Dephebus has set, Fresh and lusty, and of heart yours, Upon a king, called Creseus, And of envy, the story tells this.\nOn horseback, as they ran together,\nDephebus went first, with his spear,\nThrough the breast, it pierced him quite,\nTo the heart, and he spoke no more.\nThe death of whom the Greeks mourned sore,\nAnd for his love, such a woo they made,\nThat all astonished, they had forsaken the field,\nAnd fled at once to their tents.\nWhen they of Troy saw, upon the chase,\nThey sped fast towards it,\nUntil they reached worthy Diomede\nAnd with him, the king Pallamides,\nWith contempt, cruel and merciless,\nWith twenty thousand worthy knights,\nSuddenly fell upon the Trojans,\nAnd made them lose their way.\nAnd with the Greeks, they came, fierce and angry,\nAt the same time, Thelamonius came,\nWho was called Ajax, the strong, knightly man,\nAnd like a lion among them, he ran,\nUpon the Trojans, and overthrew them.\nCasually, in his path, he met,\nCecilyen, lusty, fresh, and light,\nAnd in his time, a wonderfully manly knight,\nAnd soon was it told to Priam as I read.\nWhom Thelamon, with a cruel slowness, struck on his steed,\nRaising his arm from the shoulder bone,\nThe healing filled dead in the field.\nThe death of whom, when Dephebus beheld,\nWondered suddenly, more than Tiger or lion.\nWith a spear, Dephebus ran to Thelamon,\nAnd struck him so through his bright plates,\nMaking him light and releasing his saddle, among the press.\nThis stroke, when Palamedes\nBeheld and saw, and clearly understood,\nIrous and wood, with a furious heart,\nCast himself at once to avenge Thelamon.\nUpon Dephebus, worthy of renown,\nAnd mortally his reward, him to repay.\nAnd with a spear, ground for biting,\nSharp and keen, large, round, and square,\nFull cruelly, or that he was aware,\nThrough his armor, without more restraint.\nDephebus struck him so in the breast,\nThat with the stroke, he broke the shaft in two.\nSo that the trunk and the head also\nRemained in his breast, leaving no way\nBut that he must die.\nThere was no help or remedy at all. The wound was so cruel and mortal that he could not survive. In the meantime, Paris came by chance. While Dephebus was deeply anguished by his wound, he hurriedly approached. His face was pale, and he had a very sad expression. For his distress, he wept pitifully. His knights commanded hastily for his wounded brother to be brought out quickly. They wanted to take him out of the ward and grant him release from the great pressure. They wanted to give him air and attend to him. Maugre the Greeks, where he had been wounded, carried him out easily. They took him towards the wall, near the town, and laid him down softly on the ground. Lastly, this mortally wounded man opened his eyes with a mournful look and a funereal face. Each ball turned up from its deadly gaze. Thus, Paris spoke to him.\nO brother, whom I loved so,\nHave pity and regret now on my woe,\nOf kindness and brotherhood,\nAnd heed my words, of ruth take now heed.\nSince by death we must be twinned asunder,\nFor Antropose shall no longer spin,\nMy life's thread, but the knot break,\nTherefore, brother, I pray thee, be wreaked,\nUpon my death, or I hence depart,\nIf thou wilt, to do me such a grace,\nOf kindness yet, or I be dead,\nFrom my breast, or this spirit's head,\nBe rent away, that thou avenged be,\nUpon my foe, as I trust in thee,\nThat I may know, he be dead, there is no more to say,\nI give no force, how soon that I die,\nTo whose request, Paris heeded,\nAnd into field, he sped him fast,\nFor thought and wo, pitifully weeping,\nWhile his brother lay there languishing.\nNat away, but only after death,\nUpon the point, to yield up the breth,\nAnd with his knights, Paris up and down,\nSought the wardes, aboute envious around,\nTill at the last, Palamedes he found,\nWith Sarpedon, fighting hand to hand.\nNow was this king, this worthy Sarpedon,\nCome in difference, of them of Troy town,\nWho from his hand, was a noble knight,\nAnd while he, with all his full might.\nMost busy was, Palamedes to press,\nLike a lion, wet with thirstiness,\nPalamedes, in his heart, not afraid,\nLet fly at him, with his sharp sword,\nSo mightily, that it was a wonder,\nFor his thigh, parted has a sunder,\nAnd smote off, by the hard bone,\nSarpedon, fell down dead at once,\nSo that Trojans, when that he was slain,\nWere compelled, of force, them to withdraw,\nThrough the pursuit, of king Palamedes,\nWho upon them, was so merciless,\nAnd as cruel, as a wood lion,\nAfter the death, of Sarpedon,\nWhich alas, when Paris did espie,\nHe marked him, with a cruel eye.\nAnd he took a bow that was remarkably strong\nAnd with an arrow, to his quiver long\nEntoxicat, with venom in its head\nWhoever it struck, was instantly dead\nAnd he hid himself, so\nThroughout the stuff and thick pile\nInto the throat, it passed quickly\nHe fell dead, in the same place\nPallamides, this valiant, worthy knight\nWho, through Greek{is}, led them to flight\nMade a noise and a pitiful cry\nThe death lamenting, woefully\nOf their lord and mighty governor\nBut he had only just recently chosen\nTo be Emperor\nTheir chief support and sovereign refuge\nBut now alas, they stand destitute\nOf governance, broken and disarmed\nWithout a guide, lost and dismayed\nEach of them flies to his tent\nAnd they of Troy pursued them on horseback\nAt a wonderfully fast pace\nAnd mercilessly slew them as they fled\nOn every side, that rout was to see\nWithout pity or any other grace\nFor like lions, they closed in on them.\nThey were compelled or forced, through their cruelty,\nTo turn again and defend themselves,\nAnd they of Troy descended down anew,\nUpon their horses, right onto the plain,\nAnd then there was none other gain,\nThey began to outmatch and dismay,\nThe Greeks proudly, with cruelty,\nAnd finally, there was no difference,\nSo mortal was the mighty violence\nOf Trojans, that the Greeks seemed unruly,\nAnd first and foremost, they plundered,\nThe Greeks' tents, of gold and riches,\nAt that time, Troilus began to prepare,\nAnd Paris also, down to their navy,\nWith thirty thousand in their company,\nKilling all those they met,\nAnd on their ships, wild fire they set,\nThat reached the wall, of Troy the city,\nMen could well see the hideous flames,\nAnd all would have gone to destruction,\nHad Ajax, called Telemachus,\nThrough his manhood and knightly excellence,\nNot come immediately and made resistance,\nOf the Greeks, with many worthy knights,\nAnd they began the mortal fight anew.\nAtwen the Trojans and the Greeks fought stoutly,\nTheir red blood flowing profusely all around,\nOn the plain so hideously they bled,\nHere and there, in length and breadth,\nWounded and maimed, and pale of sight,\nUpon the soil, many a noble knight,\nAmong them, so cruel was the hatred,\nIn their fight, they fiercely debated,\nAs wild boars, even so they fought,\nNone of them wished to spare the other,\nAnd in the field, worthy Thelamon,\nThrough his knighthood and his high renown,\nBore himself manfully, defending the Greeks,\nNo man could match him in manhood,\nThroughout the world, though men had sought,\nFor he, that day, in his person, had wrought\nMiracles in armies through his great might,\nThat the Greeks, without him, would have been routed,\nAnd their ships, lost and burned,\nThrough the pursuit of Paris that day,\nAnd worthy Troyus, who caused such uproar,\nThrough his high prowess,\nFifty ships, Guido expresses.\nWere lost and burned, or that Thelamowne\nCame with his knights down to the sea,\nThe remainder to save,\nBut all that day, the Trojans had\nThe higher hand in this mortal fight,\nThrough the force and great might\nOf Hector only, who had slain\nSo many Greeks that they were willing\nTo withdraw and leave the field,\nFor in abiding, they found full unpleasant\nWhy they began to lose their place\nAmong whom, the king's son of Troy,\nHeber, whom he called, was wounded to death,\nSo that he might draw his brother,\nWith a spear, in his breast striking,\nTo Achilles, he came complaining,\nInto his tent, even there he lay,\nWho in the field was not all that day,\nFor the sake of Polyxena,\nThe love of whom was so sharp and keen,\nAlways at his heart, like green and new,\nTo whom Heber, with a mortal blow,\nComplains sore, reproaching cowardice,\nAnd in manhood, a very true-hearted one,\nThat day, he might feel such shame.\nWithdraw him from before his name,\nOut of the field, to him great relief,\nFrom the Greeks, seeing their misfortune and confusion,\nOn the brink of their destruction,\nAbroad the field, to see them so lie dead,\nAnd not once did he wish to heed,\nHis knighthood, Greeks to relieve,\nAnd while Heber began to reproach,\nAnd the spear, which was in his body,\nSuddenly was drawn out, alas,\nWith his eye cast up, in rage and anger,\nFull pitifully, Heber died,\nIn the presence of this Achilles,\nAnd with that, a certain knight of his,\nOf whom Achilles asked how it was,\nAmong the Greeks, and clearly how it stood,\nHe answered, full unwillingly,\nFor the Trojans have so cruelly,\nOur Greeks all, this day, in their fight,\nShamefully put to flight,\nSo many slain, alas, and well away,\nThat none went unharmed.\nSo fell upon us / The Trojans were found\nAnd among them also / such a multitude\nThat I suppose / shortly to conclude\nThis day there was / to my opposition\nNot left a man / within Troy town\nWho was able / to stand in battle\nWith spear / or sword / his enemy to engage\nI truly believe / but they came out\nWith us to fight / there was so huge a rout\nThat we could not of force take on hand\nIn the field / against them to stand\nBut now my lord / it draws unto night\nThat they faint / any more to fight\nIf it were pleasing / to your worthiness\nTo your manhood / and your high nobility\nTo take on you / to your increase of fame\nFor evermore / to get you a name\nAnd there with all / for your own glory\nPerpetually / to be in memory\nRise up / and arm you at once\nAnd suddenly / upon them to go\nFeeble and weak / to make resistance\nAgainst your manly / famous excellence\nThere were no more / but we were victors\nFor evermore / and very conquerors\nDuring the world / to be in remembrance.\nAnd they forever brought him to a standstill, in sober earnestness I have no fear. But Achilles took no notice of him, nor Heber who lay before him dead. Full cold and stiff, of color like lead, neither did he once show any inclination, nor did he give him heed or attention. There was no word in his heart to respond to what he said. For utterly, just like him, he seemed to hear no word. Through his eyes it passed as a shadow. Behold, the manner and condition of these lovers, hanging in a trance. Honor, worship, manhood, and prowess, strength, might, fame, and hardiness, increase of name, virtue, and victory, knighthood, nobility, and in arms' glory - all these can love lay aside. Such is the power of the god Cupid, who with his hook can seize hearts so unwilling. They are loath to displease her, in face or countenance, in will or deed, or in disobedience, to her who is their sovereign lady.\nFor with a clear look of her eyes,\nShe can daunt all their pride.\nVenus soon provides him with sharp arrows,\nTo pierce nerve and vanity.\nAnd he enchains them,\nOnly through his irresistible charge,\nThey are restrained from going at large.\nThis was the reason,\nThat this noble, hardy Achilles\nWould not come into the field,\nFearing Polyxena.\nHe feared she would be offended in her heart,\nIf anything escaped or astrayed,\nThis Achilles, through misgovernance,\nAnd while he hung in balance,\nThe Greeks fought with those of the town.\nTill bright Phoebus was going down,\nThe Trojans, out of necessity,\nEntered the city for lack of light.\nAnd while they were being repulsed,\nDephebus was slain,\nComplaining continually on his deadly wound.\nWhen Paris and Troilus found him,\nIn this misfortune, they wept and cried,\nAs if they would die from very sorrow and pitiful sound.\nOn their checks / on the other side\nAnd while they / remained upon him\nThis wounded man / began to draw his end\nWhose spirit was / ready to depart\nOut of his breast / and his weary ghost\nFull hastily / into another cost\nWith deadly eyes / turned up so down\nWhen he knew / by relation\nThat Paris had / Palamides' slave\nHe bade / that they should draw out\nThe large trunk / with the stolen head\nAnd there with all / he filled down dead\nAnd with the corpse / they made haste to leave\nToward the town / but there is no need\nThe tale to write / and lamentation\nThat was made / for Sarpedon\nThrough the city / and especially of the king\nAnd of the queen / ever in one weeping\nOf his brothers / and his sisters dear\nIt were in vain / to repeat it here\nBut Priam / with great diligence\nTwo tombs made / of royal excellence\nFor Dephebus / and king Sarpedon\nWith many images / carved around\nAnd many a knot / carved here and there\nAnd buried them / but a little apart.\nLike the custom of their old rites,\nAnd while they, the people, keep the festival called the funeral,\nThe Greeks have made in special,\nA rich tomb for the worthy king Pallamides,\nAnd for his burial,\nThey solemnly made ordinance among them,\nAnd with great sorrow and pitiful heaviness,\nThey royally brought this king of great worthiness,\nTo his sepulcher.\nAnd because they could not endure,\nWithout a head and a governor,\nThey chose their Emperor,\nBy one consent and affection,\nThe worthy king Wise Agamemnon,\nAnd after they made no hindrance,\nThe people of Troy, the next day,\nWith their wards, went into the field,\nFully purposeful to fight with their foes,\nBut worthy Troilus overcame them,\nThe Greeks were none too soon to tell,\nThat day before him might dwell,\nSo cruelly he began to chase them,\nFor wherever he came or rode in any place,\nThey fled his sword, in doubt of their lives.\nHis young knights riding around him,\nSuch as he was using to lead,\nAnd ever in one, the Greeks' blood they shed,\nLike a stream, they distended all the plain,\nAnd all this while, such a heavy rain,\nThe same day, and such a great mist,\nThat every man has his fellow mist,\nSpecifically, upon the Greeks' side,\nFor the storm and their wide wounds,\nAnd for the manhood of this Trojan knight,\nWorthy Troilus, so fresh, so young and light,\nThey were compelled, through his cruelty,\nDespite their might, for fear of death,\nTo their tents, seeking comfort,\nTrojans always pursuing behind,\nDeadly, with a stern pass,\nBut for the storm, they ceased from the fight,\nAnd home they returned, to their strong city,\nUntil the morrow, when the lark sang,\nThat Troilus again, most manly in battle,\nThe Greeks new, cast him for assault,\nAnd Guido wrote, this young champion,\nThat day, as he rode up and down,\nAmong his foot, through his high renown,\nThere was a cygne, duke, erlenor baron.\nWith his sword, he went where they were,\nEnding their lives, making a mortal end,\nAs long as Phoebus gave his light,\nUntil at last it drew towards night,\nHe returned manfully to Troy,\nSeven days following,\nHe led this life with his knights,\nAgainst the Greeks, as Guido can tell,\nNew and new, he confounded them,\nHis cruel sword was so keenly ground,\nThey could not hold, in his sight,\nNor endure nor sustain,\nNor the vengeance he took upon them,\nFor wherever he rode, the way they forsook,\nIn his trace, the ranks were so red,\nOf them in truth, that in the field they lay dead,\nFor this slaughter and confusion,\nThe Greeks new sent to the town,\nFor true truces, to Priamus the king,\nHe granted their request,\nFor two months, by the assent,\nOf all the lords, of his Parliament,\nThey made full relation,\nThe envoys, to Agamemnon,\nAnd to their lodging, after forth they went.\nBut he sent messengers to Achilles in the meantime. Agamemnon, as Guido desired, composed a poem. His messengers were sent by Achilles to inquire for certain causes, as you will hear in the story. With Ulysses and worthy Diomedes, Duke Nestor went to persuade him, only through their counsel, to be willing, through his chivalry, to stand with them, as he had done before, since they had so many of their men in captivity. Lacked only his high presence. And Achilles, with due reverence, received them and welcomed them with knightly cheer. After they were seated, they, according to their rank, took their places in audience. While Ulysses, full of eloquence, began his tale to Achilles, saying: \"Sir Achilles, renowned for glory throughout the world, and in knighthood, a very shining example.\"\nDisplease it not now that I shall tell\nTo your noble, famous excellence,\nNo offense take that I shall say, but of goodness,\nPatiently you will heed my words, said from heart and thought,\nI ensure you, for I feign nothing,\nThis to say if you remember well,\nThe first cause and purpose ever of the Greeks,\nIf you have mention, was fully set by one intention,\nAs well of you as of us, parde,\nWhen we first came to this city,\nKings, princes, I except none,\nOf whom in truth to reckon every one,\nYourself were, to speak in particular,\nOne of the first and most principal,\nAssented fully, how Troy through our manhood\nShould perpetually be brought to ruin,\nBut now, I note what suddenly inclines,\nYour worthiness, to vary,\nAnd to our purpose, for to be contrary,\nConsider first, of you that are so wise,\nThe wrongs done, and the great damage,\nIn Greek land, by those of the town,\nConspiring always to our destruction.\nIf you wisely in your thought consider,\nThat many worthy foes have slain and brought to an end,\nAnd taken from us treasure that no man may restore,\nDespoiled us and brought us into great distress,\nOur goods raided, our gold and riches,\nOur ships burned through their cruelty,\nAnd to all this, alas, you did not see,\nNow that they are, who cannot be delayed,\nThrough your manhood, finally outwitted,\nSince you have slain, their hope, their sufficiency,\nActor in whom, was all their affection,\nTheir trust and difference also,\nAnd Dephebus, too, is gone,\nAnd likely are more to be disappointed,\nFrom day to day and finally dispersed,\nSo cruelly, Fortune looks upon them,\nAnd now your honor and fame flourish,\nIn his worship, and your high renown,\nObtained has, the exalted one,\nAnd highest peak, of Fortune's wheel,\nIt would be wrong and you look well,\nNot to be wantonly unkind,\nTo her who you so kindly find,\nOr to be froward while she is benign.\nBy your grace assign [to us], your speech moves [us] to your pleasure, and happens to turn [into your hands] plentifully on your chance. Therefore, alas, why will you suffer paleness? Your noble fame, of very wilfulness, while it is highest in worthiness, your knightly prudence should not lack. Of this thing, every gentle heart should have route and compassion. Wherefore we pray, of discretion, that you shape this purpose to amend, and that you would, from the heart, condescend with us to stand knightly in this war, by your manhood, which is spoken of so far, that your renown to the world's end is reported where so ever men think. Perpetually, by the freshness of your hew, may day be day to increase new. That the triumph of this high victory be put in story and memory, and so engraved that forgetfulness no power has by malice to oppress your fame in knighthood, which shines yet so clear in many places.\nWithout ecclipsing, this concerns you, who are now reckless\nOf willfulness, to cloud so the light\nOf your renown, which once shone so bright\nYour mighty hand, drawing mankind's attention\nConsider first, how Greeks are enslaved\nBefore your tent, with mortal wounds wide\nThroughout the field, on every side\nAnd have disdain, only for lack of rout\nAlas, the while, for a little sloth\nTo lay hand, in their misfortune at all\nThat once were, their strong mighty wall\nTheir chief difference, and their champion\nSovereign help, and protection\nFor whom you have, so often shed your blood\nAgainst their foe, with them when he stood\nFull mightily, their enemies to assail\nWithout whom, they little may prevail\nIn very truth, none of us each one\nBut you of knighthood, list to go with us\nAgainst Trojans, as you were wont to do\nAs is our trust, and final hope also\nThat you shall help, and our succor be\nAnd here upon, we pray you that you.\nSay your oath and your full will,\nAnd then at once, the fierce Achilles,\nWhen Vulixis had concluded his tale,\nWith a face for anger, pale and wan,\nSaid openly and plainly, Sir Vulixis,\nIf what you say is true,\nAnd you have declared, in conclusion,\nThat our purpose and intention\nWas finally, to burn and destroy,\nThis royal city, called Troy,\nI hold in truth, it displeases me to lie,\nThat our intention was grounded in folly,\nTo put us all, through reckless haste,\nIn jeopardy of life and death,\nAnd specifically, in all the chivalry,\nOf Greek land, for so small a thing,\nSo many princes and many worthy kings,\nWho have parted, their bodies and their goods,\nLost their lives and spent their blood,\nWhich might have been, full well at home in peace,\nAnd is not now, the king Pallamides,\nYslawe also, as they say, but newly,\nWho was so wise, so manly and so true,\nOf whom the life was of more price alone,\nThan the cause, for which we all contend.\nBe advised here who so likes a right,\nAnd of Greeks, many a noble knight\nWho have been slain, both of the worthiest\nThe world to seek, and the manliest,\nFrom every land and kingdom,\nOn Greeks' party, and with them of the town\nOf chivalry and knighthood, the sourage flower,\nTo win in arms, worship and honor,\nAssemble here and come from so far,\nOf whom in truth, by the pressures of this war,\nFull many one is dead,\nAnd truly, without any fear,\nThere shall be more, if the war lasts,\nFor every day, the number lessens fast,\nOf worthy knights, dead without route,\nThat I dare say, and conclude in truth,\nIn this rage, furious and mad,\nLikely is, that all gentle blood\nThroughout this world, shall be destroyed,\nAnd rural folk, and that is great pity,\nShall have lordship and holy governance,\nAnd Charlies too, with sorrow and mischance,\nIn every land, shall lords be alone,\nWhen gentle men, slain be each one,\nIs not Hector, that was so noble a knight.\nThat was this world's very son and light of manhood, slain pitifully in this war. In truth and might, I suppose, he who cannot attain to his nobleness if I do not concede. By what means shall we escape death with all our might, pursuing it from day to day, while we lie here? Therefore, I ask briefly, concerning the war or prayer, it is in vain, and heed what I say. I do not intend, in this war or strife, to join in any more my life. I would rather have my name live on in infamy than be slain and have a meaningless fame. For worthiness after death blows but a wind and lasts but a throw. For though renown and praise blow wide, forgetfulness often sets it aside. Through the length of years and oblivion, through envy and false conclusions, the laud of knighthood and worthiness, of wisdom too and gentleness, freedom, virtue, and such grace, forgetfulness can darken and deface, and with it malice and envy.\nYseryd has the palm of chivalry. I say this for myself, I will from now on seek peace with the Trojans if I may, in a hurried way, without further delay. This is my counsel to you all. Or, if misfortune befalls you, may both Ulysses and you, Diomede, and Nestor, who are wise, work openly as I advise. This is the sum and fine intent of mine. And so report this to him who sent you. They should immediately be brought before Agamemnon with such an answer as you have heard me say. It is not necessary to write it anew. And here before King Agamemnon, let a convening be made of his lords, and in their presence, from point to point, sincerely in sentence, he has recounted how Achilles was desirous of making peace with the Trojans, and plainly how for no prayer, in no degree.\nAgain, Trojans, with spear or shield,\nArm yourselves to aid the Greeks in the field.\nWhy then, the king, as one who was wise,\nAsked for your counsel in this matter;\nWhat seemed best to you in this regard?\nIndeed, it stood thus.\nAnd first, speak, Menelaus,\nWith angry mien and plainly say,\nYou would not have a truce; it was not your intent,\nNor would you assent to it.\nThen the city, in conclusion,\nHung on the brink of its destruction.\nNow that Hector and Deiphobus were dead,\nThose who had once been each other's trust,\nTheir difference, but now they had gone,\nFarewell their trust and their hope also,\nWithout more ado and all their pride,\nThey could not now, but after death abide,\nAnd trust well, without any less,\nThough it be that this Achilles\nDoes not help us toward our enterprise,\nWe need not fear, in no way,\nWithout him, for to have victory,\nBy our manhood and our own glory.\nI am quite certain of this, and sure.\nBut Ulysses replied again.\nQUESTOR, opposed to his opinion, openly stated that there was no wonder in Menelaus' refusal, for Menelaus himself acknowledged what he meant. Menelaus was the source of all the war, and the reason they had come so far from their land. He and Queen Helen were the cause, and for their sake, all the Greeks put their lives in jeopardy. If the ground was searched, they knew that he bore no guilt. Menelaus, what suffering they endured! His wife could recover from him, and where he said that Ajax was dead, he had an heir to speak of manliness and knighthood, as it would be found. He was called Ector the Second. Worthy Troilus, his brother, was not such another in worthiness throughout the world. For he of Troy was the mighty wall, and the difference now that Ector was gone. You know it well, each one of you.\nIf it be that you wish to heed,\nWhose sharp sword sore does bleed us,\nEvery day, in his furious heat,\nAmidst the field, when we encounter him,\nAnd instead of worthy Dephebus,\nWho in his time was wonderfully famous,\nHis brother, Parrys, is now found at all,\nIn worthiness of knighthood perilous,\nSo that from them we have no advantage,\nUnto this hour, but rather great damage,\nTo reckon all, since we are gone,\nThis is true, we have but little won,\nBut we are likely, always more to lose,\nIf we continue, but since we may choose,\nIt were healthful, to live in quiet,\nTo have a peace, and this war let be,\nBy one consent, since you are wise,\nAnd with the word, Calchas began to rise,\nThe Trojan traitor, with a pale countenance,\nFor very ire, and said as you shall hear,\nA worthy prince, what think you to do,\nTo change, so like, as does the moon,\nYour old purpose and your first intent,\nAgainst the will and commandment\nOf the gods, who every thing govern,\nBy persuasion, who so can discern.\n\"Alas, alas, why will you at the least\nGive credence and faith to your steed,\nWhich in no way can be untrustworthy,\nFor truly, it were impossible\nBut Troy, the city\nOf custom and necessity\nMight be destroyed, unless it is allied,\nIf your sloth, be it not to know,\nSo that victory, worship and honor,\nAnd final palm, also of this labor,\nAre reserved for you,\nIn your purpose, if you continue forth,\nAnd hindrance not, of folly your Fortune,\nI dare well conclude, and perilous is,\nThe gods to deceive,\nOf negligence or sloth willfully,\nWherefore I advise, that now manfully,\nWith heart and thought and full resolve,\nPlainly devoting, all ambiguity,\nTo set upon and knightly to resume,\nYour force again, fully to consume,\nYour cruel foe, and let be shut out without,\nVain hope and fear, despair and every doubt,\nCasting off parryll, sloth and cowardice,\nAnd let manhood utterly despise.\"\nAll fear of death, that causes hearts to feint,\nWith cowardice, for to be attained,\nFinally, as Gods have foretold,\nThrough presence, of their eternal might,\nTo victory, that you shall obtain,\nLike your desire, there is no more to say,\nAnd when Calchas, in conclusion,\nThis false traitor, unto Troy town,\nThe Greeks had, through his words fair,\nTouching the war, put out of despair,\nOf heart, all one, they cast them to fulfill,\nHolily his counsel, though so that Achilles,\nBe forward always, to help them in their need,\nThey gave no force, nor took of it no head,\nBut every one, they them ready make,\nAs you shall hear, the field in haste to take.\nThe trues passed, of the months way,\nInto the field, the Greeks them ordain,\nAnd they of Troy, again them issue out,\nAnd worthy Troilus, with an huge route,\nThe Greeks began, alderfirst, to assail,\nAnd with his sword, he made first to rail,\nThe red blood, through their armor bright,\nThat, as the death, they fled from his sight.\nFor that day, through his cruelty,\nHe fully avenged himself upon Hector,\nAnd, as Dares reports specifically,\nAM Knightes, this Trojan champion,\nSlaughtered riding up and down,\nAs my author, Guido, willingly writes,\nSaving after him, I can write no further,\nIn his book, he grants him such a name,\nBy his manhood and knightly fame,\nThe Greeks all were put to flight,\nThat day until it drew to night,\nAnd on the morrow, in the dawning,\nThe Greeks armed themselves,\nWith great diligence,\nAgainst the Trojans to stand in defense,\nAmong whom that day, as I read,\nSo well did he bear himself,\nThat many Trojans, through his cruelty,\nHad lost their lives until Troilus saw,\nThis Diomede, in the field riding,\nTo whom, without further delay,\nWith his spear, he threw into the fray,\nThis Troilus rode and struck him on the breast,\nSo mightily that, in very need,\nHe knocked Diomede off his horse.\nAlbe he had no wound. Troilus, in his rage, began to withdraw when he was down, revealing the love of Creussyde, and his deceit and treachery. The Greeks then quickly gathered around him among the horses where he lay, intending to draw him out in all the haste they could muster. They bore him home, leaving him dismayed after the stroke. Meanwhile, Menelaus had seized a mighty spear to avenge Deidameia for Troilus, and hastened to confront him. Fully armed, Troilus made his horse go swiftly towards Menelaus and lay on the earth before him. Troilus struck him so mightily with his spear that shield or plate could not save him from a mortal wound. But Troilus' knights found him in the press and bore him home to his own tent. The Greeks continued to stand in distress through the knighthood and their high prowess.\nOf this Troilus, who held them so in check,\nOn every side, where he rode on the plain,\nUntil the time that Agamemnon,\nInto the field, was brought low,\nWith many worthy, around his banner,\nWho shone brightly, against the sun clear,\nAnd with his knights, him riding envious,\nHe fiercely engaged them from Troy,\nWounding and slaying, putting them to flight,\nHimself acquitting himself, like a knight,\nBut for all that, without further delay,\nAmong the Trojans, fiercely as he rode,\nThis worthy king, great Agamemnon,\nWith a spear, struck down Troilus,\nDespite his Greeks, no help was gained,\nAnd when they saw, their lord and governor,\nIn such distress, lying at the ground,\nThey lifted him up and made him mount,\nThrough their manhood, on his strong steed,\nAnd he, of wisdom, began to consider,\nWhat discord, Troilus had brought,\nAnd how his Greeks, for all their great pride,\nBefore his sword, could not endure.\nHe prudently, with high discretion,\nThis noble knight, King Agamemnon,\nWho had constant advice through his providence,\nWhen he saw his Greeks begin to fail,\nAnd weaken, unable to stand in battle,\nFor lack of supplies that should have comforted them,\nHe wisely made them retreat to their own tents.\nAfterward, he sent Priam a message,\nTo Troy for armor, for six months if possible,\nAnd by his counsel, Priam the king\nGranted his request without delay.\nAlthough some, such as Ulysses,\nWere unwilling to wait so long,\nTheir mortal foe in any way,\nBut yet his grant, as you have heard,\nRemained strong in its power.\nIn this time, Cressida, in her youthful enthusiasm,\nDesired no longer to wait,\nThough her father was against it,\nFor to see and have a sight\nOf Diomedes, who had recently captured her king.\nWhich had wounded Troy from Troilus,\nAnd in his tent, when she found him,\nShe graciously sat on his bedside.\nShe set herself down and quietly pondered,\nTouching Troilus, it was in vain,\nTo live in hope of any more recovery,\nAnd thought she would, for nothing, be unsure,\nOf prosperity nor without store,\nShe gave herself at once, without more,\nHolly her heart to Diomedes,\nLo, what pity is in womanhood,\nWhat mercy also and kindly route,\nThat newly can all her old truths put aside,\nRather than they should see a man in misfortune,\nFor their sake.\nThe change is not so ready to make,\nIn Lombard Street, of crown nor document,\nAll poise is good, be the presentation set,\nTheir letter of change does not delay,\nSo that the wind be ready and the tide,\nPassage is always ready, who so wills to pass,\nNo man is lost, who seeks grace,\nDanger is none, but counterfeit disdain,\nThe sea is calm and from rocks plain,\nFor merciless, never man died,\nWho sought grace, record of Creseyde,\nWhich finally has given, all her heart.\nTo Dyomedes, in release of his death,\nI prayed him to be right glad and light,\nAnd called him my own man and knight,\nAnd begged him rather than he die,\nIn every thing how I would obey,\nIf it were honest for him to please,\nFor I'd rather have change and variance,\nThan lack of pity, as women are,\nIn nature not to be vengeful,\nNot by faith or anything else,\nBut rather merciful to man's life,\nStanding in distress,\nHere's no more, for now I will dress,\nTo tell forth in my translation,\nCerulously, how Agamemnon,\nDuring the truces and the time of peace,\nHimself went to Achilles,\nBeseeching him rewards to have,\nOf his knighthood, Greeks to save,\nAnd his presence no more to withdraw,\nTo suffer them so mortally to be slaves,\nOf their enemies, pompous and elated,\nBut Achilles, always indurate,\nUnyielding new, both in heart and thought,\nFrom his purpose, plainly changes not,\nFully inclined, for to have a peace,\nBut as much as Achilles.\nOf eternity and affection, so loving was Agamemnon to him, he granted at least A great part, touching his request. This to say, that Achilles grants to him his Myrmidons, full knightly men, only in his absence, with the Greeks, to make resistance in the field against them of the town. For which grant, king Agamemnon and duke Nestor thanked him from the heart. But he always, continuing in his pain, for the love of fair Polyxena, knew no gain to his green wounds, but despairs, languishes ever in one. And when the true terms had passed, and were gone, upon the morrow, full benign, Achilles' knights did assign the field to take with Agamemnon. And as the story makes mention, he gave to them bends, fresh of red, that men may know by their manliness with whom they were held in special regard. And like a man, deadly and mortal, in his tent Achilles abode. Into the field, from him, they should depart only for sorrow, they should separate from him.\nIn his absence, a war to begin\nAgainst them of the town, but they went\nWith Agamemnon against the Trojans, proud and stern\nBut on the other side met the knights of Troyan blood\nWho were on them so furious and mad\nThat cruelly they oppressed the Greeks\nSo that they dressed themselves in retreat\nThey were on them so relentlessly fierce\nUntil the Duke of Athens\nEntered among the Greeks to intervene\nBut unexpectedly, or so he thought,\nMighty Troyus appeared, like a wild lion\nAnd from his horse, he brought him down\nThen, after that, he put him in such a press\nUntil he met the Myrmidons\nAnd of them, he slew many that day\nAnd so, Troilus was gone\nLeaving the Greeks in complete flight\nThrough his knighthood until it drew to night\nAnd from his sword, no man could borrow mercy.\nGuyon writes that on the next morning,\nA mortal slaughter took place on the other side\nAmidst the field as they came together.\nOf manly knights, wondrous to behold,\nAnd as they fought, King Phylimene with help only of Polydamas,\nTook hold of worthy King Thoas,\nAnd led him towards Troy town.\nBut Myrmidons, proudly, came down upon him,\nAnd through their might, rescued Thoas.\nBut Troyius then hurled them fiercely,\nLike a champion, among them.\nNow here and there, they cast and threw them down,\nSome he slew, and some he made bleed,\nTill cruelly they slew his mighty steed,\nWhich he sat upon, and yet neither less,\nHe fought on foot against Myrmidons,\nWho had cast Troyius to have taken,\nBut Paris, though, woke them up,\nWith his brothers, who rode about him,\nIn the place where Troyius stood,\nAlone upon his foot,\nOf Myrmidons, they slew many one,\nWho through their manliness, brought another steed,\nBeside his foot, and made him mount.\nAnd he knightly defended himself,\nSet with Greeks in the same stance,\nNever before a better knight was found,\nThey felt it well, those were his feet,\nBut then his brother called Emargaron,\nSo he fought, putting himself in press,\nWas slain alas, among the Myrmidons,\nThe death of whom, in a cruel year,\nTroilus with anger set a fire,\nOpenly intending to avenge if he may,\nAnd with his sword began to make way.\nParis stood fast by riding,\nAnd all his brothers against him,\nWho were so merciless,\nAs I find, against the Myrmidons,\nFor they, by force and necessity,\nWere compelled, openly, to flee,\nTroilus was so furious,\nSo vengeful also, and so despising,\nThat he gave them many mortal wounds,\nAnd yet in truth, on that day they were found,\nNoble knights, and quit them well,\nFor they knew every craft,\nLonging to armies, as I read,\nBut for all that, he made their sides bleed,\nThrough the melee, and their plates shine.\nThat they could not plainly sustain\nThe sword of Troyius, chasing them all around\nAlthough they kept close together and went not apart,\nBut Troyius ever chased them here and there\nAnd separated them despite their might\nUntil in the field came Menelaus and King Agamemnon,\nUlysses also and cruel Thelamon,\nAnd Diomedes, who recovered from his wounds as my Author says clearly,\nAnd upon the Trojans suddenly they fell\nWith their arms and their knights all\nAnd thus the fight began to renew\nOn every side, the bright plates were newly stained with blood,\nAnd they of Troy so manfully endured\nAgainst their foe in this mighty struggle,\nThat many a Greek was bereft of life,\nAnd where they were most mighty in battle,\nTroyius came in and began to assail them,\nOn every side, with many bloody wounds,\nAnd by his knighthood, he brought them comfort,\nSo they always fled, so they were afraid\nOf the mortal strokes of his sharp sword.\nThe destruction and this continues until King Thelamon,\nBy his manhood, when he beheld the Greeks recover the field.\nAnd the Trojans began to assail them again with great force,\nAnd they began the slaughter on each side until Troyus renewed the fight.\nThe Greeks had fiercely overrun the Myrmidons and all of them,\nBefore his sword, making them retreat.\nAnd with his hand, he took one hundred knights\nWho came in his way and sent them into Troy.\nAnd ever in one place, he forced the Myrmidons so much\nThat they lost their ground.\nAnd to Achilles, lying in his tent,\nThey returned, wounded and to rent their armor,\nBoth plate and mail.\nAnd from their number, I find that they fail.\nOne hundred knights slain and all, alas,\nWere found among the Taans.\nAmidst the field, through the girt with many wounded,\nOf Troyus sword, Ector the second was struck.\nWhen Achilles had a sight of this.\nSo he was very restless the next night,\nIn his bed, tossing and turning,\nDevoid of sleep, due to his woe,\nAt his heart, his wound was keen.\nWhat about his men, and fair Polycene,\nThinking well, if he endured his pain,\nTo be avenged, he would not attain,\nIn no way, to his desire.\nAnd thus he burned, in a double fire,\nOf love and ire, that made him shy,\nBut for this reason, love was the more,\nHe was afraid, against them of the town,\nIn his person, to do offense,\nDesired Pryamus and Ecuban queen,\nOffended were they, and especially Polycene,\nAnd thus he stood, in a double fear,\nThat his heart, sat him very near,\nWith many a wonder, diverse fantasy,\nAs have lovers, who are in point to die,\nRight even so fares, this woeful man,\nFor very woe, that no redemption can,\nSo ensnared, that thought to die,\nOf his recovery, he knew no better way,\nAnd while he lay, this in these throws white,\nLike as Guido, playfully, desired to end it,\nAnd the story makes it memorable.\nThat days seven, they of Troy town.\nTo increase and augment their sorrow,\nWith the Greeks, meet every morrow,\nWho through the force of both their might,\nOn the other part, were slain many a knight,\nAnd all this while, this Achilles,\nOf the Greeks' death, was reckless,\nFor love only, and took no heed,\nOf those whole or mortally bleeding,\nOr those who, with their wounds large,\nHe thought was no part of his charge.\nSo much he had, on other things to think,\nThat often he wakes when he should wink,\nThoughtful always and Imaginative,\nAnd very weary of his own life,\nTill on a day, King Agamemnon,\nSeeing the death and destruction,\nOn the Greeks' half, without remedy,\nSent by embassy for a truce,\nFor a certain days' space,\nBut he might, of this, have no grace,\nCould endure longer time,\nThan for lesser, of the Sepulture,\nOf worthy knights that were dead before,\nIn the field, on the other side, they sought,\nAnd after this, plainly how they wrought.\nDuring the siege, with great violence, I shall describe, with your patience. The cruel force and mortal ire Of Martyr's might, always setting a fire With new envy, born of old hatred Burning in hearts, hot as any pleasure At odds, Greeks and Troy, the city Which likely is not, staunched for to be Till death consumes, with his mortal dart Full many worthy, on other parts, To execute, alas, by final fate Each on other, the envious, deadly hate Which they could not, by destiny remove Nor for Parcas, at liberty escape For Antropos, will suffer it be none other That is mistress, & guide of the other Of death's ship, till all go unto wrake And Fortune began, turn her face bake Of high disdain, from Troy the city As in this story, right soon you shall see. For when the truths, that they had taken, Were worn out, they began them ready to make The proud Greeks, and into the field they went On a morning, when Phoebus brightly shone Armed in shining armor, each at his due place.\nAnd Menelaus first met Paris that day, as I have heard in the story. Each of them faced off from the other's side. To Glaucus rode a stern pas, and each at the other of cruel enmity, with stiff swords they began to flee, neither of whom was man enough to know. And with asper, squared for biting, the mighty Duke Menestheus rode in sight of all. He dismounted quickly beside Anthenor, the Troyan full of pride. In his fury and hateful hand, he came to King Agamemnon in great haste. Only in help came King Phylemon and his men, and began to engage in battle with Agamemnon through his knighthood and hardiness, which had brought him into great distress. To outer misfortune and confusion, he would not have been saved, had it not been for King Thoas. Full proudly, he came to his rescue, and pursued Phylemon sorely with a spear. And for his horse, he laid himself on the green. Despite his strength, the story tells us, for him was Menelaus mortally jealous.\nAnd after that, young Archilochus, a mortal man, ran to Brutus, one of the sons of Priam the king. Young and delivers himself, appearing at his best. But he struck him with such great might that he fell dead. This fresh, lusty knight.\n\nWhen they of Troy saw his death,\nThey made a shout and pitiful cries,\nLamenting with woe and complaining of his death,\nUntil the noise reached Eryes, where he rode.\nAnd he no longer remained there,\nBut approached the place,\nAnd with his sword, intended to set a brooch,\nWithout rage, the Greeks' hateful blood,\nMercilessly killing all who opposed him.\n\nHe slew that day, by cruel adventure,\nA Greek who could not endure before his sword,\nPressing them so relentlessly with his knighthood and high prowess.\nHe put them to flight, and had they not been,\nThe manhood and might of the Myrmidons,\nWhich all that day, by one consent, lay upon Troilus.\n\nHe was full of melancholy because of this.\nAnd of great courage and manhood, he did not wish to wait any longer, but set upon them all fiercely. He struck some through the side, others through the heart, and some through doublet and shirt, shield and plate, and haubergeon. He pierced them all like a raging lion. He slew many that day, and those who remained fled in terror. With the Greeks, each one to his tent they went. The Trojans swiftly pursued them on horseback until they had them captured. They made such a murderous rampage of the Greeks that there was no other recourse but death, so passing and confusing. The Greeks were left in despair. Troilus brought them to a standstill, leaving them no better remedy but to wail and cry for death, with a ghastly countenance. When Achilles first arrived, he was met with the dreadful noise and pitiful sight that had been caused by reflection.\nOf ere again, who could it know,\nIn rocks hard and caverns low,\nLike as it were, one word spoken of two,\nThat men are wont to call an Echo.\nSo confused was the lamentation,\nOn Greece's side, from which the deadly seed was born,\nSo pitifully to Achilles it was run,\nOf those who lay against the hot sun,\nYielding up their breath,\nWith rumble and swoon, resigned to death.\nSuch a noise, Greeks made there,\nAnd what it meant, Achilles inquired,\nAnd what the cause was of their clamor,\nAnd they told him, for lack of succor,\nThe Greeks were each in his century,\nOf Hector slain, so that the victory,\nGot finally, with those of Troy town.\nFor evermore, in conclusion,\nSo many Greeks lay slain in this tent,\nGaping upward, that his blood spent\nThrough the constraint of his wounds' pain,\nAnd while Achilles turned,\nSuddenly there came to him a man,\nWhose tale even thus began:\n\n\"Alas,\" said he, \"how may you endure,\nTo see your men here upon the green.\"\nBefore you stand slain and lie dead\nAnd list not once to take heed\nBut stand still pensive in your tent\nUpon the point yourselves to be shed\nIn hasty hour if you here abide\nFor fifty thousand knights here besiege\nReady armed in plates and in mail\nCast them plainly at once you to sail\nThis is certain unarmed as you stand\nBut you of knighthood manly take hold\nTo resist in this self place\nAnd like a man to meet them in the face\nFor which anon in a cruel mode\nThis Achilles like as he were mad\nArmed him raging as a boar\nFarewell his love he set of it no store\nOf hasty heat his ire was so keen\nThat he forgot fair Polyxena\nAnd her beauty it whylom made him smart\nAnd in a rage up anon he started\nAnd took his steed as any lion wrath\nAgainst Trojans and into field he went\nLike a wolf that is with hunger gnaw\nRight so he began he again his foot to draw\nAnd where he rode without exception\nHe woundeth sleeth killeth and beareth down\nNow here, where Trojans knew\nHis sword, infected with their blood,\nNone could withstand him then,\nSo mortally he lay,\nHis deadly body length upon the plain,\nUntil casually Troilus espied,\nThis Achilles, as he cast an eye,\nAnd spurred his horse to confront,\nRode at him with all his might and pain,\nBut Achilles too was aware,\nSlowed his steed and made him go,\nTowards Troilus in the same moment,\nRiding towards each other full speed,\nTheir spears sharp, their encounter imminent,\nWith such contempt, no more to say,\nThey both fell to the ground.\nBut Achilles received such a wound,\nDeep and profound in his body,\nLong he lay, as my Author relates,\nOr until restored to health again.\nAnd Troilus too, through plate mail and all,\nGuydas' writings tell of a small wound.\nWhiche did no harm to him, and thus that day, by continuance, and for six days, singing by and by, the proud Greeks met them of Troy town, to great damage and confusion of other party, plainly this no, no. For many worthy were slain day by day, In their rancor and heartily hate, Alcides does not specify, None of their names plainly in this book. And all this while, for this sudden time, Penelope and trust was Priam the king, That Achilles had turned his heart away from young Polyxena, And for this change, so sudden and so new, Thought his behests were not all true, But on deceit and doubtfulness, On fraud falsely and newfangled cunning, On subtle treason, an uncovered guile, Or rage of love that lasts but a while, Was utterly found his behest, For like a wind, that no man may arrest, Fareth a word, discordant from the deed, Of which a wise man takes no heed.\nBut let pass / as if he were reckless\nFor although this Achilles\nWas once ensnared / in love's net\nHe did not now / wish to offend her\nOf high rancor / his lady to displease\nIt was not like / as they of Troy thought\nEcuba / nor Polyxena\nTherefore Priam / spoke to the queen\nIn anger / and began to rebuke her\nThat she so trustingly / laid her trust\nIn Achilles / who could so falsely lead\nTherefore full trust / was this Polyxena\nWho was inclined / with her clear eyes\nBy the counsel / of her dear mother\nTo be married / to Achilles\nTo make peace / only there should have been peace\nBut all was false / in the end\nIn the peace / the truth was hidden\nFor when Achilles / of his wounds was healed\nBy a certain day / he began to plot\nAnd imagine / in his envious heart\nTo be avenged / of his wounds' pain\nUpon Troy / that stood ever in his mind\nAt any cost / if he might find him\nTo him he bore / so passionately hated\nIn his heart burns, as gladly,\nNeither day nor night, can fully quench\nHis hot rage, until he avenges,\nThe bitter resentment gnaws at him plainly,\nHe shall be a slave,\nWhen it falls upon his hands,\nAnd on a day, he called out,\nMyrmidons, his knights, every one,\nBefore the town, in steel armored bright,\nAgainst the Trojans, with purpose to fight,\nThey had come, proudly into the field,\nIn the opposing ranks, with many rich shields,\nNewly painted, with fresh and fine colors,\nOn which, fully bright, began to shine,\nFiery Typhon, gold tressed in his spear,\nAt his utmost, with his bejeweled,\nWhen this fell, envious Achilles\nTo his knights, the Myrmidons called,\nAgainst Troilus, began he to complain,\nBeseeching them, to do their duty,\nAgainst this Troilus, in the field that day,\nTo catch him, at mischance, if they may,\nAnd closely to do, their diligence,\nUpon him to have, their full attention.\nBy one consent, wherever he rides.\nAll other things aside, and heed only this: Finally, against him once more proceed, if they might catch him in a trap. Within themselves, truly faithful, to enclose and set him roundabout, in every way, that he not go out. And when he was beset among them all, not to slay him, whatever might fall. But through their might, greatly to serve him, till he himself came and made amends with his sword, he and none other. Lo, here a manhood, to praise a right one. Vengeance of death, of rancor and of pride, compassed treason, knighthood laid aside. Worthiness, by envy enslaved. Falsehood a loftiness, truth a backward step. Alas, in arms, that he should fall. Of treachery, there the bitter gall. Should in this world many a knight be befouled. Those who are true, of their order bound. Alas, alas, for now this Achilles, Conspired has, with his Myrmidons. The death of one, the worthiest that ever was, and the best knight.\nAlas for me, my heart feels dead\nFor his sake, this story when I read\nBut when Fortune has something decreed,\nThough it be ever waylaid and delayed,\nThere is no gain nor any remedy,\nThough men may gallantly cry and plead,\nI can do no more touching this matter\nBut write forth as you shall here\nHow Myrundones have sought their lord's command\nWith all their power and full might\nTo fulfill his commandment\nAnd into the field with Greeks they went\nBut Troilus first, in the opposite,\nHad such great delight in knighthood,\nWithout abode, manly he met them,\nHe was burned, with such fervent heat,\nOf hardiness and high courage,\nOf worthiness and vassalage,\nThat he no longer wished to abide,\nBut with his people began to ride\nAmong Greeks, this people of high renown,\nAnd with his sword he wished and bore down,\nSlew and killed upon every one,\nSo mortally that their sorry sounds\nFor there was but death\nWhere he rode and yielding up the breath.\nHe fiercely encircled them, reducing their land in a little space. Their land each one and before him fled. In Trojan sword, such cruelty there was. He had won the field that very time. The bright sun, in the south at midday, shone. Even at the hour when it drew towards noon, When the Myrmidons gathered all in one, In a compact circle around him, They furyously, of one accord, made a circle around him, envious. When they saw him, helpless and desolate, But he, from his heart, not disconsolate, On no side, through his manliness, Like a lion, took no head from them. But through his famous knightly excellence, As a tiger, stood at a difference. And manfully, he began to engage them. He began to lessen and decrease their number. Some he maimed and wounded unto death. Some he made to yield up their breath. Some he laid low to the earth. And some he made to overthrow. With his sword, of their blood, all was wet.\nAt great misfortune, under his horse's feet,\nOn his steed, sturdy as a wall,\nThis worthy knight, this man most marshal,\nPlays his part, among Myrundones.\nHe himself God wot, alone, helpless,\nBut alas, what could his force avail,\nWhen three thousand knights assail him,\nOn every side, both in length and breadth.\nAnd cowardly, they first slew his steed,\nWith their spears, sharp and quare-ground,\nAlas, he now stands on the ground,\nWithout rescues, refute, or support.\nThat was that day, of Chivalry's flower,\nBut wellaway, they have him so beset,\nThat from his head, they struck his basinet,\nAnd broke his armor, as they assail him,\nAnd severe of steel, the mighty strong man,\nHe was disarmed, both neck and head.\nAlas the while, and no knight took heed,\nOf all his knights, longing to the town.\nAnd yet always, this Troyan Champion,\nIn knightly wise, naked as he was,\nHe himself defended, till Achilles, alas,\nCame riding in, Furyous and wode.\nAnd when he saw / how Troilus stood\nAfter long fighting / weary and forsaken\nAlone by him / pitifully desolate\nSolely by himself / at misfortune's mercy\nThis Achilles / wondrously cruel\nUnawares / or he heeded not\nWith his sword / struck him on the head\nAnd cast it forth / from his heart cruelly cursed\nThinking plainly / it would not harm him\nTo show his malice / this wolf unmerciful\nMost unfairly / to be more vengeful\nUpon the body / that lay dead and cold\nAlas / that ever / it should be told\nOf any knight / a story so horrible\nTo the ears / passing strange\nFor this Achilles / of cruelty, alas\nThe corpse / took out of the taas\nAnd bound it / as I find\nAt the tail / of his horse behind\nAnd hatefully / every man beheld\nDrew himself / endlessly through the ranks and the walls\nBut O alas / that ever / it should fall\nA knight to be / in heart so cruel\nOr of hatred, so despising, drew a man after he was dead\nO Omer, for shame be now ashamed,\nAnd be astonished, holdest thyself so wise,\nOn Achilles, to set such a price\nIn thy books, for his chivalry,\nAbove everyone, dost magnify him,\nWho was so cunning and full of fraud,\nWhy give him so high a price and laud,\nCertes, Omer, for all thy excellence,\nIn rhetoric and eloquence,\nThy lusty songs and thy sweet poetry,\nThy honeyed mouth that doth with sweetness flow,\nYet in one thing, thou art greatly to blame,\nCasually, to give him such a name,\nWith a title of Triumph and glory,\nSo passingly, put him in memory,\nIn thy books, to say and write so,\nThrough his knighthood, he slew Aetery's two,\nFirst him, who was like none other,\nAnd Troilus after, it was his own brother,\nIf thou art moved, of affection,\nWhich thou hast, to the Greek nation,\nTo praise him so, for thou canst endite,\nThou shouldst always, for any favor, write.\nThe truth/plainly and be indifferent\nAnd say the truth/clearly of intent\nFor when he slew/Ector in the field\nHe was before/disarmed/of his shield\nAnd busy also/in spoiling of a king\nFor if he had/beware of his coming\nHe had him quit/through his Chivalry\nHis false desire/and his Treachery\nThat he neither had/so lightly from him gone\nTroilus also/was naked and alone\nAmidst three thousand/closed and beset\nWhen Achilles/has his head smitten\nAt his back/of full cruel heart\nWhen he nothing/his treason discovered\nWas that a deed/of a manly knight\nTo slay a man/forsworn in fight\nFaint of travel/all the long day\nAmong so many/standing at a bay\nA king's son/and so high born\nNaked the head/his armor all torn\nEven at the death/on the self point\nAt disadvantage/and plainly out of joint\nOf his life/standing on the wreck\nWhen Achilles/came falsely at the bake\nAssailing him/when he was half dead\nAnd like a coward/smote off then his head\nThat was before / he was hurt and wounded sore\nTherefore Omer / praise him no more\nLate not his praise / thy ryall book deface\nBut in all haste / his renown outrace\nFor his name / when I here renew\nVerily / up unto the heaven\nAs it seems to me / infect is the air\nThe seed thereof / so foul is and vile\nFor if that he had had / his advice\nOutside the eye / of his pride\nTo knighthood / or to worthiness\nTo manhood / or to gentleness\nOr to the renown / of his own name\nOr to the report / of his knightly fame\nIn any way / to have taken heed\nHe had never done / so foul a deed\nSo vengefully / to have drawn\nA king's son / after he was slave\nAnd especially him / that was so good a knight\nWho in his time / who so looked a right\nPassed Achilles / I dare well express\nBoth of manhood / and of gentleness\nBut for all that / he is now dead alas\nThe death of whom / when Polydamas\nAnd Paris also / first saw\nThey fared in truth / as they would die\nAnd specifically, with face dedicate and fade,\nParis alas, such sorrow made,\nFor the constraint, of his deadly woe,\nWhen he saw, that Troy was overthrown,\nAnd that he shall never again behold him,\nSuch sorrow also the Trojan daugster Enee,\nFor him has made, and many another,\nAnd all together go,\nThe dead corps, to recover if they may,\nBut Greek war, so fell on them that day,\nThat their labor was utterly in vain,\nIn any way, the corps to get again,\nTill that Menon, the noble, worthy king,\nWho loved Troyus above all things,\nCaught such rout of affection,\nThat he in haste, fearser than a lion,\nOn his death cast, himself to avenge,\nAnd first for ire, thus he began to speak,\nTo Achilles, for his high treasure,\nO thou Traitor, O thou Scorpion,\nO thou Serpent, full of treachery,\nWho in dishonor of all Chivalry,\nThrough false engine, hast this day subdued,\nOne of the best, that had no equal,\nWhen he was, in this world, alive,\nAlas, alas, who may a right describe.\nThy venom hid thy malice and untruth,\nWithout pity or unnightly routine,\nTo draw a knight, so gentle and so good,\nA king's son, of such worthy blood,\nThroughout the field, at thy horse's tail behind,\nThat ever after, it shall be in mind,\nThis cruel deed and ungentleness,\nAnd with it, Menon began to dress,\nToward Achilles, without more restraint,\nAnd with a spear, smote him in the breast,\nEnviously, of such great hatred,\nThat he unwittingly kept him on his seat,\nAnd Menon after, pulled out and replied,\nAnd cast him manfully, to meet him in the beard,\nAnd rode to him, fully devoid of fear,\nAnd such a wound he gave him on the head,\nThat maugre him, in many men's sight,\nTo the earth, he made him a light,\nFor all his pride, in a mortal trance,\nFor of that wound, he felt such pain,\nAt the death, he lay an huge while,\nIn a swoon, the space of half a mile,\nUntil Myrmidons assembled into one,\nWith great labor, they lifted him up at once,\nFull deadly pale, so he began to bleed.\nBut for all that, they set him on his steed,\nAnd at last, his heart he caught again,\nAnd smote his horse, of hate and haughty disdain,\nAnd towards Menon, he quickly made his way,\nBut when he saw his coming,\nA knight, unwilling to delay,\nHe struck his horse sharply on the side,\nAnd met Achilles proudly on the plain,\nAnd with their swords, they joined the fray,\nAnd began to clash on horseback here and there,\nWith envious and scornful mien,\nBut King Menon was at an advantage,\nOf Achilles, for all his wild rage,\nIn the process of bringing him to confusion,\nUntil the wardens suddenly came down,\nOn other side, both here and there,\nWhich suddenly separated them,\nAnd as the story tells plainly then,\nBegan the slaughter of many a manly man,\nNeither party the field would leave,\nOf very pride, till it drew to an end,\nThat Phoebus began to assuage his anger,\nAnd began to bathe in the waves' embrace,\nHis bright beams of the Ocean.\nThat from the field, home goes every man.\nTo their lodging, and after seven days, they fought and made no delays. Achilles was busy curing his green wounds and sound sores. Then he discovered a new treason to be avenged upon King Menon. For all his wit, he set this in motion. And so this cruel, envious Achilles charged his Myrmidons: \"Worthy Menon among you, if you find him in an opportune place, with all your might and your best thought, seize him and let him not escape. Until he himself avenges himself on you.\" It happened as Menon saw:\n\nThe next morning, like a manly knight,\nAgainst the Greeks, armed to fight,\nOn Troy's side, as he was accustomed to do,\nThat day it filled with such adventure,\nThat Achilles and Menon met.\nEach set upon the other.\nOn horseback, filled with full great envy,\nAnd so long in their melancholy,\nMy Author writes, they joined battle,\nEach making the other of force to yield.\nAnd when Menon stood upon the ground,\nMyrundones went around him, as they were charged, of the fiercer Achilles, when he was dissevered from his knights all, and at misfortune they fell upon him alone and helpless. And in such a point, they slew him, Achilles. But in the story, like as it is found, this Menon first gave him such a pledge before his death in this fell strife, that he despised was, openly, of his life. This Achilles, for all his false treason, take heed, Omer, and judge in thy reason, the false fraud and the cunning gyle, the treason cast before, with many wiles, of Achilles and Iuge now a right, if ever he slew any worthy knight, but it were, by prophecy. I record I take, of the king Menon, so that the title of his laude alas, is encumbered with fraud and with falls. That thou, Omer, mayst with no color, though thou paint, with gold and with asafoetida, in thy writing, his venom not enclose, but as the thorn hid under the rose, whose malice ever dares by the rote.\nThough the flower above is fair and sweet,\nThat men the fraud under may not see,\nOf his treason, you shall get no more from me.\nBut I will tell, how Greeks did that day\nHow Meneste and King Menelaus,\nDiomede and Thelamonius,\nPassed by the Trojans, full of spite,\nAnd upon them fell in their deceit,\nMaking them flee home to the town.\nFor long ago, Troy was their captain,\nTroyus, alas, is dead, and has forsaken them,\nOf whom they have taken the dead body.\nThe same day, with great difficulty,\nAnd dolefully, they have brought it into the city,\nCrying often, \"Alas,\"\nAnd for his death, such woe there was,\nThat I believe, there is no man alive\nWho could describe half of their pitiful lamentation.\nCertainly, not boys, with such renown,\nWith dreary words, to weep and cry,\nIn complaining to Philosophy,\nThrough his book, accusing always Fortune,\nThat seldom or never can continue the same,\nShe is so full of transformation.\nO: The sorrowful state of Thebes, make no boast or complaint,\nOf dreariness, for I will write nothing at all,\nNeither of death nor funeral feasts,\nNor making sorrow or adversity,\nLet be thy weeping, O thou Niobe,\n\nThat have, for so long, fled from year to year,\nAnd thou that weptest, out then thine eyes twain,\nEdipus, king of Thebes, thou wofull Myrre and Calixtone,\nThat so well can, in rage, become,\nAnd Dido also, queen of Carthage,\nLet be your dole and contrition,\nAnd Phyllis also, for thy Demophon,\nAnd Echo also, that new dost begin,\nTo cry and wail, and also thou Corynne,\nThat once were, in such great affray,\nFor death only, of thy Poppaea,\nAs in his book tells us, Duies,\nLet all this woe, now be laid aside,\nAnd make of it no comparison,\nUnto the woe that was in Troy town,\nFor death only, of this worthy knight,\nFor love of whom, every manner wight,\nHigh and low, old and young of age,\nAre fallen anew, into such a rage,\nThat they could, of their woe, none end.\nWhose eyes shall tears render so pitiful,\nSo pitiful was the lamentation,\nIn every street throughout the town,\nAlas, who could tell all their sorrows,\nI truly believe, Pluto in hell,\nFor all his torment and sharp pains,\nNeither she, Proserpina his queen,\nNor the weary wood Tycius,\nIxion nor hungry Tantalus,\nCould weep or wail so furiously,\nAs do the Trojans for your sake,\nFor who can now make such sorrow,\nOr weep as King Priam,\nWho weeps now with a pitiful face,\nOr makes sorrow but Hecuba the queen,\n\u00b6Who weeps now but fair Polyxena,\nWho weeps now but Paris and Helen,\nWho can now weep or flow with tears,\nAs do the Trojans with swollen cheeks,\nThey needed no weepers to hear,\nThey had enough of their own store,\nAlas, for now they are forever,\nDestitute of all help and comfort,\nFor who shall now be their refuge.\nNow Ector and also Deiphobus.\nAnd Troilus, who was so virtuous,\nAlas, who will be their succor, or sustain\nThe war of their city? There is no more,\nIn conclusion, but after death,\nComplete destruction of their towers and strong walls.\nIn this matter, what should I expound long?\nIt avails not, always to mourn so.\nWherefore, I will now again return\nTo my matter and tell how the king\nGranted truce and peace to the Greeks,\nA certain time, by great compulsion.\nWhich was granted by Agamemnon,\nAnd who they were, they immediately came to the town.\nPyrrhus made haste,\nTo make a rich sepulcher\nFor Troilus' corpse, noble and royal,\nAs Guydo says, of stones and metal,\nAnd him enclosed, with great affection,\nAnd near beside, was King Menelaus,\nSolemnly buried, and interred,\nAnd after that day, by day, they have\nLike the custom, festive funeral rites and other ceremonies,\nFor both of them, with due observance,\nService done, by continuance.\nIn their temple, like those who were long unwilling to decide, and Tedius also for you to dwell, but I seriously intend to tell\nHow Ecuba, as I can recite,\nHerself fully, Achilles to appease,\nHis tyranny, truthfully if she may,\nAnd to her, she called on a day,\nAlexander, in secret wise,\nAnd to him, as I shall describe,\nWith weeping eyes and heavy cheer,\nShe said even thus, as you will hear,\nParis quoted she, \"Alas, save God's will,\nThou knowest well how the fiercest Achilles\nMy sons have slain, none left but thee alone,\nHe has made me, alas, there is no gain,\nFull cowardly, of children now slain,\nBoth of Hector and Troilus also,\nWho were to me in every trouble and woe,\nFully comfort, pleasure, and solace,\nWherefore I plainly intend to devise,\nBy some engine, his death to ordain,\nAnd like as he, by treason, did his pain,\nTreasonably, with his sword to smite,\nRight so I think, with treason, him to appease.\nAs it is right and just, and you know plainly that he has set his heart and love only on my daughter, young Polycene, to marry her alone, for which I cast myself to send him blue [invitations], to come and discuss this matter in the Temple of Apollo here, in the chief temple of this city. I wish that you be yourself armed, there most privately, with certain knights in your company, armed also on the same day, so that in no way he escapes from your hands but that he be dead. As I have said, and therefore take good heed to this thing. From beginning to end, I bid you to obey, and he assents with his whole heart. He should not betray her, and with him took twenty and no more of manly men who dared to do so. In the Temple, by the bidding of Paris, they were hidden. While Hecuba was covered in her intent, her messenger has sent to Achilles.\nAs you have heard in conclusion,\nCome in haste to Troy town,\nOnly to treat for a marriage,\nHe comes in haste, like one who can understand nothing,\nHer treason hid nor openly revealed,\nHe is so heated, marked in his heart,\nOf life or death, he pays no heed,\nBut sets aside wit and reason,\nTo consider what to do, with prudence in mind,\nBut he in truth is ensnared by love,\nInto Troy, when he should have gone,\nLike every lover,\nWhen they have caught a fancy in their hearts,\nFor no peril, though they should die,\nThey have no might nor power to resist,\nUntil they unwarily are trapped in the snare,\nTheir malady is so fierce,\nAnd thus Achilles and Anthylogus,\nNestor's son, have the way named,\nToward the town, and come together.\nInto the temple, as I have told you,\nAnd Paris, though, no longer wishes to dwell,\nBut all unwarily, with his knights all.\nOn Achilles, among them is a dispute. Each of them, with a bright sword. And some books say, it was by night. When his death, long before desired, Was conspired by Hecuba and Paris. But Achilles, in this mortal case, Among them all, naked as he was, Took out a sword in the self-steel. And like a knight, he slew seven of them. With great force, despite all their might. But when Paris saw this, Three darts flew, sharp and square. And suddenly, he was aware. Full secretly, he hid under the shade, Marking him and making no noise. Casting at him, as he could. The head and shaft, through his body ran. And with that, many knights, With sharp swords, began to hew. They left him not, till he lay at the ground. Pale and dead, with many mortal wounds. And rightfully, for reason, this was the fraud and the deceit Quenched of Achilles, for his high treason. As death, for death, his skillfully earned reward. And equal payment, without any fable.\nTo those mercilessly vengeful,\nGuydo writes thus of Achilles and Anthologus of Paris:\nThey were in the temple in slavery.\nAfterward, Achilles' body was drawn\nFrom the holy bounds,\nAnd cruelly thrown\nInto the broad street\nWhere the hounds, running with wet jaws,\nWithout pity or any manner of route,\nConsumed the end of falseness and untruth,\nThe fine of such treachery,\nBorn of envy's deceit,\nThe knot and conclusion,\nHow God always quits slaughter by treason,\nThe reward and final payment\nFor those who delight in falseness,\nFor every thing plainly to say,\nJust as his reward does attain,\nAs you may see, of this Achilles,\nWho on a night in the temple less,\nGave up his life, for he was always customary\nBy fraud and treason, to be vengeful.\nBut it happened, at Eleyna's request,\nThat the bodies of these two\nWere conserved from the raging hunger.\nOf best and worst, greedy and plunderers,\nAnd yet they lay, amidst the city,\nOpenly, so men might see,\nTo great joy, of the townsfolk,\nIn time, that Agamemnon\nSent his messengers to King Priam,\nTo ask for leave, to fetch them home on berys,\nBy the grant of whom, they took their leave,\nFor whom Greeks, such sorrow make,\nThat pity was, and rue for to hear,\nAnd each one spoke to his peer,\nFarewell our trust, now Achilles is dead,\nFarewell our hope, and all our speed,\nFarewell our joy, and our chief difference,\nWho had in manhood, such great excellence,\nFarewell alas, our sovereign assurance,\nFarewell in knighthood, all our sufficiency,\nFor now, alas, unlikely is it that we\nShall ever win, or get this city,\nTo us, alas, so unfavorable is Fortune,\nBut for that they, might not continue,\nAlways in woe, nor in pain endure,\nThey made a rich sepulcher,\nFor Achilles, of precious stones,\nAnd another, for Anthylogus.\nWhat should I now, any longer dwell?\nSeriously / the rites to tell\nOf their burying / nor what they make\nTheir weeping all / nor of their clothes black\nNor how some / weep in their head\nAnd how some go / with milk and blood\nWith doleful heart / and into fire it set\nAnd how others / cast gooms sweet\nAmidst the great / flambe funeral\nNor of the plays / called palestrall\nNor the wrestling / that was at the wake\nIt were in vain / me to undertake\nTo tell all / wherefore I let be\nFully in purpose / like as you shall see\nTo resume / in conclusion\nTo tell / how the great Agamemnon\nFor his lords / in all haste has sent\nAnd when they were / assembled in his tent\nThis king, this manly man / with great advice\nThus his tale began.\n\nKing said he / Fortune's variation\nHer face unkind / and double deceit\nSuddenly turned / from her false visage\nYour hearts have / been set in such a rage\nFor the murder / to God and man abominable\nOf Achilles' cruel / and the death terrible\nBy the doing / of Clytemnestra the queen\nNow it seems to me that it shall be seen,\nIf any man or knightly force in adversity\nEndure till his death, you take your revenge,\nAnd manly quit this outrageous offense,\nWhen time comes to make recompense.\nBut since you are manly and prudent,\nI would first see the plain intent\nIn this matter of yours, so wise,\nHereupon what is your advice,\nBy one assent and voice in common,\nWhere you will the war forth continue,\nAnd the siege go upon this town,\nUntil they are brought to destruction,\nOr into Greece, now resort again,\nFor cause only that Achilles is slain,\nThat once was your strong chapel,\nYour difference and protection.\nBut finally, now that he is dead,\nHereupon let us see what is your rede,\nSpeak openly and no longer tarry,\nAnd some go forth to vary,\nCasting to and fro, standing in doubt,\nAnd some said on the other side.\nFor life or death, they would abide an end\nAnd some of them, who were rude in wit,\nFor their party, went to conclude,\nThat they would home again return,\nAnd other said that they will sojourn,\nStill at the siege, happen what may,\nAnd thus they treat, all the long day,\nEvery man like his opinion,\nTill at the last, in conclusion,\nThey be accorded fully into one,\nFrom the siege, never for to go,\nUntil the time they have of the town,\nThrough their knighthood, full possession,\nAt their face will, to spoil and to save,\nAll be Achilles, was buried and raised,\nFor the trust of every worthy knight,\nWas finally, as gods have decreed,\nThat they in haste shall the town possess,\nThis was the hope, fully devoid of fear,\nUndisputed, in their opinion,\nAnd then alone, Ayax Thelamon,\nA worthy knight and famous in his hand,\nAmong all those of Greek land,\nSaid even thus, plainly in sentence,\n\"My counsel is, plainly and my advice,\" he said, who is here in presence.\nNow it stands that Achilles is dead,\nBut his son, in haste, is sending\nHydres to come and see an end\nOf the siege and help us in this need.\nWhich now abides with King Lycomedes,\nHis name is Pyrhus, or Neptolonius,\nFresh and lusty, and by appearance\nCapable of achieving great worthiness,\nAs the reports and fame declare,\nIf he drew himself to arms in his youth,\nAnd truthfully, but if books lie,\nAs I have read and heard by prophecy,\nThat finally, Troy without him\nShall never win.\nThus books say, those of old memory,\nAnd how the Greeks shall have no victory,\nUntil he comes, this son of Achilles.\nWherefore, in haste, and be not reckless,\nSend for him, that it be done at once,\nAnd they coming, his counsel each one,\nAnd to his advice, fully they assent,\nAnd by advice, prudently they sent,\nIn all haste, on this embassy,\nThe wise king, famous of estate,\nI mean the prudent, noble Menelaus,\nAnd forth he goes, the same day.\nAnd on his journey, he made fast speed\nUntil he came to Lycomedes\nThe old king, as you have heard me tell\nWherefore a time I will let him dwell\nAnd among the Greeks, in the meantime,\nSo as I can direct again my style.\nThe time of the year, when the shining sun\nIn the Crab, had his course yronne\nTo the highest of his Ascension,\nWhich is called the summer station,\nWhen the virtue out of every root\nIs drawn up and the sweet balm\nInto the crop and the fresh flower\nMost lusty is of hue and of color,\nTill Phoebus charioteer, in his descension\nOut of the Crab towards the Lion\nHolds his course in the firmament,\nI mean when,\nHe is retrograde,\nAnd dries up the moisture and the wet\nOf herb and flower with his fervent heat\nAnd all that wears a verdant hue,\nTurns white with his beams sheen,\nBoth seed and grain, by decoccyon,\nNaturally, by digestion,\nThat first was raw in fruits and in flowers,\nAnd watery also, by plenteous humors.\nHe dries up and ripens, with his fierceness,\nSo that men may pull them, each in its kind,\nAfter the season, from year to year,\nBy revolution, on their branches, spread freshly,\nWhen Cheries are probably red and ripe,\nFirst in June, that succeeds May,\nWhen the hot, merry summer day is here,\nNo delay is, but like a giant long,\nThe same time, the Greeks are stout and strong,\nWith rancor burned, of their envious heat,\nHave shaped them, with their feet, to meet,\nAnd brightly armed, into the field they go,\nAnd they of Troy, out of the town also,\nAnd their guards, each one prepared,\nThe field has taken, to meet with their feet,\nAnd began to assemble, on the other side,\nBut Thelamon, of folly and of pride,\nThe same day, of him I read,\nAs he who had no fear of his death,\nDisarmed was, for battle, arrested,\nOf mail and plate, bare upon his breast,\nFor folly, and surquedous outrage,\nBare his head, and bare also his visage,\nAnd bare also, without basinet,\nAnd naked also, of visor and palate.\nHerode all day, fearing nothing,\nHaving no weapon but a naked sword,\nFor willfully, he left at home his shield\nAnd his spear, when he took the field,\nSitting on his steed, following him was Diomede,\nLike Mars himself, his men around,\nAnd fast by came Duke Meneste,\nKing Ulysses and Agamemnon,\nAnd Priamus with them from Troy town,\nTook the field with a full heavy cheer,\nFor he was both fearful and inwardly afraid,\nTo issue out, now Ector was dead,\nWorthy Troilus and Dephebus,\nIn him themselves, they showed plainly,\nThat they were weakened greatly in strength,\nAfter their death, to fight with the Greeks,\nBut out he goes, what may happen,\nAnd Paris also, fully knightly arrayed,\nKing Polyhemus and Polydamas,\nWorthy Hector and with them Aeneas,\nBy one accord, there is no more to say,\nThe same day, knightly live or die,\nIn their difference, and utterly separate,\nAs the gods willed, the field to depart.\nAnd proudly first the Greeks they began to perceive,\nAnd Paris with them of Perce,\nFilled aside with the sun's shining,\nAnd his archers with arrows square and keen.\nThe Greeks began,\nFor in the field they might not endure,\nOnly for the shots of the strong archers\nOf Perse land and the Arbalasters,\nWhich made them flee right of very need.\nInto time that proud Diomedes,\nWhen he of Greeks saw this sudden flight,\nCame to their relief like a manly knight,\nAnd first of all he set upon Phyllamenus,\nA worthy king that came on Troy's side,\nWho again rode at him,\nThat Diomedes had but little won,\nWith swords stiff as they together ran,\nThat to behold was a noble sight,\nHow each of them quit him like a knight,\nAs they together rode back,\nThat no man could in number see nor lack,\nBut ever in one the Trojans were so fell\nUpon Greeks that they ne'er might dwell.\nTo keep their land so they made them bleed.\nDespite the might of Diomede,\nThe slaughter was so hideous and strong,\nThrough the field the woeful noise rang on,\nAnd the mortal cry of wounded folk that lay\nSlain on the ground, enduring the way.\nUntil Meneste sat on his steed,\nThe worthy duke began to take heed,\nIn what mischief Greeks were beset.\nHe seized at once a sharp spear,\nStriking his horse in the side,\nAnd through the ranks knightly he rode,\nNot ceasing, so furious he was,\nUntil he met Polydamas,\nA Trojan knight and a manly man,\nAnd unexpectedly, he caught him in sight,\nBringing him to the earth, making him light,\nAnd with a sword at the ground, when he lay,\nHe had slain him the selfsame day,\nIn his rage and his cruelty,\nHad it not been for King Polyhmene,\nWho had intervened in this adventure,\nSo kindly for him performing his cure.\nDespite the might of Meneste,\nFrom his hands he went free,\nAll bathed and sprayed with blood.\nAnd all this while, Ajax proudly rode\nOf surrendery and wilfulness,\nOf folly's rage and foul hardiness,\nNaked his body, head and every limb,\nAmidst his feet, armed bright in steel,\nAnd of Trojans such a slaughter made,\nThat they lay dead, both in sun and shade,\nThroughout the field, where this Thelamon\nAmong them rode, wonderfully like a lion,\nNo Trojan could withstand him,\nWhile he held his bloody sword in hand.\nThat was a wonder, naked as he rode,\nWithout a wound, that he so long endured.\nAnd as Guido relates, and writes also,\nFor a great marvel,\nAn unm slain one might so continue,\nBut when a thing is shaped by fortune,\nIt might befall whatsoever it may be,\nIn good or bad, joy or adversity,\nWhen one shall die, or when he shall escape,\nBut she alas, can first bring about mischance,\nAnd bring an unwary one unexpectedly to harm,\nWhen he best thinks to have assurance,\nIn this lady, of transmutation,\nLike as it filled, of worthy Thelamon,\nThis same day, which of folly's pride.\nAmongst him rode / so fresh and bold,\nRight as he began,\nHe slew of Perce / many a manly man,\nAnd of himself / took no manner heed,\nHis knightly heart / so void was of fear,\nTill Paris saw / his great hardiness,\nAnd how he and his knights did oppress,\nEnchaining them / so mortally and narrowly,\nWithout abode / he took an arrow,\nEntoxicated / sharp and venomous,\nIn this ire / fell and despising,\nAnd shot at him / in the very same moment,\nAs Guydo says / and struck him through the side,\nThat from that wound / there is no more to tell,\nHe felt well / that he must die,\nAnd when he saw / no other remedy,\nForth he rode / filled with envy,\nThrough the press / his sword ever in his hand,\nInto time / until he found Paris,\nAnd to him / with a pale face,\nHe said thus at once / as you shall hear,\nParis said he / as this mortal wound,\nFrom thy arrow / sharp and squarely ground,\nHas finally / put my life in despair,\nNever into Greece / for to have repaired,\nJust so shall I / by short conclusion.\n\"Away, shape that into Troy town,\nWith thy life, thou shalt enter no more,\nAt my heart, the poison bites so sore,\nThat other gain is there none but death.\nBut yet before, or I yield up the breath,\nTrust me right well, there may be no succor,\nThat thou shalt first be my predecessor,\nAnd go before, deep down to hell,\nThere with Pluto, eternally to dwell,\nSo as of right, it is necessary,\nThe time is set, which may not tarry,\nAnd my truth, for mortgage, in deposit,\nThat in all haste, I shall make a vow,\nBetween thee and Queen Eleanor,\nAnd twine asunder, also the false line,\nWhich were linked by the color of wedlock,\nAnd had so long been shut under lock,\nOnly by fraud and false engine also,\nBut now the knot shall be broken asunder,\nWith my right hand, the truth to dare,\nFor through the cause, only of you two,\nIn this war, many a worthy knight\nHis life has lost, and many another,\nOn other side, for both your sake,\nBut of all this, I shall make an end.\"\nOf your love and foul outrage,\nFor finally, Paris shall die by your hands,\nAnd with that word, his sword he enhanced,\nAbove his head, and struck him in the face,\nHe fell dead in the selfsame place,\nHis head was parted into two,\nAnd right away, there is no more to say,\nAlas, Ajax, of his mortal wound,\nFell dead also, grieving onto the ground,\nFull pitifully, and then the Trojans,\nHave Paris taken up, out of the way,\nAnd bore him home into their city.\nBut Diomede and duke Menestee,\nWith many Greeks, riding envious,\nPursued the chase, even to the town,\nBut for this cause, Titan,\nBowed down by the arc of his days bow,\nAnd into the west, under the red rows,\nAnd Esperus began his light to shed,\nThis to say, for it drew to night,\nThe Greeks were quickly repaired, right away,\nEvery one of them to his lodging place,\nTo take their rest, all that night's space,\nSave as I read, that Agamemnon,\nThe Greeks made fast by the town.\nTo set their tents and tabernacles, new mansions of great pride, close by the wall,\nAnd those of Troy, despised all around,\nNo refuting could the Greeks allow,\nBut with consent, their gates were shut tight,\nAnd all the night on the walls they kept watch,\nAnd over this, such woe they made,\nThrough the city, that Paris was dead,\nFor finally, they could no longer read,\nBut wept and cried, and sorrowed ever in one,\nNow all the sons of Priam were gone,\nAlas, Fortune had appeared so cruelly,\nThat of their lives they were bereft,\nOf all hope and of good welfare,\nPerpetually, to live in care,\nUntil the death, and that was near,\nFor now there was no remedy,\nOn any side, nor any refuting at all,\nBut to keep close within the wall,\nThat to see it was a pitiful sight,\nAnd such woe now made the king,\nFor Paris' death, that for deadly pain,\nHe thought plainly, that his sorrowful heart\nWould yield twice,\nAnd into tears, he began to weep and reign.\nAs he would, for very sorrow, die\nAnd of the queen, alas, what shall I say?\nEcuba, his own mother, dear,\nWho cries, weeps, with a woeful cheer,\nOf Polycene, who was so woe began,\nAnd of his sister, also every one,\nWho have their hearts and their clothes torn,\nAs if they had sworn their own death,\nFor dry woe, and for pitiful pain,\nBut by the fair queen Elayne,\nWaits, cries, with a deadly there,\nHer eyes, which once were so clear,\nFor darkened were, with dolorous tears' smear,\nAnd to the corpse, saddened she drew near,\nAnd clutched it, in her arms twain,\nAnd pityingly, embraced it and restrained,\nAs if she would, with him, die anon,\nFor still she lay, dumb as any stone,\nAs marvelously cold, her limbs cramping,\nReady at all, towards her burying,\nUntil men by force, from the corpse, her hent,\nAnd she, her heart, and his checks rent,\nAs if she were, fallen in a rage,\nThat changed was, alas, in her visage,\nHer natural color, and her rosy hue,\nOnce as fresh, as any rose new.\nNow she is like ashes, cold and still,\nAnd with her hands she folds herself,\nShe strikes on her pale face, and among the corps she dies,\nIn her swoons, as she falls to the ground,\nTwenty times she wept, full of his wound,\nWith woe she was, so weary and disconsolate,\nIn her heart being, inwardly desirous,\nThrough her rage, passing furious,\nTo atone, with her own knight,\nToward death enclosed was her sight,\nAs she who longs to live no more,\nAnd I believe, no man before,\nNo woman saw, fell in such distress,\nIn such disjointed, deadly unhappiness,\nNor for any woe, so pitifully lamented,\nNot Cleopatra, going to her grave,\nNor woeful Tisbe, who from the cave started,\nWhen she smote herself into her heart.\nNor the faithful, true Orestes,\nWhen he saw his lord again, against his will,\nMarcus Prolancius, gone to ship,\nAnd for his love, filled down dead at once,\nNor the sorrow of true Julia,\nNor the fervor of faithful Portia.\nOr whether the one [who] filled deed suddenly,\nFor she saw blood/spilt so cruelly,\nOn her lords/dreadful grimace,\nAnd Porcia/so true in her intent,\nWhen that her lord/Brutus lost his life,\nFor because/she might have no knife,\nWith Colys red/slew herself, alas,\nWas not also/in the selfsame case,\nArtemisia/queen of Tarse's land,\nOf Mansalus/the grave, when she found,\nHer own knight/of whose bones small,\nFull woefully/and with a pale face,\nShe made powder/& drank it every morn,\nBut all the woe/and the furious sorrow,\nOf these each one/yet may not attain,\nUnto the sorrow/of the queen Hecuba,\nThat finally/will do herself for do,\nFor Paris' sake/whom she loved so,\nFor after him/she will not live a day,\nBut be a wreck/plainly if she may,\nUpon her life/rather than dissuade,\nAnd thus in woe/aye she does persevere,\nIn her heart/Paris sat so deep.\nAlas, who says/that women cannot weep?\nThis doubtless/they have it of nature,\nThough it so be/that they no woe endure.\nThey can feign and find sufficient salt tears of their own kind, and mourn and complain. I do not say this for Queen Eleanor, who was in deep sorrow, wounded to the heart, and from death she did not depart. For death's dart, her heart made a rive, and yet she rose again from death to live, only by grace, for all her fierce rage. For every woe, by process, must be assuaged, and overgone, and wasted, by miracle. For each venom, there is Tryacle, and every woe has its remedy. Though Queen Eleanor would willingly die, her kind would not consent. So suddenly, to sleep herself for sorrow, she was a woman, no man should know it. I wished no more of her woeful ending. It was tedious for you to hear all her furious pains, her cruel woe, and lamentation. Which would move me to compassion. In very truth, I would write every detail, any heart, though it were made of steel. King Priam and the queen also had such power over her pitiful woe, to see her weep and complain.\nThat they felt as much pain\nAs they did, almost for Paris's sake\nHereof no more, for Priam by deceit\nAfter this rage and this mortal woe\nAmid the temple, sacred to Juno\nOrdered has, with full busy care\nFor the corpse, a rich sepulture\nAnd in all haste, therein made it shut\nThat in truth, if I should let it\nTell all, the rites and the guise\nThat were made, in their pagan way\nAnd the costs, of his burial\nIt would be, too long a tarrying\nCerulously, thereon to abide\nWherefore, as now, I let their pagan rites\nSuperstitious ways, overslide\nAnd I will tell, how King Priamus\nCommanded, out of mischief and need\nThrough Troy town, only out of great fear\nTo shut their gates, strongly as they may\nAnd thereupon, both night and day\nTo keep watch, for shortly they of Troy\nDisconsolate, of all their old joy\nCan no longer refute, but weep and sorrow make\nFor they dared not, any more undertake\nAgainst the Greeks, into the field to go\nUntil on a day, King Agamemnon.\nHis messenger, with good aid, to Priam in Troy has been sent, requesting him to come out with the Greeks to fight, as he was accustomed with his chivalry. But King Priam, in response, denied him, and shortly said to him who was sent that he would not once pass the gates of the town at his command, but only when it pleased him without compulsion. However, in truth, the reason for his delay was due to the bold queen of Themiscyra. Towards Troy, she was hastening, from her land and little region, which as books mention, is in the place of the Orient and is called the reign of the Amazons. The custom and usage of which place is that only women dwell there, and they are accustomed to ride armed. And they have great experience in arms for their labor and diligence. Finally, they exercise themselves daily in high Mars' service, and moreover, their custom and behavior.\nAs of this day, no man shall come near, except if it be three months in the year. This applies in June, April, and May, and then the women have in custom always, to an island a little beside, where the men live by themselves. From year to year, everyone comes together, and to the men, out of their land, they go and stay in that region until the time comes for conception. Without delaying any longer, home they return to their isle as soon as possible. They repeat their journey out of that country until they have delivered. And as soon as the child is born, for lack of keeping that it not be lost, it is fostered among the women and then, right away, to the island beside, the child is sent to the men if it is of masculine kind. And if it falls that it is feminine, with the women it shall remain until it is in acts of mercy. Full well experienced, and she can also know, the women.\nTo handle a sphere or draw a bow\nLike the statues of that region\nWhich is situated between Europe and Asia\nAnd of this land was Pantasilia\nOnce lady and governor\nFamous for strength and hardiness\nThroughout the world, both in length and breadth\nAnd yet, in truth, to speak of womanhood\nFor all her might, she had an immense price\nFor both she was virtuous and wise\nDiscreet beyond measure and had an honest name\nNotwithstanding, the excellence of fame\nOf her renown in arms and glory\nFor conquest and high victory\nShe was most surpassing, beyond fear\nOf any woman that I can recall\nAnd truly, books bear witness\nTo her womanhood and gentleness\nShe kept herself, unharmed\nWhich one loved with her whole heart\nWorthy Ector, and with all her might\nOnly because he was so noble a knight\nHer joy and worldly pleasure\nHer heartfelt ease and sovereign satisfaction\nIn very truth, where she wakes or wins.\nWas yours a thought, in one, upon him to think,\nOf very faith, without any sloth,\nAnd to him, she was bound by truth's confederation,\nOf old affection.\n\nWhen she heard that Troy town\nWas besieged by the Greeks, fell,\nThis hardy queen, no longer wished to dwell,\nBut hastened as fast as she may,\nToward Troy, in full good array,\nWith all the worthy women of her land,\nWell-mounted and richly armed,\nAnd in her company, a thousand maidens riding by her side,\nThis worthy queen, who dared to abide,\nShe brought with her, in shining armor,\nFor love of Ector, her own true knight,\nAnd on her way, she quickly made her speed,\nTo help him if she saw need,\nFor in nothing could she more delight,\nThan toward him, faithfully her pledge,\nBut when she came to Troy,\nAnd heard told, by report,\nThat he was dead, most worthy of renown.\nTo whom she was so loving and so true,\nShe began to change her countenance and hue,\nAnd pitifully for to weep and cry,\nAnd in truth, she seemed as if she would die,\nFor very woe and heartfelt heaviness,\nAnd thought she would, through her worthiness,\nAvenge his death plainly if she may,\nAgainst the Greeks, and so it came to be,\nShe prayed Pyramus with great affection,\nTo open the gates of the town,\nAnd to go out with Greeks to fight,\nSo that they might know and be experienced,\nIn this woman, the great worthiness,\nAnd of this queen, the famous courage,\nAnd so the king, hoping for the best,\nWithout delay granted her request,\nThe next morning, when Phoebus shone in full splendor,\nAnd Phyllis went out before,\nThe noble king with those of Thespiae,\nAnd after him, many knights,\nFollowed after, with worthy Aeneas,\nThe Trojan also, Polydamas,\nAnd then the queen, Penthesilea,\nBy the gate called Dardanus,\nToward the Greeks, proudly issued forth,\nWith her women, riding around her.\nThe Greeks, upon seeing him, rushed into the field. First among them was Meneste. Pantasyllya, when he saw her, quickly spurred his horse and rode towards her with a spear. The queen, astonished, never caught a spear that was squared and ground well around the shaft and head. When they met, she struck down Dyomede, despite his might and manliness. He could not choose otherwise, and in contempt of his men, she took his shield from him and proudly rode off with it to a maid who was waiting for her. She was like a tiger in her greediness or, in truth, like a Lioness. That day she rode, going up and down.\nAmong the Greeks, Thelamon beheld the slaughter she made,\nOf high spite and rancorous intent,\nAs he who could not endure Ire's pain,\nGan reign his horse to fall upon this queen,\nBut when she, his coming, did espy,\nShe filled him, in her melancholy,\nSo mortally, maugre his knights all,\nThat to the ground she made him fall.\nThe Greeks put, in great dismay,\nWherever she rode that day,\nThat they might not sustain,\nAnd through the help of King Phylimene,\nAs my Author records in his book,\nAmidst the field, Thelamon she took,\nAnd sent him forth, through her high renown,\nAs prisoner, towards Troy town,\nUntil risk came, cruel Diomede,\nAnd cruelly on them, who led him,\nHe filled unwarily, with a huge rout,\nOf his knights, riding him about,\nAnd from their hands, maugre all their might,\nHe delivered him, like a manly knight.\nAt that time, this hardy queen alone,\nWith her women, about her, each one.\nThe Greeks had a woman on the plain\nWho was so relentlessly pursued by Guyon,\nThat she was forced to leave the field with her sword,\nTo flee from them, which was incredibly difficult,\nAnd to leave a man impossible to bear,\nTo see the women, Greeks so pressing,\nWho could not abide before their faces,\nNor in the field in any way stand,\nFor they drove them to the very shore,\nDown to the cliff of the salt sea,\nAnd slew them with such great numbers,\nThat they were finally destroyed,\nFor evermore and utterly subdued.\nNo one could have stopped Diomedes,\nAnd he offered resistance through knighthood,\nFor that day, in part and in all,\nHe stood as a sturdy wall for the Greeks,\nAlone, their help and chief support,\nBut despite this, with worship and honor,\nPantasyllya, as memory recalls,\nWas taken with conquest and victory,\nWith all her women into Troy town,\nUpon the hour of Phoebus going down,\nAnd by the side of this brave queen,\nKing Phylamenus rode, armed in steel.\nWhom Pyram received with great reverence,\nKnightly received and did his diligence,\nTo refresh them with every manner of thing\nThat might be to their liking, as their hearts could decide,\nAnd after this, in full goodly wise,\nHe thanked the noble, hardy queen,\nFor her goodness that she wished to see,\nTo help him in his great need,\nAnd offered her in Guido as I read,\nAll that he had, treasuries and riches,\nHoping fully through her worthiness,\nVengeance upon the Greeks to be,\nAnd to keep him in his city,\nMaugre the Greeks, who dared say nay,\nFor as I read, day by day,\nShe ceased not proudly to assault them,\nAgainst whose sword they might not prevail,\nSo mortally she made their sides bleed,\nTill Menelaus, returning with Nectonus,\nWas received by Neptune,\nWho in his books was also called Pyrhus,\nOnce the son of cruel Achilles,\nWhom to see was a great press of Greeks,\nGoing around him.\nAnd because he was born to be heir\nOf this Achilles by succession.\nHe was received with great honor and solemnity by the Myrundones. They were overjoyed to see their young lord, to whom each one made obeisance. And they also swore by bond and assurance for life or death to be true to him, as his lieges, and to obey his lust in all things. After this, Agamemnon the king made him a knight and named Thelamonyus. With a sword, Gyrte immediately girt Pirrus. Saying to him in the same place, as he embraced him, \"Take heed, my dear cousin,\" he said, \"to resemble him in manhood and countenance, in knighthood and worthiness. Your father, in truth, was so noble a knight in his time. And furthermore, with all your might, avenge his death, and then two worthy Greek dukes will humbly begin to kneel down and place a spur on either heel. In this way, Pirrus was made a knight, as you have heard, in full high presence.\nWith great honor and due reverence, as was the custom of the Greeks, and in accordance with the rights of the day, Agamemnon, with full gladness and great affection, delivered him [Achilles] freely by sentence. The arms in their entirety, without distinction, which Achilles bore by his life for his worthy father, he placed on his shoulders squarely. As for the next heir of the line by descent, and all the treasure, also the tent, armor, and all, were delivered at once to Parthenopaeus and the Greeks each one. For eight days, singing by and by, they hallowed in honor of this young knight. Until a morning, when Phoebus shone brightly full. Which, with his light that shines from so far off, dispelled the streams of the star. Lucifer, the day's messenger, when the Greeks began, in bright and clear armor, to arm themselves for sweet or sour purpose, and manfully, out of their tents, against the Trojans, they began to ride. Ward after ward, proudly, into the field.\nAnd on that day, Pirrus bore his father's arms, as Guido says,\nAnd he had upon him also a coat of mail that suited him well.\nHe rode forth, brightly armed, and casually,\nThe first person he met was Polydamas, a knight from Troy,\nA manly man, and Pirrus ran furiously towards him,\nOn horseback, with a mighty sword,\nAnd began to clash with him in the fray.\nSo violently that in this hateful struggle,\nPolydamas had lost his life,\nAnd would have perished without further ado,\nIf it had not been for Phylimene, the noble and worthy king,\nWhom Pirrus addressed,\nWith his sword, and struck him in the sight,\nSo that from his horse, he made him fall to the ground.\nFor he could not sustain the blow.\nAnd this worthy Phylimene,\nTaken unawares by Pirrus,\nCould only save himself with the help of his knights,\nWho had assembled together.\nBut Pirrus was relentless, and pursued the king with Myrndones.\nBeset in myschefe / amonge the great prees\nThat many knyght / of this noble kynge\nyslayne was / at his reske wynge\nHe stode of deth / in so streyt a caas\nTyll of Fortune / came Pollydamas\nTo his reskus / and dyde his full myght\nHym to delyuere / and quyte hym lyke a knyght\nBut in sothenesse / there was suche resystence\nOf Pirrus knyghtes / stondynge at diffence\nThat aye in myschefe / stode ky\u0304ge Phylymene\nTyll Pantasyllya / of Femynye the quene\nWith hir women / a great companye\nGan this thynge / of auenture espye\nWhiche were echone / for the more delyte\nOn theyr armure / that day clade in whyte\nThat veryly / there was no lylye floure\nNor snowe / that flaketh fro Iupyters toure\nOf whytnesse / fressher on to sene\nThan in felde / was this hardy quene\nWhiche firste of all / amonge the grekes chees\nProudely to falle / on Myrundones\nAmonges whom / rydynge vp and downe\nShe them on horseth / thorugh hir hyerenowne\nAnd slewe them / vp on euery syde\nMakynge theyr renges / for to seu\nTyll Thelamon / in a furyous hete\nWith a spear, unwarily did she meet him,\nAnd in array, struck him to the ground.\nBut she at once, full lively rose again,\nAnd with her sword, marked Thelamon.\nHe from his horse, she made light bring down,\nPlat to the ground, on his hands two.\nThen her women did their busy pain,\nTo make their queen, her seat to recover.\nAnd all this while, stood in peril,\nOf his life, worthy Philomene.\nPirrus knights, were upon him so keen,\nMaugre his men, that they had him take.\nIt makes no difference for to make,\nThe Greeks had him so strongly beset,\nAnd forth they led him, through all the field,\nThe which thing, when the queen beheld,\nWith her women, that about her rode,\nPursued after, without more delay,\nThat finally, they had so overtaken,\nThrough their force, that he was rescued,\nMaugre the manhood of Myrines and Pantasyllya,\nWas so merciless towards the Greeks,\nThrough her force and her cruelty.\nBefore her sword, they dared not stay\nBut when Pirrus saw her great pride,\nTo his knights he loudly cried,\nAnd said it was shame and villainy,\nFor women to lose their land,\nAnd to be killed so easily by their own hand.\nWherefore, each one, resume your hearts,\nAnd let us now consume this,\nFor if we do not shape some remedy today,\nTheir force will confound us,\nShameful reports will rebound upon us,\nPerpetually, where we sleep or wake.\nAnd as Pirrus took up his sword,\nFury and knightly courage in his heart,\nThis hardy queen happened to hear,\nAll that Pirrus said to his knights.\nShe neither turned back nor took heed,\nFor plainly she had no fear of him,\nBut proudly drew near,\nAnd to him she said,\nO thou Pirrus, son of Achilles,\nWho slew Hector in peerless combat,\nThrough treachery and deceit,\nBy Malus only, and false envy,\nUnaware when he did nothing to provoke.\nThe which never/ may out of my heart\nSo green it sticks/ in my remembrance\nUpon his death/ for to do revenge\nAnd it seems well/ to me\nThat his death/ be avenged upon the\nFirst of all/ and on thy father's blood\nFor love of him/ so gentle and so good\nThe death of whom/ should all the world comply\nNot only men/ do they their best pay\nTo quit his death/ but women also\nWith all their might/ help also therewith\nAs right requires/ without exception\nThere on to do/ full execution\nAnd I now stand/ in the same plight\nAnd for thou hast/ us women in contempt\nOf our power/ shortly in sentence\nThou shalt in haste/ have experience\nAnd know our force/ truly every day\nRight in short time/ trust me well\nHere in this field/ in shedding of his blood\n\nWherefore Pirrus/ waxed mad as a wild beast\nAs any tiger/ bore, or raging lion\nSo far from the color/ in his complexion\nAnd in his anger/ fell and despising\nHe took a spear/ pale and furious\nAnd ran at her/ with all his might and pain\nAnd again, she who did not wish to encounter him,\nEncountered him nonetheless, completely afraid.\nBut Pirrus, first of all, threw his spear at her,\nUnable to remove her from her saddle,\nCausing her little harm, nor much distress.\nBut she, in turn, infuriated him,\nMaking him unable to sit on his horse.\nHe dismounted, enduring the plain for a long time.\nAnd then he rose, filled with great contempt,\nTook a sword in his hand, and made his horse face forward,\nToward this queen of extraordinary worth,\nHarboring inward hatred, he struck at her repeatedly.\nBut she remained seated, unmoving as an oak.\nAnd, in her anger, she made him submit to her,\nForcing him to the ground, despite all his pain.\nThe fight lasted between them for a long while,\nUntil Myrmidons had taken their lord,\nForcibly, out of the press,\nAnd made him and his horse recover again.\nAnd in his absence, on the very plain,\nThe worthy king, Agamemnon,\nWith kings, dukes, and the green,\nDescended.\nWith their warders, who wisely in the field were stationed,\nTo mortally assail the Trojans,\nBut in haste, King Phylamenes,\nAs you have heard recounted by the queen,\nThanked her with his knights, and began to dress,\nAnd Pantasyllya, both assembled,\nTowards the Greeks they went,\nWhere men may see with sharp spears ground,\nEach other into the ground,\nThere men may see, proudly without lack,\nThe manly knights, running on horseback,\nAnd the women, mortally oppressing,\nThe proud Greeks, through their hardiness,\nOnly through the mighty queen's power,\nThat deed they laid, covering all the green,\nWith Dawn's Daughters, Polydamas came in,\nRescued from death, and with him, Aeneas,\nKing Esdras also of Troy, the City,\nAnd though the warders began to flee,\nOn either side, fell and furious,\nBut most of all, Neptolygonus,\nWho was called Pyrrhus by the Greeks,\nIrrational and mad, towards Troy town.\nMade his sword in their flesh to bite\nPantasyllya proudly herquite\nSpared not, with mortal wounds wide\nGreeks to slay on every side\nNow here now there to their confusion\nAnd Pirrus then is fallen on Glaucon\nThe half brother to Polydamas\nFor Antenor also his Father was\nAnd Pirrus, so in a cruel mood,\nWith melancholy new set a fire\nSmote Glaucon so or that he heed\nAmong the presses that he filled down dead\nAnd Pantasyllya from her women all\nThe same tide is on Pirrus fallen\nAnd he of her, when he had sight,\nRode unto her like a manly knight\nAnd as they hurled on horse back again,\nOf fortune with swords clear and stiff,\nEach made other to alight\nAnd hatefully on foot they sight,\nLong or other might of other win,\nTill they were made of force for to twine\nBy the warders that went them between\nI mean Pirrus and this hardy queen\nSo wood for rage in his heart was\nAmidst Greeks for his brother's death.\nThat whom he met for his love he slew\nWithout mercy in his hateful grip\nThat he alone and this worthy queen\nSuch a slaughter on the Greeks made\nThat they the field utterly forsook\nAnd fled to their tents down\nUntil Dionedes and Ajax Turned around\nBut they in truth were so overwhelmed\nThat they could not all that day relieve\nAnd thus they fought until it drew to an end\nTo the greatest damage of the Greek side\nUntil Phoebus hid his bright chariot\nLow in the west and hid his light\nUnder the cloak of the black night\nBoth parties thought it best\nTo depart and draw to their rest\nAnd took their ease that night as they may\nAnd all the month synced day by day\nWithout interruption\nThey fought again, although no mention\nBe made of it or written in particular\nOf no person but in general\nWhoever did evil or good\nIn the book of Troy, I find none lacking\nSave the queen, like as written Guydo.\nOf her women, a hundred have forsaken their lives that very month. The deaths of whom she may openly avenge if Fortune favors her continuance, and her face does not change unfavorably. But she who can daily vary, alas, seldom keeps the same company. From this queen, her gaze turned away, desiring to hasten through her unkindness, and to break their lives' thread. As the story plainly teaches, if you wish to hear it benevolently.\n\nThe fatal hour, hard to remember, of cruel death which no man may ultimately escape, not even in this life. Specifically, when Parcasus has it in hand. Approach, it may be none other.\n\nAlas, this fierce queen, on a day filled with fury and wrath, went out of Troy into the field. And first, she proudly set upon Pirrus and his companions. With mortal hate and indignation, she rode swiftly towards him.\nWhose spears sharp made his sides bleed,\nAnd as they met, their spears in the rest,\nThey bore so even, marking at the breast,\nThat their shafts truly this no tale,\nBegan to quiver, all in pieces small,\nWithout bowing, other back or chin,\nNeither made other to incline,\nSave the head, forged hard of steel,\nOf Pantasyllya, that was well ground,\nIn Pirrus' breast, perced he so deep,\nThat plate in truth nor might him keep,\nBut the sharpness of the spear's head\nWas in his blood in part rede,\nThe which stroke, when Greeks began to spy,\nFor astoned, loudly cried they,\nAnd all at once, for the noise and sound,\nUpon this queen in the field came down,\nIn compass wise, going envious around,\nBut through her prowess and her high renown,\nShe defended herself, that it was marvel,\nBut they alas, so sore her assailed,\nThat all to hew, they have her basinet,\nAmid Greeks, so thick she was beset,\nThat with axes and swords square,\nHer head in truth made was all bare.\nAnd her shoulders were naked, alas\nThe mail hewn from him and the rear bare\nPirrus then, like one in great distress,\nOnly anguish from his green wound\nIn doubt clearly where he might escape\nToward this queen he hastened fast\nTo avenge whatsoever might fall\nAmong the Greeks, all assembled there\nAnd when she saw him coming so fast,\nShe was forced to meet him yet she cast\nAnd with her sword first began to assail\nBut of her stroke it happened to fail\nAmong the press, so closely she was beset\nAnd Pirrus' sword was so sharply whet\nThat suddenly from her arm he struck\nAlas, there was no armor to protect him\nBut he rushed through all the shoulder bone\nSo that this queen fell down dead at once\nAnd of malice, for\nAt his heart, the ire, fretted sore\nThat with a face of very angry pale\nHe had hewn her all into small pieces\nA cruel deed, indeed, was this\nBut ever in one, Pirrus bled near to death\nFrom his mortal wound.\nFor lack of blood, he lay on the ground\nIn a trance, full long groaning he lay\nUntil knights, in all the haste they may,\nHave taken him up and laid him on a shield,\nAnd dolefully, home out of the field,\nThey have borne him, wounded as he was,\nAnd the women, of the queen, alas,\nFor very sorrow and inward deadly woe,\nWhen they saw, they were so desirous\nTo be dead, they were so eager and wild,\nIn a rage, without governance,\nThe Greeks they began, anew to assail,\nTo avenge their queen, they were so heartily moved,\nThat they slew, truly as I find,\nTwo thousand Greeks, on them they were so enraged,\nBut alas, only for lack, they had no governor,\nFor she was gone, that was their chief succor,\nWho was also, to speak of her courage,\nOf women all, lady and mistress,\nAs of her hand, that I can read,\nO ye Trojans, ye stand in great fear,\nAmidst the field, all out of control,\nThe day is come, of your unhappy chance.\nFor now, lead none, nor guide.\nFarewell, your trust is on every side.\nAnd Greeks are upon you so strong,\nThat you the field may not keep long.\nFor they cast them fiercely you to quit,\nThis same day as Dares listed ended it,\nFor as he wrote, homeward as they drew,\nTen thousand Troyans were of Greek yoke.\nFor all their wards came at once down,\nAnd mortally, without exception,\nThey kill and slew all that opposed,\nAnd most of them were upon the women's wrath,\nTo be avenged openly as I read,\nOn every half, and their blood to shed,\nWithout mercy or remission.\nChasing Troyans home into the town,\nOut of the field, for there was none abode,\nSo pitifully, though with them it stood,\nThat they can none other cast aside,\nBut keep their town & shut their gates fast,\nFor all their hope was clean gone,\nAny more to fight with their foe.\nFor now their trust in knighthood was away,\nTheir worthy men slain, none to refute,\nBut in their city.\nTo keep them close, none other may\nFor their thought, they might do so long\nTheir walls were, so mighty and strong\nIf they had, ample vitality\nThough all the world, attempts to assail\nThey may be sure, while they keep them in\nForever, that no man shall win\nYet nevertheless, early and late\nThe Greeks made, before every gate\nFull mighty watch, and strong alert\nWith subtle spies, going among\nThat of their foe, none escape away\nBy no engine, as they may devise\nAnd in this while, within Troy town\nMore than I can, describe the scene\nFor the queen, there was such great sorrow\nOf every wight, both at eve and morrow\nThat she, alas, was slain for her part\nWhich came so far, to help them in their need\nAnd almost, for they ne'er might have\nThe deed's corps, to bury it and to grave\nWith reverence, and with honor due\nFor which they began, to the Greeks to sew\nWith great prayer, and great diligence\nBut all in vain, and in idleness.\nWas their request the Greeks were so angry and finally, with many various other reasons, only of malice and hot envy, the deed corpse they denied, and shortly said of mortal enmity, that of hounds it shall be devoured. There was no gain, their rancor could not be satiated. But Pirrus then, of very gentle nature, would not assent to such a deed. But Wood and wroth, cruel Dyomedes, openly said how it was sitting, that she failed of her burying, that slain had been so many worthy men. And thus the strife among the Greeks began with great rumor and altercation until at last they took her corpse and cruelly cast her in a profound lake where I leave her. And to Troy again I will go to tell how they live in torment. O Cruel Mars, who have made them pay, through your anger, all the worthy blood of Troy. Alas, why have you been so enraged against them, to slay their knights, why have you let your bitter venom fall.\nOn unfortunate star, with the world, to make them debate,\nO hateful star, hot and dry,\nFiery Irons, ground of all envy,\nHasty ever, full of discord and colic,\nIn murder and death is your delight,\nIn taking vengeance, most thy appetite,\nFirst meurer of anger and hate,\nRot of Contention, causing to debate,\nIn strife and murmur, most is your desire,\nFearful of look, as any wild fire,\nGastly wondrous, of thy wooded sight,\nAs any leven, so flaming is thy light,\nLike in twinkling, to the red spokes,\nIn great fires, that abroad so spread,\nConsuming always by melancholy,\nHearts that be, embraced with envy,\nThy wrath is always so fretting and so keen,\nAnd causest men to be long and lean,\nConsumpt skinnier, browner and sunken-eyed,\nUnmerciful and right evil-tempered,\nWonderfully sly and ingenious,\nCompassionate and suspicious,\nTrusting and solitary, and full of heaviness,\nAnd assenting to all curses.\nTo murder and to treachery,\nWithout remorse of any conscience,\nSo venomous is thy influence,\nAnd helper art to false Treason,\nThe house of whom is the Scorpion,\nAnd crowned art in the Capricorn,\nBut in the Bole is thy kingdom's lure,\nFor therein is thy deceit,\nThy power lost and dominion,\nAnd haste also in thy subject's submission,\nExile war, chains and prison,\nProscription and captivity,\nThat for thy malice on Troy the city,\nSo would God I could bring about a right,\nThat haste upon them kindled thy fell might,\nOf thy rancor, fully the outmaneuver,\nFirstly on them to do revenge,\nWith sharp spears and keen swords whetted,\nAnd now in prison to enclose them and shut,\nSo vengefully that they dare not out,\nThe Greeks fell, lying around them,\nThey are not held in manner wise,\nIn thy temple to do sacrifice,\nNeither with Bulls nor with Bacchus wild,\nNor with beasts that ever were unmild,\nAs Tigers, Bears, nor the wood lion,\nOf which thou art sovereign and patron.\nThey are not held / to do the brimstone smoke\nOn thy altars / which art so fiercely broken\nOf them all / and now worse than all\nThou hast shown out / chief of all thy gall\nAmongst themselves / to bring in treason\nFeigned truth / and simulation\nTo make hearts / amongst themselves divided\nLo, how the serpent / of discord slithers\nFull slyly in / until he has found a place\nTo void away / both happiness and grace\nWith his venom / of discord\nWhen it is spread / in any region\nIn any common / borough, town, or city\nAmongst men / of high or low degree\nFor when hearts / are not one in love\nFarewell Fortune / their grace is clean gone\nFor where discord / holds residence\nIt is much worse / than the sword of Pestilence\nFor what is worse / either near or far\nThan a foe / that is familial\nFor who may harm / more if he pleases\nThan any enemy / upon whom men trust\nTo summarize briefly / in a clause\nThe very root / and the true cause\nOf all mischief / and confusion\nIn every land / is discord.\nAnd more perilous, if it be tried, I record on Troy, the city\nThat found Fortune, friend at need,\nTill long it bides hate, began to spread.\nFor prudence truly, has provided\nThat a reign, in itself divided,\nShall recoil, turn wild and waste,\nAnd the dwellers, desolate in haste.\nFor Mars, that is, of envious lord,\nAmong them selves, sown has discord.\nAgainst which, may no succor be,\nFor worse than war, truly seems to me.\nTreason cured, under feigned peace,\nAnd the root of all, was old Anchises.\nWith his son, called Aeneas,\nDawned Antenor and Polydamas,\nWho have conspired, among them utterly,\nAnd under veil, concealed secretly.\nIf it falls, Greeks, Troy to have,\nFirst how they may, save their own lives,\nBy some engine, sleights or treaty,\nAnd if so were, that it may not be,\nAs they cast, by no manner of way,\nThey would rather, traitors be to Troy,\nPrivately, so it were not espied,\nAnd covertly, with Greeks, be allies.\nRather than stand whole, with the town of truth.\nAnd wilfully, of negligence and sloth,\nSurrender and others, openly, in conclusion,\nRefuse, let alliance slack and slide,\nAnd their ligance set aside,\nIn their eyes, they thought it for the best,\nFor they chose, for rest or for merriment or for game,\nTo save their lives and wander forth in shame,\nRather wilfully, to die at misfortune's hand,\nTo trample their town, they held it no reproof,\nSo they listed nothing for the town to strive,\nThey sought in truth, for sour or for sweet,\nA mean way, to live in quietude,\nAnd thereupon, they have their way named,\nUnto the king, and when they were come,\nTo his presence, in full courteous wise,\nUndercolor, they began to devise,\nTo tell their tale, so that finally,\nTheir counsel was that Priam utterly,\nIn no manner, be not reckless,\nTo pursue, to Greeks for peace,\nIf it so be, that he it gets may,\nAnd yield again, to King Menelaus.\nWithout strife, the fresh queen Elene,\nAnd over more, he did not disdain\nThe harms done by Paris gone full yore,\nIn Cythera, justly to restore.\nBut alas, of false Iniquity,\nThis council rose, in secret beneath,\nThe venom was, as sugar under gall,\nFor well they knew that the Greeks all\nWould not accord, in conclusive union\nTo have a peace with those of Troy town,\nWhile they were brought, in truth, to such mischance,\nTo treat of it, in earnest, was in vain,\nFor Priam then, and Hecuba the queen,\nWith his sons and Polyxena,\nWho yet remained, with him in the town,\nMight have reigned, by long succession,\nIf the Greeks had not, in full, repented\nUnto a peace, in holiness had assented,\nBut that council, given, was too late,\nThen Greeks, of elder date,\nHad first proposed, at Tenedos,\nBy the advice of king Agamemnon,\nA final peace, shortly to be seen,\nSo he would restore, again, Elene,\nWith amends, required of reason,\nOf damages, wrought at Cythera.\nHis messengers, when first sent to Pyramus,\nRefused to assent to our just request,\nConcerning peace, the means they sought were denied,\nDue to their pride. Alas, they were deceived,\nLacking only in wit and prudence.\nNow, at great cost and expense,\nThey must endure,\nThe sharp showers and cruel rage,\nOf this mortal war.\nIt is certain they will not delay,\nTo treat for peace,\nThey are reluctant,\nUnadvised of what they should do.\nDo you think they will,\nSo lightly go,\nReturn to Greece,\nWithout recompense?\nThey seem, it would be a negligence,\nSpeak not of it, for it will not be,\nParticularly now, Troy, the city,\nStands in peril on its final fate,\nThis remedy, came too late,\nThe Greeks thought,\nThat those of Troy,\nHolding themselves,\nVictors in truth,\nAnd conquerors in deed.\nWithout a doubt or ambiguity,\nFor the council of this same Hector,\nOf Antenor and of Anchises,\nAs you have heard, to treat for peace,\nNot in truth but of doubleness,\nOnly of treason and of high falseness,\nAs Priam conceives, by their cheer,\nLike in this book, as you shall after hear,\nFor on a day, when that Priam,\nWith his son, called Amphimachus,\nA council held, with other of the town,\nThese three have made, a suggestion,\nTo the king, touching the treaty,\nBut he alone, discreet and wise,\nPrudently, or he would assent,\nBegan to understand, plainly what they meant,\nOnly of wit and discretion,\nOr he it put, in execution,\nMaking thereof, a manner of delay,\nBut proudly then, standing at a bay,\nThis Antenor, without reverence,\nSpoke to the king, in open audience,\nAnd shortly said, with a stern cheer,\nIf you list, our council for to hear,\nAnd do thereafter, plainly you may choose,\nAnd but you will, where you win or lose,\nThis is the fine, thou gettest no more from me.\nWork according to your counsel, to whom the king listens quietly. Sir Anthenor, you should not be troubled by my intent, which is not to reprove your wise counsel or your prudent advice if it contributes to the common good of my people and salvation. But take note, under sugar, if there is poison prepared in prejudice of my lords, causing them to be fined in my stead, I will withdraw from it utterly. As it is fitting for our greater ease, and it should not displease you nor offend anyone. For every man is held accountable for prudence. The worst to leave and the better to take. Wisdom to sow and folly to forsake. And with that word, Troyan Anthenor, suddenly changed his temper and stood before the king, saying, \"Now truly, this is a remarkable thing, how your wisdom and caution.\"\nAre blinded so, of very wilfulness,\nThat you may not, on all sides, see\nThe great mischief nor adversity\nThat we are in; for we may not,\nDissemble nor hide in what disjointed way,\nWe stand; be not our feet here at hand,\nAnd have been set, our wall round about,\nAnd we for fear, dare not issue out,\nNor be so bold to undo a gate,\nWith them to fight who hate us deadly,\nWe are so feeble, and they are so strong,\nFor truly yet, they have them among,\nFifty kings, worthy of renown,\nConfederated to our destruction,\nAnd therefore plainly will abide,\nWhiche vowed have, in their great pride,\nNever part from hence, from the town,\nTill the walls are turned up so down,\nYour worthy sons also now are dead,\nWho were wont to help in your need,\nYour manly knights slain, everyone,\nRemedy is none for us to save,\nIt is in vain to treat of truce,\nWherefore I advise, of reason and prudence,\nOr we be slain and our city lost,\nOf two harms, the least for to choose.\nThis to say: we intend, as sitting is expedient, to treat of P. And here, with all, we restore Againe Elene, For love of whom many worthy man hath lost his life since the war began. Now Paris is under stone ygraue. The best rede in truth that ye may have To send her home again to Menelaus And to profre, as far as you may, To restore within a little while The harms done by Paris in the Ile Which men are wont to call Cythera This is my rede here before you all And with it word up rose Amphymacus To this counsel full contraryous He shortly said that it shall not be As Anthenor has ridden in no degree And ever thus without more respite He spoke to him of very high spite. Thou Anthenor, I have espied well We may trust in thee, never inadequate With us to stand in our great need For truth and faith in the now dede Falshede hath slain in steadiness And in stead of thy syke-nesse We find in thee sothly varyance.\nWhere is your loyalty come to stand with your king?\nWhere are your oaths made so double in meaning?\nWhere has your old assurance hid?\nWhere has your feigned false constance come to be,\nIn place of which, Mutability\nHas taken its place, as we may see,\nWith new change, you are so changeable,\nUpon no ground, you cannot stand stable,\nYour truth is gone, of old affection,\nThat you should have, to stand with us,\nFor faith and hope, exiled be away,\nIn your person, shortly for to write,\nThese busy arts, the king to excite,\nIn decrease of his royal estate,\nTo seek a peace, as it were for fear,\nYou should have rather, of your manliness,\nOffered him the city to defend,\nThere on your life, at outright cost to spend,\nTherefore in truth, I assure you,\nRather than we should this endure,\nTwenty thousand, on a day,\nShall be slain in the field with spear and shield.\nThy word I hold for no prophecy. It proceeds of very treachery, of doubtfulness and false treason, undermining with provocation. Though thou outwardly show fair, the venom hid thy tale doth repair, like a serpent stinging underneath flowers. Thereby to feel of such counsellors. And in this way, with contemptuous words, has Amphymacus openly reproved Anthenor, agreeing with his counsel. Seeing the treason that he would mean, Tyll Eneas began to go between, with flattering speech full of flattery and began his tale to modify, like as he meant truth in his intent. But therein was double meaning. He spoke but one and yet meant another. Amphymacus only to refrain, to attempt him of his melancholy, only till he might a time espie, like his purpose, that he may proceed to execute it fully in deed. And when that he found had a space, under pretenses of a true face, with his tale he began to break out.\nMany standing around him, he concluded briefly, touching upon the difference clearly of the town. It hangs in perfect balance, both for hope, trust, and assurance of the city, taken, have they their flight. For finally, our manhood and might, and our knighthood, together go with the Greeks. More to have a do and stoutly to fight, they who have lost many a worthy knight, are ready upon us to set. And we dare not, our gates more unshet. We are, alas, surprised, so with fear, more than seems necessary to me. By good advice, let us seek a means in this matter. And for my part, truly, I know none so ready as prudently to treat, but Priam. In a sudden heat, he interrupted his tale without pause, of cheer and face pale. Of rancor he began to interrupt his tale. For he could not contain himself, so troublingly did the treason make him smart. And for himself, he could not restrain.\nHe said to both of you, Antenor and Aeneas:\nI marvel greatly that you two, for shame, behave so inconsistently towards me, of false collusion, to bring me and my allies into despair. I cannot conceal, if I am not willing, the false intent to ensnare us. Alas, how can you, in your hearts, be unkind against nature? Once, you were the chief counselor of all things or they were brought before me. In your absence, I could do nothing. And now, alas, you decline to do so. Depart from me, Barnarus and Soillus. It is too great a bother to remember. How can anyone change so much? Who will trust anyone more when you are found to be double-minded? Can you not think, by your consent, and by your counsel and aid, how I once sent Paris,\ninto Greece,\nlong ago,\nAnd Antenor, you know it yourself,\nhow you were first made an ambassador,\nand thereupon chief counselor.\nTouching the sonde for Exyon, but after that, Paris was to go to Greece, though you know it is so. Ine dared, out of presumption, to send Paris to Cytheron without the advice and authority of Enenas plainly and of the Greeks, to wage a war. I truly believe that you neither can excuse him and are aware. For every thing wrought was planned and executed by your counsel. When Paris went for Helen, the ground and root were you, Enenas, and you were present when every thing was wrought out of Greece, when she was brought hither. For this truth, from that realm, she never would have come to this town, if you had been there to restrain her. Although you would have excused yourself with fair words, here in audience, as you knew nothing of that offense, but were entirely unaware. And now my sons, each one is dead, and you are alone destitute.\nYour counsel is, as for chief refutation,\nTo pursue to Greeks for a peace,\nAs I were forgetful, reckless,\nTo remember the infinite outrages,\nThe mortal war, slaughter and damages,\nThe cruelty and destruction,\nThat they have wrought upon this town,\nThat veryly, when I recall all,\nI cannot accord,\nWith them to treat, like as you decree,\nFor I espied, in many various ways,\nIn your intent, a right perilous snare,\nSo cunningly, under falsehood, dare,\nThat it will be, to my confusion,\nIf you achieve, your intent,\nFinally, as you have it shaped,\nFor it were impossible to escape,\nShamefully, at my expense, to die,\nWithout recourse, of any remedy,\nFor this the fine, I know out of doubt,\nOf the treaty, that you are about.\n\nAnd right away, the Trojan Aeneas,\nFuelled by ire and rancor,\nAgainst the king, with a swelling heart,\nSuddenly, out at the door he started,\nAfter he had intended,\nFull many words against the king he spoke,\nHe went his way, and Anthenor also.\nAnd Pyramus, of very anger and woe,\nSuddenly burst out to weep,\nHe could not keep himself, for anguish grew,\nWithin himself, conceiving more and more,\nBy evidence, of discreet observation,\nThe covered deceit and false treason,\nThey had planned for him and for his city,\nHe feared they would betray him to the Greeks,\nWherefore the king cast aside his plan,\nAnd said, \"Shape away, your malice, to withstand,\nSo the treason that they took in hand,\nWould only against them, in full deserved way,\nResort again, in full due course,\nOnly on those who first devised it.\"\nTreason for treason is convenient,\nFor the reward for falsehood is shameful death, and the final end.\nTherefore, in this great need,\nAn old Pyramus calls his son, Amphymacus.\nAnd pitifully, alone, they two\nComplained to him concerning Anthenor and Eneas,\nAnd said soon, take heed in this case,\nAnd think how I am your dear father,\nAnd how there is no more yonder,\nBut you alone, and therefore as blue,\nTouching the treason, conspired and sworn,\nWhatever falls, let us be beforehand,\nOnly for wisdom's sake, away to make\nThat we may first in the trap take,\nAnd to pursue, like them,\nThat justly, they may fall in the eye,\nWhich they have made, and for us in store,\nAnd in all haste, let it be thus ordained,\nThat this matter, closed, be kept in mew,\nTo fine only, that they do not escape,\nFor to be slain, of equity and right,\nIn this place, even towards night,\nFor I purpose plainly for their sake,\nAgainst that hour, a council to make,\nAnd under color, make both call,\nAnd thou unwarily, shalt upon them fall\nWith knights sworn, unto you and me\nIn this matter, for to be secret.\n\nAnd right away, this Amphymacus.\nAssent is to Pyramus,\nTo accomplish in full, secretly,\nPoint to point, as you have heard decree,\nBut so it is said, long ago,\nOf old counsel, there is none,\nIn this world, so privately cast,\nThat it will out, plainly at the last,\nFor the people, who are rural,\nSay that secrets, which are not known at all,\nThe earth will, as they make mind,\nDiscover them, of its own kind,\nAnd of nature, up cast and disclose,\nThe thing that men are wont in it to close,\nLet every man beware, as it is good,\nOr his counsel go far abroad,\nAnd especially lords,\nHave great need of all men, they stand most in fear,\nSo great watchfulness is laid upon them,\nThat when it happens, that a thing is said,\nOr once spoken from a lord's mouth,\nIt falls often, that it is quite out,\nAnd reported and spread far and wide,\nOr he beware, by sudden adventure,\nFor some in hope, in whom he does assure,\nWill first of all him report amiss.\nTherefore, in truth/best for them is this:\nFor to beware/keep their tongue\nA purpose cast/should not be long\nNor spoken abroad/among rude folks\nFor gladly ever/the worst they conclude\nOf every thing/while that it is new\nIn report varied/and untrue\nFor after reason/no thing they explain\nBut after will/the people that be in town\nLike the purpose/which they desire\nFor they fare/as a wisp of fire\nWhen it burneth/brightest in its blaze\nSuddenly/it wastes as a mass\nOf such people/plainly is no trust\nThat fire and water/hold in their fist\nBeing with both/each indifferent\nNow hot now cold/like as their intent\nOf new change/so in their courage\nAfter the calm/suddenly follows rage\nTo day they love/and tomorrow hate\nTo trust a common/lasts by no date\nLet not a lord/make them to secret\nFor now the council/is run to Aeneas\nThat Priam went/had been full close\nFor the rumor/and the wind arose\nBy false report/and so far is blown.\nThat Eneas and Anthenor,\nknowing End and beginning, and every manner of thing,\nheld the council of Priamus the king\nAnd both two, full of one intent,\nas well as others who were of their assent,\nconspired and swore to cover up the fact that\nfinally, Troy the city\nwould be destroyed by their engine.\nAnd if it happened that King Priam\nsent for them soon to conclude,\nthey would come with such a multitude\nof armed men, if they saw need,\nthat from him they should have nothing to fear.\nFor Eneas was in that city\nof great power and authority,\nboth by blood and kindred allied,\nand for his gold, greatly magnified.\nThrough the city, most especially,\nhe was mighty and powerful, as Guydo says,\nand Anthenor was almost equal to him\nin every way.\nBoth of them had entered into a conspiracy\nagainst the town\nfinally, to this conclusion:\nthat the Greeks might have surety.\nWith their treasure / to go at liberty\nWith their allies / born of Troy town\nWhen all were brought / to destruction's brink\nWith life and good /\nAt which time / for Dawn's eight Antenor,\nAnd Aeneas / Pryamus had sent\nTo accomplish / the fine of his intent\nAnd they in haste / with such a great rout\nCame of knights / pressing them about\nThat thereof was / astonished Pryamus\nAnd sent for Amphimachus\nCommanding him / to change his purpose\nFor well he knew / his counsel was not close\nAnd by signs / began to well understand\nThat the matter / which they held in hand\nDisclosed was / to his confusion\nBoth the murder / and conspiracy\nAppeared / in his ward's sight\nThe great power / of this Trojan knight\nAnd the favor / of this Aeneas\nAnd of the Common / how he was fostered\nWhich proudly / in open audience\nBefore the king / declared his sentence\nFully concluding / against all who say nay\nHow that there was / no other men's way\nRefute nor gain / nor other remedy\nBut only peace / who so it deny.\nOther escaping was none. And therefore, the Commons with one voice began to wail and cry. Their counsel greatly magnified him. Although the king was contrary, Aeneas listened no longer. Nor did he delay the fine of his purpose. But he, wonderingly, rose from his seat and spoke angrily to the king. \"Wherever it may befall, thou mayst well trust it shall none other be. For finally, hearken to this from me. Against thy will and all thy might, this very day, we shall make peace with the Greeks. When the king saw the Commons' fervent heat and that of Aeneas, he was immediately perplexed in this matter. For at that time, it could not be otherwise. Why then could he not amend it? He wisely began to condescend to Aeneas' purpose. And he said he would willingly come to terms with him.\nAnd accept what they had ordered\nAnd so the king learned to feign\nAgainst the conceit/plot of his heart\nFor otherwise he could not endure\nCoercion of force and violence\nAnd when he saw in his presence\nThat he might die on no side\nFrom the fraud that was so wide\nWithout grudging, he falsely gave consent\nThat Antenor should be sent forth\nBy common choice to treat for the town\nWhich was before in conclusion\nWith the Greeks, accorded finally\nConcerning the effect of his embassy\nFrom point to point where he would stand\nVarying from that he took hold\nAnd because they had before him full conceived\nWith better cheer he was received by them\nIn this while Antenor was out\nTo treat stoutly with the Greeks\nAs you have heard, for a peace's end\nIn the town about on every wall\nThey of Troy ascended blue\nWith the branches of many fresh olive\nIn token of peace and Greeks also.\nShewed them all that might see,\nEke of Oluwe, lusty bows green.\nAnd to confirm this from prospect to point,\nAnd that nothing stood in disunity,\nThe worthy king, great Agamemnon,\nCommitted, with high discretion,\nFull power and authority,\nFor the Greeks, plainly, to three,\nFirstly, of all, for a peace to treat,\nTo the wise, worthy king of Crete,\nTo Ixion and to Diomede,\nTo these more, he thought it was no need,\nFor what they do, they will hold steadily,\nAnd finally, not be variable,\nFrom the end, plainly that they make,\nAnd thereupon, assurance was taken,\nOf either part, by bond of sacrament,\nAnd so they went, with Antenor,\nOut aside, this worthy lords three,\nAnd when they were, at their liberty,\nFrom all tumult, alone privately,\nThis Antenor, full of treachery,\nReplete of falsehood and doubtfulness,\nGan his purpose to them express,\nBehoving them to Trash the city,\nSo they would, make him sure,\nThat first himself, and with him, Aeneas,\nShall have freedom, in every manner of case.\nWith their allies and goods, each one\nWhere they pleased, or dwelling in the town,\nWith their riches and possessions,\nWithout harm or any more damage,\nLike as they see, it be to their advantage,\nOf their persons, to void or abide,\nAnd they were sworn, on the Greeks' side,\nTo hold, in part and in all,\nAs was rehearsed, afore in particular,\nAnd as they were, by their oaths bound,\nSo that there be, no variation found,\nOf neither party, plainly nor any strife,\nAnd they begged up, peril of their life,\nAnd when he had, assurance of them three,\nHe charged them, to keep in secrecy,\nAll that was said, that nothing be done,\nUntil they were assured,\nOf the end, grown up in deed,\nFor it were good, that they take heed,\nLest their purpose be perturbed or hindered,\nBy coming, without consent,\nOf this tongue, that be long and large.\nTherefore he began,\nIn all ways, to be provident,\nSo that no wight but he and they three\nCould know it.\nOf none estate, neither high nor low,\nThey fully do not know the fine of their intent,\nAnd covertly, our purpose to hide,\nAnthen or, on every side,\nTo void away all suspicion,\nThis my advisor, who goes to Troy town,\nThe wise king, called Taltybus,\nShall go with me to King Priamus,\nFor he is hoary and iron-hearted,\nCoy of his port, sly and right sage,\nAnd therewithal, said demure and still,\nOf the Trojans, nothing shall misle,\nBut that he comes to treat for peace,\nTo be assured and write doubtless,\nWhere the Trojans agree will,\nIn every thing, finally to do,\nAs Anthenor, the Greeks have agreed,\nThus shall they be devoted at once right,\nThrough his coming from all suspicion,\nTill that we have our conclusion,\nAs you have heard, performed every detail,\nOf which thing, the Greeks like well,\nAnd be appointed upon every thing,\nWhat they will do and how this old king\nWith Anthenor shall to Troy go,\nAnd after this, he also asked,\nOf Pantasyle, the body for to have.\nIn the city that men might call it grave,\nWith deep honor, longing to its estate,\nTo rid away suspicion and debate,\nAnd Antenor, for it drew him to leave\nOf the Greeks, taken has leave\nAnd with this king, repeats into town,\nWhence was made, anon, relation,\nTo king Priam, without further delay,\nHe in haste, on the next day,\nMade assemble all his citizens,\nSecretly, driving out all foreigners,\nWhere Antenor, in open audience,\nThrough the hall, when silence was made,\nHis tale began, with sweet, sugary words,\nMaking the bone, outwardly, to melt,\nOf rhetoric and eloquence,\nOf cheer nor word, that there was none offensive,\nIn showing out, so circumspect he was,\nThat no man could, in no manner see\nBy sign outside, nor by countenance,\nPerceive in him any variation,\nSo hard it was, his treason to discern,\nThe effect declaring, of his embassy,\nWith clear report, of his answer again,\nIn his meaning, though he were not open,\nFor underneath, he was with fraud loaded.\nThis subtle wolf, before he has his prey caught,\nIs close and covert in his speech,\nAs a serpent, till he may wreak,\nHiding his venom under long flowers,\nAnd like a bee that stings with its tongue,\nWhen it has shaded out its honey sweet,\nSugar in the crop, venom in the throat,\nJust so in truth, with tongue in Scorpio,\nThis Anthenor, root of all treason,\nHis tale told with a plain face,\nLike the sun that shines in the rain,\nThat fair shows, though the weather be,\nWonder diverse and troubling to see,\nSo this tiger, full of doubtfulness,\nSo covertly his treason expressed,\nNot intending but truth to the town,\nFully affirming, in conclusion,\nHow the Greeks, mighty and strong,\nAnd likely also to endure long,\nDay by day, ready to engage,\nAnd also plenty, of provisions,\nConcluding always, there was no remedy\nAgainst them, to hold a truce,\nNor with them, any more to fight,\nFor he said, they had yet a life,\nTheir worthy knights, hardy as lions.\nThe men, their champions, who directly served Iuparte,\nFrom the city, cast them not apart,\nUntil their purpose was achieved in all,\nFor finally, neither tour nor wall,\nNor your gates of iron, though you shut them,\nCould prevent the Greeks from eventually winning,\nTherefore it is necessary to come to terms,\nSince might and favor of Fortune,\nWe cannot long oppose them,\nTherefore he said, \"So you concede,\nI can easily remedy this thing,\nDo not vary from what I say,\nFor the sake of being contrary,\nThis means briefly, in short,\nAn embassy, when I was out,\nWith the Greeks, last when you sent me,\nThey spoke graciously, how they would assent,\nTo a peace, by this condition,\nThat you will make restoration,\nOf the harms and the violence,\nThe wrongs done and also the offenses,\nBy Paris wrought in Greece at Cythera,\nAs it seems right to me, for their request,\nIs meant with equity,\nAnd we are driven, by necessity.\nTo their desire, justly incline,\nDespite our will, the war to finish,\nFor all is now, in their election,\nWe may not make, no rebellion.\nNow the matter is so far brought,\nTo strive again, in truth it helps not,\nIt may appear, but nothing avails,\nTherefore the best, that I can advise,\nAs in proverb, has been said before,\nThat if a man be constrained sore,\nAnd may not flee, to fall in a train,\nLet him choose, the less harm of twain,\nAnd the greater, prudently to shun,\nAnd let our gold, that you kept in store,\nTo save our life, make redemption,\nFor better it is, in reason's estimate,\nTo be spoiled only of riches,\nThan willfully to die in distress,\nThe life is better, than gold or any good,\nSet all at naught, in saving of your blood,\nFor folly is, a man, for his welfare,\nThrough covetousness, any gold to spare,\nAnd now our life, depends in balance,\nLet gold farewell, and go with misfortune,\nWe may hereafter, by some sort of adventure,\nGold by grace, and good enough recover.\nAnd then we, as I have told you,\nMay buy a peace, finally, for gold,\nAnd with our treasure, cease the war,\nIt would be foolish, plainly to disagree,\nWith the Greeks, utterly to accord,\nFor if it be that I record,\nThat you assent, without any variance,\nThere may be no disturbance,\nIt is so light, now to be recovered,\nFor as soon as they are assured,\nBy just report, of your intentions,\nThey will do their obligations,\nOf covenants that are not by hindrance,\nAnd that you shall, in them, find no fault,\nWhen assurance, from other parts is had,\nThen, indentures shall be made,\nSo that you may them not reprove,\nAnd for that, they fully trust and leave,\nWithout fraud, my relation,\nI will now make, no delay,\nTo signify, to them in certainty,\nHonestly the effect, that you will say,\nAnd the people, loud began to cry,\nAll with one voice, and to magnify,\nAll that ever, Anthenor has said,\nAnd upon him, they have the charge laid,\nOf their answer and intent final.\nAnd they have assigned Eneas, along with him, to go for the same purpose in the presence of the old king Taltybus, who also went with Anthenor to Troy. These three have openly undertaken a final mission as you have heard, but they intended treason and, on their way, they immediately committed a breach of the town. However, king Priam has long suspected Anthenor and Eneas, suspecting that they intend to destroy his city. He said, \"Alas, what is best to do in this predicament I find myself in? And yet, this is the worst of all for me. I am now compelled and bound by necessity, against my will, to make amends to my enemies. I see clearly that I may not delay this, for I will receive no support there. I must pay the price, where my heart is most attached.\"\nMy good, my gold/ riches and treasure,\nTo my most faithful and dear one, I yield,\nAnd yet I stand, in Iuparty, without refute,\nHanging in balance, not denying,\nConstrained through my unfortunate chance,\nTo obey their lust, which mortally hates me,\nDriven by fate, through birth,\nSo Parchas, have my destiny shaped,\nBy no engine, I may not escape.\nAnd while Pyramus,\nGan thus to comply,\nAntenor came, the queen Eleyne,\nBeseeching him, in his embassy,\nOf gentleness, to specify,\nThrough his prudent mediation,\nTo find a way, in conservation,\nOf her estate, finally,\nThat she may be reconciled to Menelaus,\nIf so falls, that the treaty holds,\nSo that her lord, of his grace, would\nRestore her, to her degree,\nOnly through mercy and high pity,\nAnd Antenor, to her request,\nGave audience, making a pledge,\nHow he would, with all his heart enter,\nBe diligent, to treat of this matter.\nAnd thus it was done, on the same day.\nThat Anthenor pray God give sorrow\nTo the Greeks went on the next day\nOnly to treat for peace finally\nAnd in this while the funeral\nWas held in Troy my author writes thus\nOf a lord that was called Glaucus\nA manly knight before in his living\nAnd soon was of Priamus the king\nAnd over this, as Guydo says\nKing Priam also beseeched him\nOf Pantasyllya how the body might\nBe conserved freshly to the sight\nAnd for love of this worthy queen\nOf purified gold and of shining stones\nHe let make a vessel full of ryals\nAnd fill it full with bawn natural\nTo keep the corpse from corruption\nUntil the war of Greeks and the town\nThrough the treaty were ceased clean\nSo that the queen Philymene\nThis deed queen might carry it home\nInto her region\nWith the Ancestors buried for to be\nLike the manner of old antiquity\nAnd the custom used in that time\nIt were in vain more of this to rhyme\nI pass over unto the Treaty.\nAtwen and Troas/Troy, and for the Greek party, I was told,\nFirstly, Ulysses/Vlixes and him Dyomedes,\nAssigned were, and the king of Crete,\nWith Anthenor and Aeneas, to meet,\nAnd all together, in brief, in agreement,\nBy conduit first, and afterward by license,\nOf the noble Agamemnon,\nThey entered into Troy town,\nBy conveying this Aeneas,\nOf whose coming, such joy there was,\nOf the common people, who rejoiced in new things,\nAlways, expecting well, in their openness,\nThat by the good mediation,\nOf Ulysses/Vlixes, and the king of Crete,\nAnd Dyomedes, who came also to treat,\nThese three, it was hoped,\nWould make a final peace, everlasting,\nAnd a full end, of their older sorrow,\nAnd therefore, the very next morning,\nPriam let make, a convocation,\nOf all the worthy, within Troy town,\nAnd when they were, assembled all together,\nThe wise Ulysses/Vlixes, rose up at once,\nAnd his tale, began in such a way,\nSo prudently, his words to devise,\nThat to listen, every man had joy.\nAnd specifically those from Troy,\nWho were of his inner meaning deceitful,\nLittle knew or of his intent,\nTo their pleasure, so he could feign,\nAnd first he asked of them two things:\nThe one was this, that of the city,\nHe would have gold, an immense quantity,\nIn recompense for harms that were done,\nAnother thing he also asked,\nWithout delay, that Amphymacus,\nWho was soon to be king Priamus,\nPerpetually, that he be exiled,\nNever to enter Troy the city,\nFor gold or any reason,\nAnd this was done,\nBy the suggestion of Anthenor,\nFalse and malicious,\nOnly because he was contrary,\nThat he should treat for peace,\nAnd for that, he was not reckless,\nTo speak a truth, this Amphymacus,\nTherefore, in truth, this envious serpent,\nNow he has found a time to bite,\nHe thought he would cruelly avenge,\nFor truth only, that was in his mind,\nTherefore, it is expedient,\nOf prudence, every man to warn,\nThat his tongue not be overlarge,\nTruths all, be not for speaking.\nFor wisdom is sometimes to feign and dissimulate in adversity, especially when men in trouble are, and see that their speech may not avail them. It is better than for their tongue to fail than foolishly to speak to their damage. Men must among themselves cure and overrule the truth of things only of prudence and humbly suffer in patience. For false reports of envious people, who can do so, I hold him virtuous. It is better to endure a while than to say all out of rancor and pride. Silence in truth has often in hasty strife had the prerogative and the palm of debates won. Those who so suffer know well, and be not presumptuous in speech. As I told this Amphymacus, not withstanding that he meant the truth, yet for a word he went into exile. Although God justly afterward rewarded Anthenor for it, for with the same falseness he was after it, for his iniquity he was to be exiled and captured.\nFor judged after / into proscription own\nAnd relegated / out of Troy town\nPerpetually / by the procuring\nOf Aeneas / lo, how the rightful king\nThat all may see / in his providence\nFull justly can make recompense\nOf doubtfulness / and simulation\nAnd of all such / constructed false treason\nFor who avenges / with falsehood on his part\nHe shall be it / with the same dart\nHe escapes not / for to have a wound\nFor falsehood ever / will again rebound\nWhere it rose first / to its Original\nResort again / right as does a ball\nFor who for fraud / ever does cast\nTrust well / it will out at the last\nAnd who supplants / shall be supplanted\nBy good example / as you shall afterwards see.\n\nOf Antenor / the story if you read\nAnd while they / treat and proceed\nConcerning the exile / and proscription\nCaptivity / and relegation\nThat they cast / for Amphymacus\nThere was heard / a marvelous noise\nA great tumult / and a wonder sound\nLike as it were / a lamentation\nOf diverse people / playing in distress.\nFor truly we/ and in wardhewness,\nFrom the treaty/ even when they had gone,\nThis confused cry/ after began anon,\nWhereof Vlixes/ and also Dyomede,\nSuddenly/ filled with fear,\nSupposing/ in their opposition,\nThat some rumor/ had fallen in the town,\nAmong the people/ in the commotion,\nOf hasty rancor/ avenged to be,\nFor the love/ of Amphymacus,\nWho causelessly/ was exiled thus,\nOf volunteers/ against all truth and right,\nWherefore they dreaded/ when it drew to night,\nTo be murdered/ by the commons of the town,\nFor the fraud/ and conspiracy,\nFalsely accused/ of old enmity,\nBy Anthenor/ and by false Eneas,\nAnd truly yet/ there was no manner man,\nWho could wit/ whereof it began,\nNor espie/ first where it arose,\nIn all the palaces/ nor through out the close,\nThey heard it well/ but they lay nothing,\nWhereof they were/ astonied in their thought,\nAnd affraid/ of very sudden fear,\nVlixes most/ and also Dyomede,\nDesired with commons/ they had been by set,\nBut Anthenor/ without longer let.\nTo ensure they were hidden from all tumult and cry, the Greeks had conveyed secretly. When they were assured of their place, Ulysses first, with a changed face, began to pinch sore in the self-same while, at Antenor of treason and guile. With his hands, he seemed day after day, of very cunning, to put them in delay, appearing fully for anything he could see, there was deceit, fraud or treachery in the covenants that he had made. To one of these false Trojan knights, this sad-faced and sober-countenanced man answered again and plainly did express:\n\n\"I swear by the high gods that every thing may see,\nWithout feigning, that I have been busy be,\nFrom point to point, your purpose to achieve,\nSo that I do not grieve you,\nAnd finally, that you list to hear,\nThere is one thing that troubles this matter,\nWhich I shall plainly remember, in your presence,\nTo say of old Antiquity.\"\nAt the building of Troy, called Ilium,\nFor only at its founding,\nKing Ilus sat long,\nThe founder was strong,\nOf the wall, as is mentioned,\nIt was called and named Ilium,\nIn which, with great and laborious charge,\nHe made a temple large in Pallas' name,\nWhich exceedingly was held in reverence,\nAnd when this Phane of greatest excellence,\nWas performed by masonry well,\nAnd save the roof, complete every detail,\nOf mighty stone, the building was assured,\nBut before it was, with lead and timber cured,\nAgainst tempest, to be an obstacle,\nThere filled a wonder, only by miracle,\nI dare well affirm it in certainty,\nSuch another was never seen,\nWhoever wishes to see and consider all,\nThis marvel was so celestial.\nFor down from the high heaven,\nBy Pleiades and the seven stars,\nAnd through the Eye, holding his passage,\nLike a fair and marvelous image,\nThat in this world, though men had sought.\nThere was none so skillfully made as it is truly supposed, in Pygmalion's time, to have the ability to carve or paint such a curious thing. For it was created with diligent labor, by the hand of an Angel, in the heavenly tour, Through God's might and divine ordinance, And sent here through His providence, As a relic only, of His grace, And provided to remain in this place, For protection, distinction, and salvation, Perpetually, while the world endures, Against all mischance and mischief, Every trouble and tribulation, In sustaining and relief, And sovereign help, also from this City, Which shall never be destroyed, By any engine that men may purchase. The gods have granted such grace and such virtue attached thereto, That Troy, in truth, may never be destroyed, Until this relic is stolen away. And yet, truly, there is no man who can move it from this place, But the priest to whom it is due.\nOnly in an office, to touch it with his hand,\nSo strongly is the bond,\nThat whoever attempts, in conclusion,\nTo reclaim it from presumption,\nAt the end, plainly he shall fail,\nFor no force can aid him,\nFor it in truth will not be moved,\nExcept by him to whom it belongs,\nAs you have heard before,\nAnd over more, there is no man yet born\nWho can read or tell in any degree,\nExactly where it is, stone or tree,\nNor how it was devised or wrought,\nThere is no wight so subtle in his thought,\nCerulously to tell the manner,\nFor Minerva, that is so fresh and clear,\nThe stern goddess, through her great might,\nThat is so dreadful, both in look and sight,\nWhich on her breast has of crystal,\nHer shield Egys, this goddess immortal,\nYielded has, as I have learned,\nThrough her power, which is eternal,\nThis holy relic, for a memorial,\nTo her temple, of building most royal,\nIt to conserve from all assault of bread,\nAnd to succor in every manner of need.\nAgain, they return to the town of Troy, keeping it with devotion, so that it always succeeds from king to king in the lineage. But they must act justly and succeed prudently, annexing that which they take heed of. They should conserve it with due reverence, as they are bound and hold in right. Then no enemy power will have nor might to do damage against the town. And why it is called Palladium, as clerks write and say, is for Pallas to make her town certain. This relic sent from heaven down, and to conclude briefly, this is the cause of our purpose. Then Ulixes said, since it may be better, our labor is in vain without recovery, if it is certain. As you have said, this town in no degree can be destroyed through this relic. It was folly to undertake it against the Greeks, unless you had been well assured. Quoth Antenor, yet there is recovery.\nAs I have said, you shall have the town. Although there be a dilacy (dilemma), and the manor is mine to tell, if it pleases you to dwell here a while, without noise or disturbance. The priest, who shall be in charge of this relic, will be spoken to, by good advice and treated so, that he shall be of our assent. For he, with gold and treasure, shall accord to our purpose, to bring the relic, which is kept so closely guarded, to whatever place you assign. Be still at the port, good and benign, in your works, till I have brought about this thing fully and without doubt. I dare myself to take it in good faith. And when they had understood his meaning, they took leave and went out of the town. But first, Anthenor is said to have thought, he would go the same night to Pyramus, to make arrangements. How the bonds and the assurance of the peas should be made, and also the quantity.\nOf the gold that you shall receive,\nThis purpose will best be revealed,\nThe king to know it, every day,\nThey consent and like it well.\nEverything that Anthenor has said,\nAnd they parted, glad and well-paid,\nAnd went their way, making no tarrying,\nAnthenor went to the king,\nAdvising him not to delay,\nTo call his lords again the next day,\nAnd his lieges to assemble there,\nFinally, to engage in this matter,\nAs it was sitting and expedient,\nAnd when the king, in open session,\nSat crowned on his regal throne,\nThis Anthenor began to specify,\nIn audience, that men might know,\nTo each estate, both high and low,\nThe Greeks will, if they agree,\nAnd what the sum was of gold also,\nWhich they ask, if the peace shall stand,\nTwenty thousand marks in hand to hold,\nOf purified gold, which must be paid,\nAnd of silver, which may not be delayed,\nThey must also have the same quantity,\nAnd over this, as they have agreed.\nCertain messengers, by agreement,\nOf wheat and flour, were to save their lives\nIn their retreat, by the vast sea,\nWhen they sailed home to their country,\nAnd that the collection was to be made immediately,\nBy good advice of them, each one,\nSo that all were ready by the appointed day,\nThere was no man who dared to say no,\nOr to oppose Anthenor or anyone,\nBut full assent in conclusion,\nAnd in all haste, throughout the town,\nThe collectors gathered up the gold,\nLike the sum I have told you,\nOf the poor and rich, none were spared,\nThe time Anthenor was gone,\nTo the priest called Tonantus,\nI might have intimidated him,\nTo make his heart fully submit,\nHe laid out hooks and lines,\nWith great excitement, in a secret way,\nWho would be of his consent,\nAnd agree to his intent,\nTo put him in possession,\nOf the relic called Palladion,\nWithout delay, it could be delivered.\nAnd gave him gold / a huge quantity\nAnd him to blend / much more readily\nAnd this was done / fully privately by night\nShortly concluding / if he would / his estate amend\nSo passingly / that for evermore\nHe and his heirs / should have gold and store\nPlenty enough / that none indigence\nShould have power / him to do offense\nFor unto this / this is a vow I make\nQuoth Anthenor / and plainly undertake\nOf gold & good / thou shalt have sufficiency\nAnd of treasure / passing abundance\nThat thou shalt / in very secrecy\nAll thy kin excel / in riches\nIf thou deliver / like to my asking\nPalladyon / which is in thy keeping\nAnd I beseech thee / thou mayst trust me\nBy bond of it / shall be secret\nList it were / hindering to thy name\nFor if so be / that thou fear shame\nTo be scandaled / of so foul a deed\nI swear shall / that thou need not fear\nNor be agitated / in no manner way\nFor such away / in truth I shall devise\nThat no man / shall be suspicious\nTo thy person / nor envious\nTo demase (reveal) how this matter went, I am loath (reluctant) to be labeled (defamed) with such a false thing. I would rather know or consent in any manner that the townspeople would have suspicion towards me. Let it be, I'd rather have died. We shall therefore, take another course. Our honor save, so that you and I both go free. Neither of us shall look nor spare (forgive) this theft, but stand clear and innocent. Whatever falls without shame, foxes (vixens) shall bear all the blame for this deed and this theft as well. When it is known, men will say that he, through his cleverness and cunning, trickery and false guise, stole away Palladium (Palladian) from the temple, deceiving the two guardians. In the end, during his entire life, men will attribute this falsehood to him, and all the guilt will be charged to his account. Only you and I, through this iniquity, will be excused plainly and go free.\nIt need not tarry in this matter. Come and take your gold here. For you shall no longer be delayed. Since you see that no difficulty is present on any side, neither shame nor fear nor mischief should delay you. Take this thing on hand and first this priest began to resist. He spoke plainly and said for nothing, neither for prayer nor for pretense, neither for gold nor good nor any kind of reward. He would not assent to such a foul deed. Thus he answered at the first face. But often it happens that men purchase truth with falsehood. More can be conquered by deceit than a title of right that men learn in truth. And great gifts can incline hearts. And they may have gold in steel and marvel at mine. This priest's heart is so deeply grave. Antenor shall achieve his purpose. To possess the Palladyon, through false engine and conspiracy, was this priest called Tonant.\nWhich of falsehoods might have enticed him,\nThat this relic from the temple rent,\nAnd to Ulysses it was sent,\nOut of the town in all the haste he might,\nBy a servant, secretly by night,\nWhom the Trojans, mortally dismayed,\nThrough treason, finally out betrayed,\nWrought by this priest with cunning blended,\nFalse Antenor, being of assent.\nO Troy, alas, you may mourn and weep,\nIn complaining, deeply signing,\nFalsely defrauded of Pallas' favor,\nAnd put forever out of possession,\nO mighty goddesses, who govern the world,\nAnd every thing, through your might, concern,\nRight as it is, of your delight,\nAnd truth and falsehood, may unite,\nIn every heart, through your providence,\nWhy did you not take vengeance on this priest,\nWho traitorously, through his iniquity,\nFor gold and good, betrayed the city,\nOf Troy, alas, without more recourse,\nWho shall deliver us, and be sure,\nOr any place, stand in safety,\nSince holiness of such high degree\nMay be infected and corrupted with bribe.\nEvery heart / ought quake and fear\nTo see alas / by false hypocrisy\nPriests who should / exemplify\nWith good doctrine / of perfection\nTo make so soon / a transmutation\nOf double meaning / so daily to vary\nFor truly / if the sanctuary\nIs found polluted / in conversation\nNaked and bare / of devotion\nAnd that the shining / of their perfect light\nIs turned by darkness into night\nTo what place / shall men further go\nTo take example / what they ought to do\nCertainly the root / and ground of every trifle\nIs covetousness / who so look well\nOf which the green / is so far yonder\nThat he who desires / to know Avarice\nAmong priests / he shall it rather find\nFor with this / they are made blind\nTo their estate / that they may not see\nFor truly / there is no degree\nGreedier / nor more ravenous\nOf worldly good / more covetous\nThat priests be / to catch what they may\nFor it is gone / since many a day\nThat in their breast / was fixed the root\nOf covetousness / which sits so sweetly\nThat no man may arrest him nor reprove,\nFor their tail ever it doth them sew.\nThis false worm, mother and nurse,\nOf all mischief and every vice.\nFor gold is now so shining and so bright,\nSo persistent also and so clear of light,\nThat priests are, with their streams blended,\nFor in sincerity, they are in their intent,\nOf covetousness, very receptacle,\nAnd to possess, also the tabernacle,\nTheir heart is always so greedy to embrace,\nThat Avarice has his lodging place,\nMidst their breast, this vice of vices all,\nThat causes virtue rather to fall,\nWhere he abides, so he can supply,\nRecord I take, of the priest Tonantus,\nThat for treasure, to Anthenor has sold,\nThe rich relic, that he had in hold,\nPallas Athena, while they of Troy town,\nHave gathered up, about evenround,\nOf rich and poor, throughout the city,\nGold and silver, an huge quantity,\nFlour and wheat, to pay their ransom,\nThe which some, of enticement,\nThey made keep, wisely and conserve,\nIn the temple, that belongs to Minerva.\nPurposingly seeking one affectionate city dweller throughout the town, hoping thereby to fare the best, on a day assigned and set, to Apollon, in their penitent way, solemnly make a sacrifice, with the slaughter of beasts, wine, and blood. On that day, when the priests stood, in a compact circle around the altar, and began to kindle the bright and clear coals upon the altar, plainly as I have read, to offer up the beasts that were dead, in the flame and the great leaven, to Apollon, enthroned in heaven. When they were most laborious in their offering, two marvelous things occurred. The first was that the consecrated fire would not burn as they desired, nor would the flame ascend aloft, although they tried repeatedly more than ten times. It was always the case that they could not see anything but smoky resolutions, horrible and black, like exaltations, of new lime, when it is meant, with cold water and of his heat quenched. They could not, in any manner.\nFor lack of fire, they performed their sacrifice. Always they found, a wonderful obstacle. And next, a more miracle, on their altar when they began to spread The entrails of beasts that were dead To burn Apollon with flames bright and fair A royal eagle came down out of the air And in his claws, the offering he took And the Entrails lying confused In his descent, making such a sound That none so bold, of heart or manhood But that he was astonished there he stood And supposed, through fear and every way, Of this marvel and this sudden case But the Eagle, staying there no more Over the town, high flew up soaring Towards Greeks, hastening what he might And on their ships, suddenly a light And the Entrails of all the beasts this Eagle let fall Whereof Trojans, when they took heed Dismayed, with a mortal fear,\nUnderstood clearly by signs,\nThat their gods were greatly offended.\nAgain, when the town's fire went out,\nAnd to dispel doubt, they went to find out,\nWhat this marvel meant to Cassandra,\nIn haste they went to seek a declaration,\nAnd afterwards, a plain exposure,\nShe told them plainly, out of fear,\nThat the quenching of their fires' red glow,\nWas a demonstration to them,\nBoth of their guilt and indignation,\nThat Apollo had borne to Troy,\nFor the blood shed before,\nOf Achilles, in his temple, a slave,\nVengefully murdered and drawn,\nWithout any manner of reverence,\nOr honor paid to the excellence,\nOf Apollo, being present,\nThat the Phane and plates adjacent,\nWere defiled and polluted with the blood,\nSo she said, it was good,\nThat they went on procession,\nWith contrite hearts and devotion,\nTo the tomb of Achilles at night,\nOnly to fetch, on their trays, light,\nSacred fire, burning at the wake,\nIn full purpose, by assent, to make,\nSatisfaction for his murder,\nThis fire, by no occasion.\nShall not quench but his flames hold,\nThrough no assault of stormy winds cold,\nThe sacrifice upon the altar\nBefore Apollo burn so clear,\nAnd they of Troyes wrought by her decree,\nBut of the Eagle she bade them take heed,\nThat nothing was but token of treason,\nProphecy and declaration,\nFinally how Troy and Ilion\nShall turn in haste to destruction,\nFor the flying royal bird\nOver the town and the mighty wall,\nWith his feathers maylyd bright and she,\nAnd the Entrails in his sharp claws,\nTo Troy was a final demonstration,\nSothfast showing and signification,\nThat grace and Ever & happiness of old Fortune,\nBy luckiness might not continue,\nNor persevere in their first light,\nFor all atones they have taken flight,\nPallas could not hold them back,\nThat was stolen was like as I told you,\nFor no man may refuse his fatal chance,\nAnd Greeks also began to ponder,\nInwardly in their thoughts they sought,\nOf the Entrails that the Eagle brought.\nAnd then together rowed\nCalchas, and to them he fully explained\nAnd assured them that the outcome of this adventure\nWould depend on their welfare\nAnd he also urged them not to spare any cost\nTo persevere and keep their hearts steady\nBy Fortune, they were to enhance themselves\nThey counseled them to do their best\nTo solemnly prepare in haste\nA certain offering, carried out from the field\nTo fair Pallas with her crystal shield\nAnd to her make a rich sacrifice\nAs the story orders\nBy Bishop Calchas, with his hoary locks\nTraitor sworn, go forth in full disgrace\nHe who has falsified truth and his alliance\nWhom Clerks have put in remembrance\nIn their locks, with old and new letters\nTo exemplify no man to be unfaithful\nFor though years pass away quickly\nRust of slander will not easily die\nIts corrosiveness lasts for a full man's life\nAnd is very hard to remove\nOf whose venom, seldom is an antidote made.\nReport: He who could find Old Calchas, this cunning serpent and patron,\nUnder the guise of offering to Minerva,\nWas planning to let Greeks enter the town,\nTo discover treason and deceit.\nHe devised a scheme: Greeks would win and take the city,\nPretending they were offering a sacrifice to Minerva, as I will explain,\nFor this traitor's treachery and falsehood.\nThe Greeks agreed, in haste to perform the ruse,\nAnd made a hasty consent.\nThey built a large and wide altar, of copper and brass,\nCunningly constructed by Synon,\nTo receive a thousand knights, armed and ready,\nThrough the ruse and the cunning,\nThe clever wit and marvelous workings,\nOf this kind and crafty Greek Synon,\nWho, through his casting and discretion,\nSuccessfully carried out the plan.\nPerformed has this rich site of brass,\nAs you have heard, by Calchas' bidding,\nAnd by the advice of Appius the wise,\nWho also helped the site to design,\nTo finish only what was devoted,\nGreks might require of the town,\nWhen it was made, to grant them permission,\nIt presented itself, in reverence,\nOf mighty Pallas, in statue armed bright,\nAmid her temple, large and full of light,\nBy the offering, to find occasion,\nTo have entrance, freely into town,\nBy pilgrimage, they would fulfill their vows,\nIn which place, dare all be still,\nA thousand knights, as Calchas decreed,\nThis large site, of making marvelous,\nUnder pretense, of obligation,\nWas completed fully, to perfection,\nOf workmanship, as I told before,\nThe same year, that Troy was lost,\nWhen the siege, truly began to fine,\nAnd the City, was brought to ruin,\nThrough Greek might, and the wall strong,\nWas battered down, large, thick, and long.\nThe year that followed, the kings who came from so far\nAll alive remained, after the mortal war\nWhen they saw how Priam by constraint\nGranted peace to the Greeks utterly\nAll haste was possible for him to pay his ransom\nThey took leave and went out of the town\nFirstly, I find how King Phylimene\nWith him bore the body of the queen\nPantasilla home to her country\nTo be buried there richly\nAnd of two thousand knights, this king brought\nTo Troy firstly at his coming\nNo more than fifty home with him\nAnd of women that the queen also had\nA thousand, the story says for certain\nBut four hundred returned home again\nAnd thus, when all were from Troy gone\nThe morrow next, Priamus alone\nWith his lords rode out of the town\nAs was the accord, for confirmation\nOf Peace's end, on the other side\nAnd in the field, Greeks him abide\nAnd on reliques openly borne\nThere they were, on the other party sworn.\nOn the form, Anthenor, as agreed with the Greeks, first swore to Dyomedes. The Trojans, taking little heed, were cursed above, under false pretenses. Synthes, the Greeks, though in their swearing, bound themselves to nothing in particular. They only pledged to uphold and keep the essentials in general, with the treaty that bore Anthenor's name. This traitor, holding the treaty with the Greeks, was full of double intent. Intending treason, as you have heard before, they swore only to observe this by the deceit of others and not by plain words. Their adversaries' allies were to be taken in a trap, excluding them from their meaning far. They appeared in peace but were at war in their hearts. All openly confirmed this with their hands. Inwardly, they pledged treason by the assurance of a bond. Though the poison was enclosed within a wall, it was not hidden from him who knows all things. Indeed, as clerks teach.\nWhoever swears falsely in speech,\nFlourishing outwardly with a fair color,\nTo deceive his true neighbor,\nHe is cursed, whatever he be.\nThe treason hidden, though men may not see,\nHowsoever the word be carried away,\nHe who swears by craft is by craft cursed,\nThere can be made no excuse,\nFor God who knows the intention,\nDiscerns the heart and the false word not,\nFor He who wills knows and the thought,\nOf every man, near and far, a fear,\nTherefore beware, no man him trust,\nAs the Greeks did, Trojans to deceive,\nThat the fraud could not conceive,\nSupposing that, Greeks had been,\nFaithful and true, in their surety,\nBut nothing on them, in their heart thought,\nWhich in the end, they fully repented,\nWhen they found, fully the reverse,\nAnd to their speech, the deed so diverse,\nIt were in vain, by and by to write,\nTheir feigned oaths nor their words white,\nNor the cherries that they could feign,\nBut to conclude, with the queen Hecuba,\nDuring the treaty, on the same day.\nDelivered was to King Menelaus,\nAnd after that, the ransom was paid.\nGranted beforehand and gathered in the town,\nGold and silver, where also and flowers,\nAnd to their ships, with diligent labor,\nIn full great haste, everything was brought.\nBut through the city, after it came to naught.\nAnd Greeks then, by simulation,\nMaking a color of devotion,\nThrough holiness, under hypocrisy,\nFalsely feigned, by fraud and flattery,\nThe king prayed to have liberty,\nTo enter freely into the city,\nTo make amends, by oblation,\nFor the theft of Palladion,\nAnd offer up the richly-decorated brazen statue,\nTo the goddesses called Pallas.\n\nWhat king Priam likes to assign,\nThat she to them be willing and benevolent,\nIn their retreat, saying by the sea,\nHome into Greece, toward their country,\nWhen she is quenched, with his large fleet,\nAlas, Priam took no heed.\nThe treason hid, he could not perceive,\nBut granted them, with all his whole heart,\nWhen they listed to bring it into the town.\nBy false pretenses / and suggestions of Antenor and also of Aeneas,\nHaving no fear / nor ambiguity\nIn his intent / nor suspicion\nNeither of feigning / nor false treason\nBut right freely / like to his behest\nCondescends / unto their request\nTheir ambassadors / that they might observe\nTo offer up / this horse to Minerva\nAnd Greeks / with great diligence\nGreat honor / and huge reverence\nHave shaped them / with procession\nTo bring the steed / into Troy town\nThe men of arms / being always theirs\nBy whom they call / Troy to be won\nIn short time / for it stood on the date\nAnd when this horse / brought was to the gate\nIt was so narrow / that there was no space\nFor the steed / into town to pace\nAlthough they / attempted otherwise\nPriam / bet down the wall\nTo make it large / right at their desire\nIn which thing, alas / he was unwise\nFor cause this horse / came into the town\nBut humbly / forth they went\nTo the temple / with this large steed\nAnd to Pallas gently kneeling,\nAll atone, they made their offering,\nWith feigned cheer and false devotion,\nGlad was the town in their hearts,\nAnd especially those of Troy,\nBut it is said that joy's fine is,\nWhoever occupies, as men often find,\nFor unwarily comes adversity,\nAfter joy and mischance,\nWhen men best believe, for to stone,\nIn worldly bliss, is no advantage,\nSo diverse is his unhappy chance,\nFull of deceit, ever mean with trouble,\nAnd for to trust, variable and double,\nAnd seldom in one, abiding any throw,\nFor worldly lust, though it now blows,\nWith pomp and pride, and with boast and show,\nSoon it passes, record of Troy town,\nWhich thought well, by this rich stead,\nTo have been sure, and free from fear,\nPerpetually, as I have told before,\nBut when Greeks have borne this horse before,\nPallas, as you have heard me tell,\nThey like not longer for to dwell,\nIn the bounds, of this mighty town,\nBut with purpose, to the Greek Synowe.\nThey have committed / control of this place\nWhich will not fail\nWhen he sees best / opportunity\nBy his engine / to traverse the city\nAnd Greeks have / in this while found\nA new trick / them fully to confound\nThis to say / they have sent\nTo king Priam / they would go from land\nTo the sea / towards Tenedos\nAnd there sail / for this conclusion\nFor Helen, / by good grace\nIn secret way / there shall be sent\nFor they feared / if upon the land\nShe were delivered / shortly to their hand\nGreeks would inflict / their pain\nThe more part / to kill this Helen\nFor she was the root / and cause also\nOf the slaughter / of many worthy man\nSince the rhyme / the siege first began\nWherefore they said / to stop all strife\nAnd to be sure / to save her life\nThe best was / to lend her out of sight\nSecretly / to Tenedos by night\nThus they feigned / of full false treason\nPriam to put / from all suspicion\nThey would return, after never living, to fight with Troy again. Thus they made Pryam believe this, but in his hand he was completely deceived. He knew nothing of their deceit, for in his heart he thought only of wellbeing. Granting them all that pleased them, and when they had leisure and good ease, they sailed away from Troy. With Synowe, the false Greek, they took care in Troy to keep watch. The hour when men were in their first sleep, he went in haste with his cunning guise. Many were wounded, and many were struck down. In its place, he made a commotion. The crafty one looked around, undoing each one. And he went out and began to call,\n\nWithin the horse, the worthy knights all,\nSo secretly that no man could see,\nAnd traitorously he began to raise himself,\nUpon the walls, the very same night,\nAnd toward the Greeks, he began to show a light,\nWhere they lay before Tenedos,\nReady armed to fall upon the town.\nAnd when they had suddenly seen this light.\nOn horseback, they had them hurried towards Troy, all armed clean. And in they went, by the same wall which for the horse was but recently broken And mortally, intending to wreak havoc. The knights also, in the place of brass, met a full stern passage, and began at once through the city, on every half, to kill and slay With bloody sword upon every side, and made their wounds broad and wide. While they, alas, nothing opposing, At midnight hour, a dead man lay sleeping, Full innocent, and thought not but good. All bathed, in the yonder blood, Both man and child, without exception. The Greeks sparing, no condition, Old or young, woman, wife or maid, With the cry, \"Priamus is slain!\" Priamus, who lay all night, and no head took, Of the daughter, nor murder in the town, But he knew that there was treasure, falsely compassed towards his city By Antenor and also by Aeneas. Of whose machinations, he was no longer in doubt.\nFor the venom is now unleashed,\nAnd now the galley of conspiracy,\nWhich under sugar of simulation,\nHas long been closed and hidden,\nIs now executed and brought to life.\nAnd now the fraud, fully of treason,\nThe cast also of false collusion,\nIs taken out and openly known.\nNow envy and hatched conspiracy,\nOf their engine, is set abroad the gate.\nNow deceit and old conspiracy,\nAnd feigned others, all of one alliance,\nOpenly showed their falseness,\nAnd disclosed all their doubleness,\nSo far abroad that now there is no gain,\nFor now, alas, the wild fire is seen,\nIn towers high, with the wind ablaze,\nWhereof Priam, astonished and amazed,\nAll awakened, started out of his bed,\nAnd comfortless to the temple is fled,\nOf Apollo, to save him if he might,\nAnd aye the flame, of the fires' brightness.\nBrent in the town, and consumes all,\nThe rich building, once so royal,\nThat the walls, with their huge roofs,\nCovered with lead, for a chief refuge.\nThe Greeks now, alas, were made bare and barely clad,\nWith swords unsheathed, they murdered and slew,\nWherever they went, twenty thousand that night and more,\nThey killed, and it was long before it was day.\nIn this slaughter and great affray, they spoiled and robbed,\nTaking whatever they found,\nTreasures and goods, and left nothing behind,\nBy mighty hand and sturdy violence,\nAnd the temples, without reverence,\nThey despoiled throughout the entire town,\nRansacking and tearing down,\nOf gold and silver, all the ornaments,\nTottering the gods, may they fall foul,\nKing Priam, with a deadly countenance,\nPrayed to Apollo,\nBut wait for his death and its fatal hour,\nAnd Cassandra, that holy creature,\nFull of inward woe, desirous to live,\nComplaining, ran to Minerva,\nMaking to her a lamentation,\nWith other gentlewomen of the town,\nAnd alas, as they would die,\nThey sob, weep, and cry pitifully.\nAnd in their dwelling/ I let them dwell\nFor all their sorrows/ if I should tell\nIn this story/ and their woe describe\nMy pen would rue/ of very routhe die\nRehearsing also/ how in every street\nTheir clothes black/ ready/ moist and wet\nAs they all/ both one and all\nFell down/ before their lords in awe\nWith their blood bedewed/ and eyes sprent\nWhere men may see/ the crystal tears meaning\nOf their weeping/ in their wounds green\nThat lay and bled/ again the sun's sheen\nWith deadly eyes/ casting up the white\nIt were in vain/ all here to write\nNor the manner/ of their mortal sorrow\nBut Guydo write/ that the same morrow\nHow Anthenor/ and with him false Aeneas\nConveyed/ through out the City\nThe mighty Greeks/ unto Ilion\nThe royal tour/ and rich mansion\nThat once was/ of most excellence\nIn which/ they found no difference\nOf high or low/ nor of none estate\nFor it was left/ alone desolate\nWith all the gold/ and riches of the two.\nThey broke into the chief dwelling place, but there was no man who could withstand them. They broke the locks and seized the good and the treasure that was hidden within. Each one for his own party took no notice of resistance. Pyrrhus, after this, went to the temple of Apollo, showing great cruelty. He filled Pyramus, kneeling before him, with his sword, furiously and in a rage. Before the altar, he shed his blood. So high did his wounds gush, both in length and breadth, that the streams of his wounds were red. The golden statue of this Apollo, for all his great might and power and stern face, was defiled and polluted the entire place. Only by his death, Pyrrus killed him while he was kneeling, from old hatred and envious pride. While Antenor and Aeneas stood nearby, there was pity and sorrow to behold. They lay there pitifully before the altar, bleeding. When Hecuba took charge, and her fair daughter Polyxena, it was a pitiful sight to see them lying on the cold stones, bleeding so pitifully before the altar.\nWith her heart rent as any goldsmith could see,\nOnly supplied with sorrow to the core,\nThey began to consider and to fear\nThis noble king, with bloodstreams red and dead,\nAll drowned, his eyes deep and lifeless,\nWith Pyrrhus sword girt through other side,\nFor mortal fear they durst not abide,\nBut inwardly through darting sight,\nAll in a rage they took to the flight,\nAnd yet in truth through out the city,\nThey knew not whether to flee,\nRescue was none, nor any remedy,\nOf kin or friend, nor any ally,\nWith Greek sword, the town was thus beset,\nAnd in their flight, this woeful queen met,\nEneas, cause of all this woe,\nUnto whom, rebuking thus she spoke:\nO thou traitor, most malicious,\nThou false serpent, envious adder,\nCrope and root, finder of falsehood,\nSources and well of unkindness,\nHow mightest thou in thy heart find\nTo be so unkind to thy king,\nGiver and ground, example of treason,\nAnd final cause of our destruction.\nHow mightest thou, deceiver, behold through thy cruelty, the king, alas, whose blood has been shed, so gentle and so good, so gracious lord, especially to thee. And over more, through his high bounty, they honored and imagined all his life. It may not be denied that he now lies dead, in the temple, alas. Thou were not only traitor in this case, but to his death, conspiring and vowing. Pyrrus conveying, where he should find, before Appollo, the idols of this city. Where thou shouldst, of very duty, rather have been his protection, his mighty shield and salvation. This city and this town are now hastened and laid waste. In which thou was fostered and born, on the greatest reputation, of all the lords dwelling in this town, in which thou hadst formerly most pleasure. But all is now out of remembrance. Yet in thy heart, if any drop be, of gentleness, mercy or pity, in this deadly rage, full of tenor, remember my daughter, young Polycene.\nFrom Greek sword, save her youth to grieve,\nIf your heart can have any pity,\nOn her maidenhead, defend and relieve,\nNow keep her from fear, if you can find a way,\nAny way, that she may not die,\nThat afterward, when men see and read\nThe false treason and the foul deed\nThat you have done to Troy town,\nIt may in part be protective,\nTo your fame, the venom to ally,\nOf this treason, when men will try,\nBy just report, your name to accuse,\nThis deed may help to excuse,\nAgainst tongues that speak of Aeneas,\nThen they will say, you had yet pity,\nOnly on Polymnestor, in gentleness,\nWith this, to sweeten, all the bitterness,\nOf your deception, blow forth by fame,\nBy report, of the foul blame,\nThat shall through the world be born,\nWith slander infect, when you are all torn apart,\nYou shall sustain the shame more,\nThan shall my daughter, fair Polymnestor,\nBe your defense against such famous strife,\nIf it be so, now save her life.\nOf me make no false blue\nThe sword of the Greeks through my heart run\nAnd so by prayer this woeful queen\nGave Eneas Polycete\nWhose traitorous heart, for all its cruelty,\nWas moved by pity in her youth\nOnly for rage that in his breast arose\nAnd secretly put her up in close\nThe Greeks found occasion\nAgainst him and Ajax Thalamon\nTook to his ward Andromache\nActors wife and wise Cassandra\nOut of the temple longing to Minerva\nFrom the Greek sword they lives to conserve\nAnd Menelaus took the queen Helen\nInto his guard for whom great pain\nHad been in his heart many days before\nBy whom, alas, the city is now lost\nAnd Greeks ever were busy in their ire\nTo sleep and kill and cruelly to fire\nOn every side and to beat down\nPalaces and houses and walls of the town\nThey spared not, for all went to the fire\nSo fierce was their hate, kindled in their desire\nOf olden envy avenged to be\nThey left not within the city.\nNo thing unwrought, and Ylyowne,\nWas in this rage turned up so down.\nThere were made none exceptions,\nOnly out take the possessions\nOf Anthenor, evil might he fate,\nAnd Eneas, whom the Greeks spared,\nAs they to them were wounded by their other,\nAnd thus the Greeks, furious and wrath,\nHave all that day robbed and burned,\nTill that the king, Agamemnon, has sent\nFor his lords to assemble yonder,\nIn Pallas temple, only to hear\nTheir wise advice upon two things.\nFirstly if they would hold and not refuse,\nHoly their hope without exception,\nBy whom they won the town,\nAnd over more, he asked them also,\nConcerning the goddesses, what they would do,\nWith gold treasure and possessions,\nThat they have won through their high renown,\nAnd they answered without further delay,\nThey would keep their faith in every thing,\nAs they were sworn and hests hold,\nAnd over this, they said how they would,\nThat gold treasure and good of the city,\nAs right requires and also equity.\nBe it justly partitioned, by Disposition,\nTo every one, according to his merit, high and low,\nAnd that the king, also of reason, see\nEach to be rewarded, according to his labor,\nSo that it belongs to a conqueror,\nThat no man has cause to complain,\nAnd so they fill, in speaking of Elaine,\nEach according to his opinion,\nBefore all others, Ajax Thalamon.\nShortly said, she has deserved death,\nFor whom so many have yielded up their breath,\nOpenly affirming, there in Parliament,\nOf righteousness and true judgment,\nShe should not escape, with her life,\nThat gynning was, and the cause of all their strife,\nRoot and ground, of all their sorrow and woe,\nAnd so said also many another.\nAnd for the noise, and the great uproar,\nAgamemnon, nor king Menelaus,\nDared a word, for her party to move,\nTo save the queen, the Greeks would harm them,\nAgainst them, there was so great rumor,\nUntil Ulysses, chiefly, her succor,\nThrough his wit, and his eloquence,\nHis due deed, and his diligence.\nTo save her life and fully purchase, from the Greeks, grace for her,\nAs Guido also teaches us, Agamemnon, the Greeks did require,\nTo grant him, as a chief reward, possession of Cassandra,\nBoth Eneas and Anthenor were told by Helenus,\nThat he would never assent to the war, and that he,\nPrudent and virtuous in counsel, was contrary to all,\nBoth high and low estate in Troy, who first began debate,\nWith the Greeks and this mighty town. By his help and medical skills,\nAchilles was buried and his corpse saved from hounds,\nWhen he was slain in full cruel wise, by night time as you have heard,\nFor truly he and Cassandra both were full of wrath,\nAnd sorry also, of many another thing,\nWrought in the town without their willingness.\nAnd because they were of innocent malice,\nThe Greeks have granted them, by assent, a prerogative.\nBy Parliament, to have their lives,\nBut Elenus, first in tears drowned,\nBefore the king, pitifully he had sworn,\nAnd abrayning, with a deadly face,\nIn humble style, besought him of his grace,\nOf knightly pity, to have his attendance,\nTo spare his sword, from the innocence's blood,\nAnd of mercy, that he not disdain,\nTo grant life, to the two sons,\nOf worthy Ector, his brother most esteemed,\nAnd also to comfort, on their dear mother,\nOnly of grace, that she not be dead,\nA widow left alone, and can no read,\nAnd know not why, whether she may survive,\nAnd so the king, moved in his heart,\nOf his words, and his woeful countenance,\nBenignly granted his prayer,\nAnd gave also life and freedom to,\nThe mother and her two children,\nAnd to ladies and gentlewomen all,\nWho for mercy, to his grace called,\nHe granted also, of compassion,\nA safe conduct, and a free pardon,\nWhere they list, in the town abide,\nOr in the country adjacent beside,\nHe put it all, in their election.\nAnd they thanked him, filling knees down with many a tear, their faces dewed. The king then departed from the place. After that, they quickly prepared to ship and sail towards their country. But such a tempest arose in the sea, of waves and wind, also of black clouds. They dared not take to the water for fear of Neptune's wrath and Glaucus'. The water was salt for them, in every way contrary. On land, they were forced to stay long. The sea was always so fierce and boiling until the Greeks of Clachas inquired, by common consent, what it might be that in one month the sea was so diverse. In his rage, both at eve and morrow, he answered, \"May God give him ill sorrow. This old rogue, with all his prophecy, can lie so well.\" How this tempest came to be, he explained, was due to the gods and infernal fury, who would never appease nor be still until the murder of Achilles was avenged and his blood shed.\nFor whom he said was also mad, Apollo,\nFor his temple, to him consecrate,\nWas through his death, in Troy, violated,\nBy blood, again, satisfaction made,\nWherefore there must, through redemption,\nOf her who was the root, in particular,\nThrough her beauty and original cause,\nOf his death, young Polymnesia,\nAnd beginning first, of his mortal form,\nTherefore to Apollo, she might be offered up,\nBy sacrifice, to please his delight,\nWith death again, to make recompense,\nJust as by death, first, the offense was,\nThese Greeks must utterly fulfill,\nIf they desire, for to have at will,\nThe vast sea, to sail in quiet,\nAnd Pyrus, though in a furious heat,\nBegan to inquire, about every man,\nFor Polymnesia, but no one can tell a word,\nOr briefly where she was,\nSave some said, how Eneas and Anthornor,\nHad hidden her privately,\nWhence arose among them suddenly,\nSuch grumbling among the Greeks about it,\nOf their life, that they were in doubt,\nSo inwardly did this thing affect them.\nTyll Anthenor, a god gave him evil preference,\nTo keep the key as warden, and show out his malice,\nFor so long he had sought, until in an old chamber,\nHe found her and the Greeks told,\nAnd brought her forth to their presence,\nBy cruel force and hateful violence,\nWithout pity or compassion,\nAnd her delivery was to Agamemnon,\nAnd he, alas, by hasty judgment,\nWithout respite or consideration,\nShortly had condemned that she should die,\nWho was flourishing in her maidenhood,\nAnd for this exception,\nShe was assigned by Agamemnon,\nTo Pyrrhus and he of Tyranny,\nLed her forth and quickly began to hurry,\nTo the place where she should die,\nGreat was the applause, that in the way,\nCrowd and shout to behold and see,\nThis young maiden, fair Polyxena.\nFor her beauty and her seemliness,\nHer womanhood and excellent beauty,\nOf all the women, when they heard,\nThey were dismayed that she should die,\nWithout guilt or any more delay,\nWhere men may see, upon many a face.\nThe salt tears quickly fall down,\nOf great pity and compass,\nNo man nor child, so hard of heart\nBut he felt, for her sake, pain,\nHer lovely face, when they beheld and saw,\nAnd willingly would, if it might have been,\nDelivered her, by force at once,\nFrom Pyrrhus's hold, but they thought, each one,\nWithout her death, never to return\nTo Greece, nor the weather fair.\nAs Calchas had suggested,\nAnd brought them all, in open view,\nAnd at last, when this Polymnesia,\nA very pure maiden,\nWas brought to the grave of Achilles,\nShe knelt down, and with a humble thought,\nCast up her eye, and began to see,\nAnd to the goddesses, humbly and softly,\nWith a fearful heart and devotion,\nMade her lamentation.\n\nO all-powerful one, who governs this world,\nAnd every thing, considers and discerns,\nBy whom this world, so vast, large, and round,\nBoth eye and see, heaven and also the ground,\nAt your command, with a word was created,\nAnd swiftly, know every thought.\nRight as it is, revealed to every manner of person, without letting persisting is your sight, that nothing is concealed or hidden from the beholding of your eternal eye. And every thing may atone upon my soul, have mercy and pity, and of your grace and benevolent cure, have some compassion now that I shall die. My sorrowful spirit, to lead and convey, where you please, now that I shall pace, for unto you in this self place I confess, with all humility, that heartward I have remained chaste. I have laid all my life and kept my maidenhead in your service, both in thought and deed, in port in cheer and in countenance, or for feature of any dalliance. With one mislook, I never yet transgressed. So that in truth, I die a maiden. As you well know, of sin all innocent, though I am now condemned to be dead, without guilt at all. Witness you, who are immortal, clean of intent, of that I am accused. And yet alas, I may not be excused.\nBut the sword of vengeance must be ruthless,\nWhich are nothing to write,\nBut stand clear and pure of all offense,\nAnd discharged in my conscience.\nI dare affirm and fully acquit,\nTouching the murder of worthy Achilles,\nWho slew my brother and afterward favored me,\nAnd is now the cause of my adversity.\nAnd yet in will, deed, word, nor thought,\nTo his death, assent was not right,\nBut of that, was truly sorry in my heart,\nAlthough I may not now avenge,\nFor to be dead, only for his sake,\nVengeance shall be taken on me alone,\nWithout mercy, in full cruel way,\nWith my blood, to make sacrifice,\nTo the goddesses, their wrath to quell.\nO people blind, in truth, are you so cruel,\nAgainst me, your heart is so merciless,\nTo Yours and to fell,\nWithout remorse, to a maid alone desolate,\nOut of your heart, alas, pity is gone,\nHarder in truth, than other stock or stone,\nAnd more cruel, in your opinion.\nYou are greatly to blame and ought to have great shame for assenting to such a foul deed, to slay a maid quaking in fear, and granting her no opportunity to weep her virginity. My blood, your guilt, hereafter shall accuse you and also your great envy to the gods that shall justify every unrighteous one, both high and low, equally, and make it known. I say not this nor myself complain to have readers of my fatal pain, for death is now more welcome to me than my life and more I take at ease. My brother, most worthy of renown, be slain and buried in this town. My father died in his unwieldy age, and I alone left in all this rage, and have had to pitifully see final ruin now of this City, which sits sorely at my heart. Rather I die atonement in releases of my woe.\nSyth all my kin is passed and gone,\nIt is longer for me to live,\nFor better is here to yield up the breath,\nThan to be led out of this city,\nAmong strangers to live in poverty.\nO Death welcome, and longer let\nThy dreadful dart fly and wet,\nMy tender heart, with it to rue,\nAgainst thy might, I shall never strive,\nNow is the time to show thy power,\nOn me that am, of will and heart entrust,\nA maiden, so, as I began,\nWithout touch, of any manner of man,\nIn all my life, to this same day,\nThis little aunt, may I yet make may,\nIn my end, to the goddesses all,\nAfter whose help now I cry and call,\nAnd to their mercy, humbly I commend,\nMy woeful spirit, and pray them that they send,\nTo every maid, better happiness and grace,\nThan I have now, and a longer space,\nIn heartfelt joy and honor to continue,\nWithout assault, of any misfortune,\nTo lead their life in prosperity,\nAnd all maidens, remember upon me,\nTo take example, how you shall you keep,\nAnd that you would, a few tears weep.\nWhen you think of Polycene,\nWho was of age and green in years,\nWhen she was slain by cruel adventure,\nAnd to the goddesses for healing,\nI commend my dreadful ghost,\nEternally, and thus I end,\nAnd with this word, she inclined her head,\nFull humbly, when she should find peace,\nAnd from her eyes, she lowered the lids,\nPyrrus then wondered, like a lion,\nHaving dismembered her with his sharp sword,\nThis young maiden, terrified and afraid,\nAnd over more, his cruelty to show,\nOn small pieces, he had her all to hew,\nEndlessly, his father's sepulcher,\nAlas, how might his cruel heart endure,\nMerciless to do such deeds,\nI am astonished, truly, when I read,\nAfter her death, how it went well for him,\nLike a tyrant, to cast her blood abroad,\nOr a tiger, unable to have mercy,\nSurrounded by envy, around his father's grave,\nHe sprayed with hate and cruelty,\nO thou Pyrrus, thou mayest well be,\nAchilles' son, by lineal descent,\nFor like him, in heart and intent.\nThou were in truth the most pitiful, yet worse than he in one respect. In all his living, I never heard of a thing so foul from your father. Though I would, out of hatred, have destroyed him, no resentment he ever caused made me do it. I find it just that he had his part. Once in love with Cupid's dart, it caused him great pain in his life when he was wounded to the heart by the casting of only an eye. Unable to escape the sudden stroke, he was later murdered for the love of Polycene, whom you have slain in your cruel rage. Furyfully, without remorse or shame, for the sake of fair Polycene, the foul, hateful fame will spread throughout the world when this story is recited and read. Then it will be said that Pyrrus, in his anger, slew an innocent maiden, and your name will be most odious. For this deed, passing horrifying.\nThe death of whom,/ when Ecuba the queen\n Had seen, alas,/ as she stood beside,\n For very woe,/ began to wax wild,\n And for sorrow,/ out of her wit she went,\n And rent her clothes,/ and tore her hair,\n In a rage,/ and knew not what she did,\n But began at once,/ with hands and teeth,\n In her Fury,/ barked and bit,\n Threw stones,/ and struck with fists,\n Whom she met,/ till Greeks made her bind,\n And sent her forth,/ also as I find,\n To an Isle,/ to Troy's party,\n Where she was slain,/ only by judgment\n Of the Greeks,/ and stoned to the death,\n And when she had yielded up her breath,\n This woeful queen,/ by cruel adventure,\n The Greeks did make,/ a sepulcher\n Carefully,/ of metal and of stone,\n And took the corpse,/ and buried it anon,\n With great honor,/ and solemnity,\n That long after,/ men might see\n The rich tomb,/ costly and royal,\n There set and made,/ for a memorial\n Of Ecuba,/ once of great fame,\n And after gave,/ to that place a name,\n And called it,/ to be long in mind.\nIn a festive place, in Guydo, I found the queen,\nDeeply grieving, for her daughter had bled,\nFrom Greek stone, her life's end was made,\nAs you have heard plainly, for Polyxena's sake,\nBy Polyxena, to Apollo falsely offered,\nBy Pyrrhus' sword, Achilles avenging,\nTo make the sea calm and soothing,\nSo the gods would not take vengeance,\nUpon the Greeks, who by ill chance,\nCame to this false god, each one,\nAnd their statues, of wood and stone,\nIn which the serpent and the old snake,\nSatan himself began his dwelling,\nAnd deceitfully, people to deceive,\nFully capable, he could include himself,\nIn images, to maintain his hold,\nThat forgiven be, of silver and gold,\nThrough misconception, worthy kind,\nSince ancient times, the false honor of idolatry,\nAnd the worship, unto Mammon,\nBy sacrifice of beasts and blood.\nTo appease them, when they are mad,\nAnd to quench, both at evening and morning,\nI pray to God, give them all sorrow,\nWherever they be, within or without.\nI except none, of the false route.\nSaturnus, nor Mars, Pallas, nor Juno,\nJupiter, Mercurius, nor Pluto,\nNeither Flora, who spreads the flowers,\nNeither Bacchus with white grapes,\nNor Cupid with his blinded eyes,\nNor Daphne, hidden under her laurel,\nThrough Tellus might, of the laurel tree,\nNor you, Diana, with your chastity,\nMighty Venus, nor Cytherea,\nWith your darts, nor Proserpina,\nThat lady art, deep down in hell,\nNor Belides, who draws at the well,\nIxion, nor you, Zephysus,\nNor with your apple, you cruel Tantalus,\nNor the Furies, who are infernal,\nNor you who spin the thread of life fatal,\nUpon the rock, of every manner of man,\nNor the Muses, who so sing can,\nAtween the Coppies, of Nysus and Cyrra,\nUpon the hill, beside Cyrrea,\nNor Cybeles, nor Ceres with thy corn,\nNor Gaulus, of whom the dreadful horn.\nIs it far from you when you wish to blow?\nNor Janus, with his brow low and back bent,\nNor Priapus nor Genius the priest,\nWho always curses with candles in his feast,\nThose who are unkind to nature,\nNor Iymenus, whose power is to bind,\nHearts that are knotted in marriage,\nUntil the goddess of discord and rage,\nDissever them by divine intervention,\nNor Maiares that have their manor,\nMid the earth in darkness and in woe,\nNor these Elves that are wont to go,\nIn undirmeles when Phoebus is most bright,\nNor Faunus in tender green grief,\nWater Nymphs nor this Naiades,\nSatyrs nor Dryades,\nThose gods that are of wood and wilderness,\nNor other gods, more or less,\nAs Morpheus, who is the god of sleep,\nI hold him wood, who takes any care,\nTo do to them any observation,\nHe may not fail, for to have mischance,\nAt the end, plainly for his fee,\nFor all such feigned falseness, out of fear,\nRose of the devil, and first by his engine,\nAnd of his sly tricks, serpentine.\nOnly when mankind made loud noises,\nTo false idols, which without a doubt\nAre but devils. David bears witness,\nIn the sacred place where he writes,\nAnd confirms there, as he ends it,\nHow the gods of pagan rites\nOne and all, he excepts none,\nAre made of gold, silver, and stone,\nForged of brass, of metal and tree,\nAnd even have, yet they cannot see,\nAnd all at the hands of devils,\nAs David says,\nWhoever has faith, hope, or delight\nIn them, it is no fear that they will repay\nWith such a reward as the soul sleeps,\nPerpetually, so that the fine is death,\nOf their service, when men cease to go,\nAnd in their life, unhappiness and evil grace,\nMisfortune and confusion,\nAs men may see, an example by this town,\nWhich believed well, assured to have been,\nAnd to have stood long in prosperity,\nAgainst their foes, through the help of Apollo,\nOf Venus too, and the favor of Juno,\nThrough Pallas' might, Diana and Minerva,\nWhom they were accustomed to honor and serve.\nWith ceremonies and with sacrifice, as you before have heard me devise,\nThose who have brought, now unto ruin,\nBy cruel death, in a bed them to fine.\nHere may you see, how the venom bites,\nAt the end, of such old rites.\nBy evidence, of this noble town,\nWhat avails now, Paladiawn?\nWhat now helps, their frauded fantasy?\nOf all their old false Idolatry,\nAlas, alas, they bought it all too sore,\nNow farewell Troy, farewell forevermore,\nFarewell alas, to cruel was thy fall,\nNo more, now I write,\nFor thy sake, forsooth when I take heed,\nOf inward woe, my heart I feel bleed,\nAnd when that I remember in my thought,\nBy ruin, how thou art brought to naught,\nThat once were, so noble and so rich,\nI believe, in this world, none was like,\nNor peerless to speak of fairness,\nTo speak of knighthood or of worthiness,\nAs clerks say, that thy building knew,\nThat all the world ought for to mourn,\nOn thy pitiful, wild walls.\nWhilst men began to build.\nThy tours begin, and King Priamus,\nThe first, most rich and gloryous,\nSet his seat in noble Ilion,\nO who can write a lamentation,\nConvenient, O Troy, for thy sake,\nThy great misfortune to complain and cry,\nCertes I believe not old Jeremiah,\nThat so wept the capture,\nOf that noble, royal chief, City,\nJerusalem, and its destruction,\nWith all the whole transmigracyon,\nOf the Jews, nor thou Ezekiel,\nThat were at that time, when the misfortune\nFell upon the king, called Sedecalyas,\nIn Babylon, for thy prophecy,\nWith stones were cruelly slain,\nNor he that was, departed with a saw,\nYou both two, that could so complain,\nOr Daniel, that felt such great pain,\nFor the king's transmutation,\nInto a beast, till through Daniel's ordeal,\nHe was restored,\nTo mind again, and eat no more grass.\nYet truly, though you all three,\nWith your weeping, had a life been,\nAnd present also, at the destruction,\nOf this noble, worthy town,\nTo have bemoaned the misfortune and the woe.\nAnd the slaughter at the siege do on other party in full cruel wise. All your tears might not suffice To have bewept their sorrows every one By treason wrought as well as by their sons Hereof no more, for it may not avail But like as he that gynneth for to sail Against the wind when the mast doth heave Right so it were, but in vain to strive Against the face bitterer than gall By the vengeance upon Troy fall Nor to presume their Fury's sharp whette Ceryously in this book I set\nSo great a thing I dare not undertake But even here a pitiful end I make Of the siege, and though my style be blotted with rudeness As of meter be rusty and unfiled The fourth book that I have compiled With humble hand I betake to you Of your mercy, no thing in despair So as I can making my repair To the Greeks, and no longer dwell Their adventures of the sea to tell In their resort home to their country\nAnd yet they received only support, or so you should not despise the fifth book. When Eolus, who governs and rules the storms, was appeased, he blew no more. This mighty Greek goddess, Iuno, lady of the air, made the sky and weather fair, so that no cloud appeared in heaven. Neptune, with a cheerful expression, was of the same mind, the story says, to make the sea calm and smooth without boiling or any wave trouble. The mighty Greeks began to draw their ships toward home after they had taken the city. But Fortune, ever fickle and perverse, opposed their joy with adversity. When they thought they were assured and had stood steadfast in quiet, this false lady, Discord, brought discord among them in the yawing galley.\nAnd their hearts, of rancor and pride,\nConjoinedly, to sever and divide,\nWhen they sat highest in their glory,\nWith the palm of conquest and victory,\nFully rejoicing through their high renown,\nThe crown of laurel in possession,\nAnd had also, at their lust, all won,\nWhen brightest shone the lusty, fresh sun,\nFrom east to west, of their worthiness,\nA cloudy sky, unwarily with darkness,\nEclipsed a party of their light,\nAnd dimmed the healthy, becoming brightness,\nOf their welfare and prosperity,\nBy the envious, false contagion,\nOf the serpent, pompous and elated,\nAmong themselves, to stir up debate,\nInducing in rancor and discord,\nFor or they enter within ships' boards,\nAgainst Vulixes, worthy Thelamon,\nIn presence of king Agamemnon,\nHe purposed openly his matter,\nBefore Greeks, just as you shall hear.\nSires said he, so it you not grieve,\nIt seems to me justly, of reason, I may move,\nTouching you wining and getting of this town,\nWith gold riches and possession.\nFully delivered and taken to our hands, with all the treasure found in the land. This, I believe, among us, by just division or equal distribution, has not been departed half. Considered first, by title of equity, of every man, the estate and dignity. Remembered also, in this sharp shower, the worthiest, the merit, and labor. And certainties, in this mortal strife, are granted to each, like Fortune, as he has deserved. But this order has not been observed among us, without exception. In delivery of Pallas, I say, without fear, before you all, unjustly does he possess. He usurps, by meritory retribution and appearance, his title to ground. Under pretense of color falsely found, he should rejoice in right, by guile won rather than might, and usurps, by manner of a vaunt, as if given to him by grant. Of you each one, for a chief reward.\nBut I will make a reply:\nThis relic is not suitable for him,\nHe shall not rejoice in quiet,\nIf I may disturb him or hinder,\nFor I am repaying a debt,\nAs a reward to me seems convenient,\nSo if you wish to be impartial,\nConsider only reason, as it seems to you,\nBetween us two, equally to judge,\nFirstly, consider this, from day to day,\nWhile the siege lasted,\nYou should have had an abundance of provisions,\nOn neither side, from no misfortune fail,\nAnd if I shall without avail break,\nAs of knighthood and arms to speak,\nIn the field, by long continuance,\nOf manly force and perseverance,\nUpon our feet, which were so fierce and keen,\nDay by day, I was armed clean,\nIt is not necessary to mention,\nWith my right hand, I slew Pylammon,\nAs you well know, who had in his keeping,\nThe young son, of Priamus the king,\nFresh and lusty, and of great beauty,\nAnd with him had infinite riches.\nOf treasure/abundantly present, and every delight/was brought to you by me, if you remember and take heed, that you were quite/free from indigence and need, by occasion/due to that great good fortune, and through my manhood/I did not shed blood, Mercilessly/in full cruelty, for your sake/of the king of Friesland, and the treasure/in his coffers sought, and all elsewhere/to the siege brought, and by my knighthood/since then go forth, Have I not also/increased and made greater, The Greeks land/with possessions, by conquest only/of two regions, Through my prudence/and my labor, since that you/the siege first began, With provinces/adjacent to Troy, To your increase/I was so diligent, And with Achilles/the worthy warrior, You are expert/full well of my labor, What we wrought/to your advantage, And since then you/so prudent and sage, Not forgetful/but fully remembering, It needs not/to rehearse every thing, And to disprove/manfully as a knight, His title and claim/that he has no right.\nThe dome coming to your opportunities,\nBy report of his conditions,\nHe neither has manhood nor prowess,\nForce knighthood, neither hardiness,\nAnd at a point, for reward,\nIn daring did prove a coward,\nExperience has shown you in deed,\nHow that he is, when it comes to need,\nBut word and wind & cunning deceit,\nAnd on falsehood ever imagining,\nFor ever yet, to this day, was proved\nThat anything was by him achieved,\nWhich might be entitled to his praise,\nBut the end, combined, was with fraud,\nFor under color, he can cure all,\nPretend fair, like a painted wall,\nDiverse hewed, that neither high nor low,\nThere may no man discern his plain meaning,\nAnd with such cunning, passed by treason,\nOut of Troy, he got Pallady,\nWhich is great shame and scandal to us all,\nFor of our conquest, it is thus befallen,\nMore of treason, we have the city won,\nThan of knighthood, as men report.\nCrop and root, if I rehearse shall,\nVixes there is ground and cause of all.\nAnd beginning my tale, of this unfortunate fame,\nThat openly is known and understood,\nMy story ends, judge as you please.\nVixis then, in his forewarning,\nConceived has, the great impetuousness,\nOf Thelamon, and the great envy,\nThe fierce resentment and melancholy.\nHe first restrained himself, by full great advice,\nAs one who was, full prudent and wise,\nAnd thought he would, make thereof no jest,\nBy no word for haste, that should escape,\nNor by any unbridled countenance,\nOutwardly concealing, in his regard,\nAnd abating, with a stable face,\n\"Sir,\" he said, \"grant me grace,\nUnder your high presence,\nThat my tale may have audience,\nI neither am, in doubt nor in fear,\nOf equity, that I shall possess,\nPallasion, during my life's day,\nAgainst the might, of whoever says nay,\nFor if you please, to see reason,\nAt the siege laid, first, to this city,\nI have myself, in double respect,\nAs well by knighthood, truly as by wit.\nAnd through my counsel and my best care, I have often been the cause of your discomfort. You have been diligent in your service to me, bringing about your own damage. To this day, had I not been, you would have flourished in your felicity, continued in your force and welfare. If I, the truth, do not spare, if it is demanded and looked for with reason, I was the main cause of your confusion. Whoever replies against it, how often have I gone on embassies? With great cost and dispense, the treaty was always concluding in sentence, to the detriment of your entourage. And when I saw that no others were in my advice and wit, by our force, the city was won from you. While they had relied on it, so subtly was it wrought that Pallasion brought it to you.\n\nThis Thelamon, who stirs up old hatred against my guilt,\nHoly this thing, I have brought about for you,\nBut you who are so prudent in your thoughts.\nAduerteth wisely and make an end, in your hand this quarrel fully takes,\nPallas justly provides, and all favor, let be laid aside,\nSince all this thing ye plainly understand,\nAnd let us both to our judgment stand,\nBy one assent, howsoever the matter ends,\nLo, here is all, my tale is at an end.\nThen Thelamon, in ire full-fervent,\nOf hate made impetuous,\nAnd of envy inwardly moved,\nVulixes has disdainfully reproved,\nOnly of malice and of high disdain,\nAnd Vulixes, rebuking him again,\nFiercely, without delay, struck him down,\nIn the presence of Agamemnon,\nBut Ajax Thelamon,\nFilled with melancholy, pale and unred,\nThreatened Vulixes that he should be dead,\nOf his hands he should it not escape,\nAnd Greeks, though all rancor to remove,\nThis quarrel put in arbitration,\nOf Menelaus and Agamemnon,\nThat caused afterwards a full mortal strife,\nFor by sentence, immediately difference,\nThey put Vulixes in possession,\nPerpetually of Pallas.\nWith his confirmation to abide stable and cause them to be favorable,\nTo Ulixes, like Guido, wrote it,\nWas for that he had so generously paid\nTo Eleanor, at the acquiring of the town,\nBeing in her cause,\nDespaired and in fear for her life,\nThe Greeks willing to have had her dead,\nBut through his prudent and skillful intervention,\nMaugre the might of this Thelamon,\nHe had preserved the queen from death,\nAlthough she had it well deserved,\nAs the Greeks said in their openness,\nAnd thus deceived of Pallas,\nAs you have heard, was this worthy knight,\nFor all his manhood and great might,\nIn his heart there began to grow\nPassing envy and full great hatred,\nAnd he thought he would avenge some day\nUpon Ulixes and Menelaus,\nAnd also upon Agamemnon,\nAnd out he broke, like a wild lion,\nWith his knights about him, they were strong,\nAnd plainly said of this great wrong,\nFor to be dead, he would avenge,\nAnd specifically, on these three,\nFurious and wrathful.\nTurning his back, he goes out immediately. In his heart, he frets with full mortal tension, bearing with many a Greek, his quarrel to sustain, who in his heart began to disdain. Against Ulysses and the other two, they made a call, and with great strength, where they wake or sleep, to keep watchmanly. With full good watch, envious all around the close, but very early or the sun rose. This worthy Ajax, in his bed, arose up. Idomeneus was the same night, and all found bleeding in the morning. Once he was wounded, with many mortal wounds. For this thing, cruel and horrible, loathsome and dreadful, to God and man. Many Greeks, wretched that mournful morning, wept to see a knight so murdered in his sleep. The cry and noise ran through the host, from man to man. And for the constraint of this foul deed, each of them felt his heart bleed. Full desirous to make an ordinance for this murder, for vengeance.\nHaving great suspicion towards Menelaus and Agamemnon. But most specifically towards Ulysses. By common voice, they were accusing him. The foul fame he could not escape. But Pyrrhus took this to heart. Making a vow, furious and mad,\nTo avenge, openly on Thelamon's blood.\nUpon Ulysses head,\nHe swore that he shall be dead.\nSo deeply grieving, Pyrrus' sorrow was,\nBut Ulysses, on a morning,\nOut of fear of Pyrrus, took to the sea\nAnd with his sheep, began to flee.\nBut before he went,\nPallas had taken Diemedes.\nHaving deep remorse,\nAnd Pyrrus had taken Thelamon's corpse.\nFor love, specifically,\nHe made a funeral pyre,\nLarge and great, of cypress hot and red.\nAmidst the fiery glow,\nFull many a Greek stood to behold.\nHe let it burn, into ashes cold.\nAnd in the story, afterwards,\nHe placed them in an urn of gold.\nRespectfully, and afterwards, it shut.\nAnd thereupon he had the prints set of his arms curiously engraved, from all mischief the ashes to save, and sent them home by great affection to be conserved in the region where he was king while he was alive. And every thing was performed in the rites of those days. Pyrrus had ever used himself upon this murder traitorously wrought, and cast it should be full dear about, the pitiful death of this Thelamon, having always heart to Agamemnon, and had also suspicion old Menelaus, that each for other lay in wait. Making themselves strong with their knights, they tried out who had right or wrong. For Pyrrus would not let it lightly go. And thus they were made mortal foe. This same three plainly to the death through false envy, which their hearts slew. And while they were among themselves unfaithful, strife upon strife began every day to renew, and debates to multiply. Until Anthenor espied this thing and by his wisdom ceased all disdain.\nThe reconciled ones were brought back among the peasants and made them accord in all. Afterward, he held a royal feast, humbly begging them all, the Greeks, to grant him gentleness so that it might be outwardly perceived that they were alone. He named this feast \"worthy Greeks all,\" and none, high or low, was excluded. If I were to describe how the lords and estates sat and the great gifts Anthenor gave on every side, it would be too long for you to endure. There was such abundance, and I find they filled the halls. Sitting among them, Eneas spoke of his hate, enmity, and contempt. They put many great offenses upon him, particularly in their hasty temper. Previously, how he had reconciled Polyxena, and by his cunning had caused her to be withdrawn, was the cause of Achilles' slavery. Concluding shortly, his final exile from Troy.\nNat withstanding the grant and liberty given to him to abide in the city, as long as he pleased, but the Greeks have annulled his truce from the lowest to the highest present at this high feast. But doubtless, I cannot well spy\nBy whom was brought this conspiracy in Troy? I find in Trojan books no more, save that he himself wrote it, Anthenor. Like as they had sprung out of one root,\nAnd who he knew, there was none other boot,\nThis Eneas prayed them of their courtesies,\nAt the least to grant him grace,\nFour months that he might have space,\nTo make his stuff and his apparel,\nAnd himself to pursue of victuals.\nAlso to grant him that they would assent,\nThose ships that with Paris went,\nTo Cythera, unto that old temple,\nWhich was in number two and twenty told,\nAnd with full grant of his petition,\nHe is returned home to Troy town.\nTryst and heuy, he saw and beheld\nThe waste city with its old walls,\nAnd for sorrow, felt his heart bleed\nWithin himself, when he took heed\nAnd remembered in his presence\nThe false treason and great offense\nHe had compassed to the town before,\nAnd how the grace of the Greeks\nThat once were of such great estate\nNow in his heart was fully dispired,\nSo unexpectedly, was he so ill-prepared\nTo face the Greeks behind his back,\nBeing unwilling and without lack,\nAnd by whom he could not well determine,\nSave by signs, as it seemed,\nThat Antenor was most for to write,\nAnd plainly cast that he would release him,\nThrough the town he sent word blue,\nFor those few that were left alive,\nComing at once at his commandment,\nAnd when they were all present.\nSyres quoth he, \"behold how fortune\nTurns against me, unstable as the blind eyes\nOf you who now experience it yourself.\"\nWhylom forward/now turned worse,\nThat of clerks/called is reversed,\nWhen her pleasure/her cruelty to show,\nNow it stands so/you be here but a few,\nAnd I must part/and you stay behind,\nBut if it be/that you will provide,\nStanding alone/deprived of all support,\nAmong yourselves/to make a governor,\nI cannot see/but you shall be allied,\nOn every side/and finally destroyed,\nAs silly sheep/that can no read,\nAll dispersed/which am with dread,\nWherefore best is/in this dreadful thing,\nBy one consent/to choose you a king,\nAnd most able/the estate to occupy,\nFrom all assault/manly you to guide,\nIs Anthenor/of knighthood and renown,\nIf it accord/with your openness,\nWherefore in haste/unto this intent,\nWithout delay/let him be sent,\nAnd at his coming/plainly into town,\nUpon his head/let be set a crown,\nGranting to him/scepter and regality,\nBy his wisdom/that he may guide you,\nFrom all assault/of any turbulence,\nBy his knighthood/& prudent government.\nAnd they assent, making no delay.\nThere was never one who liked to say nay,\nBut were right glad in all manner of things,\nAs you have heard, to make him king.\nBut they little understood, truly in their minds,\nOf Aeneas, the meaning beneath,\nFor he meant but treason and falsehood,\nHow at his entrance, that he shall be dead.\nTraitorously, in ambush lying,\nTo slay him falsely, at his coming.\nBut Antenor, of all this, nothing cared,\nDismarmed he came, and no weapon bore.\nAnd Aeneas, with an huge route,\nWith swords drew, set him round about,\nTill they of Troy, both young and old,\nRan between and manfully held him.\nAnd on their knees, they meekly bowed down,\nBeseeching him to have compassion,\nOf worthiness and also of manhood,\nLike a knight, for to take heed,\nHow they were left, but of people bare,\nBeseeching him, his dreadful sword to spare,\nAnd his rancor and his anger leave,\nLest the slaughter, would them all grieve,\nAnd on the common, they besought him mercy.\nQuod Aeneas, is he not untrue?\nIs he not a double traitor and also false,\nWorthy to be hanged by the halest,\nOf all deceit and of fraud well,\nAmong no common, worthy for to dwell,\nHas he not been the chief occasion\nOf your undoing and destruction,\nAnd of this new serpent, which goes,\nUndisclosed, making the Greeks wroth,\nAgainst me, by false collusion,\nAnd my exile, conspired from the town,\nWhich may not be,\nRepelled nor withdrawn,\nBut with my sword, first he shall be a slave,\nThat his falsehood may finally be daunted,\nRight as he has, traitorously, supplanted me,\nThe Greeks' meaning, far from this isle,\nBy his engine, plainly to exile me,\nWhereas I cast, if it might have been,\nBoth in joy and in adversity,\nTo have had my part, whatsoever had fallen,\nDuring my life, here among you all,\nBut he, through whom, all is wrong and curbed,\nOf my desire, has the fine perturbed,\nWhich in my heart, always remains green,\nWas he not cause, also, that Polycles was,\nAt Achilles' grave?\nAnd yet you would still save him.\nBut utterly no man shall gain\nWhoever there against plays\nThat he, whose heart has compiled\nPerpetually, shall now be exiled\nOut of this town, no man let him in\nAnd by assent, they set his time\nWhich he should, for no reason pace\nThis was the fine, he gets no other grace\nThus both false, as brother like to brother\nEach of them has exiled other\nTraitors both, to Troy and the city\nThis Anthenor and with him, Aeneas\nBut Anthenor began, in all haste\nTo take the sea with many Trojans in great apparal\nThe wind was good, and he began to sail\nBy many costs and many various isles\nIt needs not, to rehearse all the miles\nNor the perils plainly which he\nAt great risk escaped in the sea\nI have no joy, therefore, to dwell\nHis adventures, by and by to tell\nBut shortly he, in a little while\nArrived upon a noble Isle\nThat was once called Gorodya\nWhere he built a city, strongly walled.\nAs written, upon a rock, strongly passing by,\nWith environs as my author tells,\nWoods, rivers, and many lusty wells,\nAnd abundance, called was the king, Tethydus,\nWho held in peace his scepter and his crown,\nFortune not wishing to frown upon him,\nBut favoring, granting him his will,\nConserving him in peace and tranquility,\nWithout trouble, many days before,\nTo whom Anthenor was received,\nAnd right welcome, as the story says,\nAnd to him, confederate by faith,\nFully assured, came his legate,\nWhen Tethydus, in all that he could,\nThis worthy king did magnify,\nAnd from Troy, great numbers of his allies came,\nTo visit him and strengthen his mighty city,\nCuriously built of lime and stone,\nIn those days called Menelaus,\nTo whom he did great riches bestow,\nBeside the sea, upon a rock,\nAnd abundant was he with stores.\nOf this traitor, I shall write more,\nWith his name, my pen is so clogged\nBy whose falsehood, Troy was destroyed,\nAs you have read and seen clearly.\nBut must I plainly, resume again,\nAnd recount, do my best to cure,\nHow Cassandra told every adventure\nThat would befall the Greeks,\nAnd how she, among them all,\nWas the wise and virtuous one,\nWho treacherously within his own house,\nAgamemnon would murder.\nThat fatal end, for nothing could he flee.\nLet him beware, and prudently provide,\nFor in his life, he shall not long abide,\nAgainst his fate, there was no other recourse,\nAlso, Guydo write, what Thelamon was dead,\nBy false murder, as you have heard before,\nHe had two sons, born of different wives,\nWho were committed to be kept in custody,\nWith worthy Tentrees, a full manly king,\nWho nourished them, as the story says truly,\nUntil they grew worthy knights, both,\nThe names of them called Antenoricus,\nAnd the other, Antissacus.\nOf shape full and beautifully formed,\nAnd Guido swiftly proceeds, making no further delay,\nBut brings news that Menelaus has taken leave\nOf the Greeks, with Agamemnon,\nEach one setting sail to his region,\nWith many a Greek in their company,\nAnd though the Greeks initially refused,\nAt last, with insistence and pain,\nThey granted leave for both to sail away,\nAnd they hastened to the sea,\nMidwinter of Autumn, which is cold and dry,\nMelancholic of complexion,\nWhen Phoebus has passed the Lion,\nThe heavenly beast, the most royal one,\nAnd half Virgo, the virginal sign,\nWhich, after summer, is naked and bare,\nWhen Ceres has fully ripened every grain,\nThe time of the year, strange and varied,\nAnd diverse flowers, red, white, and persimmon,\nWhich in May were so lusty and glad,\nUpon their stalks began to droop and fade,\nAnd incline, their fresh and lusty faces,\nAt going out of the Canopy of Stars,\nWhen wicked humors abound inwardly.\nWith sudden fire and people to confound,\nTo make them in axes shake,\nAnd of custom, winds to gin wake,\nBoth bough and leaf causing to fall\nOn the time when people do call Bachus,\nFrom storm and rain, their grapes to conserve,\nThat hideous tempest make them not to endure,\nNor any distress of fretting of no frost,\nWhere through frequently much fruit is lost,\nWith moisture that comes from the skies even,\nAnd also with thundering and with leven,\nWhich unwarily with such weather keen,\nBoiling up with many waves green,\nRoaring and rough and froward to manasse,\nAnd passingly perilous by to pass,\nAlthough it be blandishly fair a while,\nThe dreadful calm, though it be smooth and smile,\nThere is no trust that it will long abide,\nRecord on Greeks that such a lusty tide,\nThe sea hath taken and began to sail,\nWith their stuff and their apparel,\nHome into Greece, full many lusty man,\nWith all the gold and treasure, yea they won,\nAt the siege and infinite richesse.\nAnd three days / the sea obeyed their will\nThe sea, obedient / to their every wish\nThree days free / from trouble and ill woes\nLusty and full / within the ship's confines\nFour winds / in agreement\nTo convey us / at every cost\nGladly ever / when men trust most\nTo Fortune / to stand in her grace\nShes often / changes her face\nSmiles before / and turns to wrath\nUnexpectedly / she wreaks havoc\nThis chanteuse / and this stormy queen\nFor when the Greeks / were confidently certain\nIn their passage / fully assured\nUpon the sea / called Egee\nThis false goddess / abandoned them\nBoreas / the fierce wind awoke\nWith his hideous / dreadful noise and roar\nHe turned / all their calmness upside down\nMade the waves / rise gruesomely\nAnd as the tale / shortly describes\nThe bright day / turned into night\nThe heavens dark / except the fearful light\nOf the lightning / which made them shudder in fear\nAnd the thunder / that split sail and mast\nTheir tops split / into small pieces\nAnd into water / made them low and submissive\nAnd fire from lightning / suddenly with it\nWolcanus / forgets himself on his oath\nHas torn the boards / from board to board with flame\nAnd twenty-two / of their ships were burned\nWithout escape / plainly or refuge\nThrough the fury / of this fierce deluge\nFor all to avenge / this wretched wrongdoing\nWhom once with Greek Minerva / was so angry\nBecause they showed her / no reverence\nAnd especially / for the great offense\nThat spitefully / Cyllus Ajax wrought\nWhich in his tempest / he fully brought about\nFor when his ships / were almost sunk\nThis goddess / has so frown upon him\nAnd of vengeance / so cruelly awakened him\nThat he was willing / to swim naked\nAs my Author / relates to you at this land\nAnd there he was / found on the shore\nAlmost dead / without remedy\nTo him Minerva / has such envy\nBecause he so timidly / approached her temple\nAnd Cassandra / took hold of her altar before her.\nIn ancient Greece, there was a worthy king,\nManly and rich, prudent in his reigning,\nAnd he had two worthy sons like him,\nAs Guido writes and says in order,\nRelating the unfortunate event:\nEvery Greek endured it homeward,\nSparing neither high nor low estate,\nSome prosperous, some unfortunate,\nBoth in their woe and in their welfare,\nJust as the story declares.\n\nThe first author goes not unpunished alone,\nBut many others pay for his offense,\nFor every Greek, homeward did they go,\nTo give an example without presumption,\nFoolishly trying to atone,\nYet God, who is bold, will repent sooner,\nAnd many a man who means no harm suffers vengeance,\nFor one transgression.\n\nWhoever offends against high despight,\nI doubt not he shall fail in grace,\nAt the last, God will repay his debt,\nAnd reward him as he deserves,\nFor such a reason, many Greeks now scatter,\nBecause only for such occasion,\nTo give an example without presumption,\nFoolishly to atone, as I have told,\nFor again, God, who is bold,\nShall repent sooner than he thinks,\nAnd many a man who means no harm endures,\nSuffers vengeance for a transgression.\n\nThe first author goes not unpunished alone,\nBut many other offenses abide,\nFor truly, Guido writes and says,\nThe woeful adventure of the Greeks,\nThat every Greek, homeward did they go,\nSparing neither high nor low estate,\nHow some prospered and some were unfortunate,\nBoth in their woe and in their welfare.\n\nIn ancient Greece, there was a worthy king,\nManly and rich, prudent in his reigning,\nAnd he had two worthy sons like him.\nPallamides and Oetes, two brothers of one mother, were noted in the story. Pallamides was a noble knight, renowned for power and might, and highly esteemed among the Greeks for his wisdom, who once governed them. But alas, he was slain in battle through the unhappiness of Mars' cruelty, when the sun shone bright and clear. The story bears witness to his knighthood and worthiness, and plainly speaks of his death.\n\nHowever, Malus, filled with hatred and envy towards such as have unfortunate tongues, instigated a high treason against him, a false and unfaithful act. In truth, this treason was never done nor even conceived, but a mere figment of malice. This king, so manly, wise, and prudent, Pallamides, was unwarrantedly envied by Malus.\nAt the siege of Troy, upon a night, falsely murdered was he,\nThis slaughter and this loathsome deed were fully wrought, as you have heard devise,\nWhich every heart ought to abhor, this falsehood that this tale has feigned,\nTo King Nausus, treacherously played a part,\nAlthough in truth it was never intended,\nThat Greeks were, also in agreement,\nTo this murder and conspiracy,\nBoth Menelaus and Agamemnon,\nAlthough in truth, every one who was hanged by the half,\nCould forge and contrive such tales,\nTo make friends causeless to strive,\nFor they, through fraud and false collusion,\nKing Nausus, put in suspicion,\nThat Greeks had conspired doubtlessly,\nUpon the murder of Palamedes,\nMaking their great council, which they feigned,\nThat from Troy, were sent letters twice,\nTo Palamedes, immediately directed,\nWhich concluded treason in effect,\nHow that he, for all his high estate,\nFalsely allied and confederate,\nTo them of Troy, for a sum of gold,\nAll this they have feigned and told.\nAnd he had received, from the city, a large quantity,\nTo fine only Greeks, to betray and prolong,\nAt the siege, in getting of the town,\nBy his engine and medical skills, and to confirm,\nAll this in sentence, to make Naulus give full credence,\nThey said plainly, in conclusion,\nThe letters which were sent from the town\nWere found enclosed in a shield,\nOn a knight slain in the field,\nComprehending the entire treachery and confederacy,\nBetween the town and Palamydes,\nVery truly, though they were guiltless,\nAnd to give more open evidence,\nTo make a preface of this great offense,\nThey said Vlixes had agreed,\nWith a chamberlain,\nWho was in office with Palamydes,\nWonderfully secret and nothing reckless,\nTo assent to this conspiracy,\nWrongfully compassed, of burning with hot envy,\nBehoving him, a reward and great payment,\nLike his desire, to execute in deed,\nTo take a treasure and a sum of gold.\nFull secretly and knit it in a hide\nAnd hid it when voided was the press\nUnder the bed of Palamedes\nAnd more to put Greeks in surety\nThe treasure was the same in quantity\nThat it might not after be denied\nLike as the letters had specified.\nAnd when all this was found and knew\nThroughout the host noised and yelled\nBoth of the letters and the gold also\nFrom point to point according to both\nWhich this king, assenting to treasure,\nHad received from Troy town,\nTo be assented to as you have heard me tell\nThe Greeks, though, no longer would dwell\nBut shipped them forth all of one intent\nAnd in all haste came unto the tent\nOf this king, full innocent and clean\nWho little knew what they meant\nBut upon him, full knightly as he stood\nIn their ire, furyously and wode,\nTo be avenged, loudly began to cry,\nThere may no man their malice modify,\nThey were on him so merciless at all,\nKing Menelaus and Agamemnon.\nOnly I would have proceeded to judgment\nOf hasty rancor without aid\nNot withstanding, all his high degree\nBut in submission, when this worthy king\nConceived has, this Malyces in working\nFirst astoned, in his inward sight\nAll suddenly, started up like a knight\nThis wise worthy, this Palamides\nHardy as a lion, among all the press\nNothing agitated, him knightly began to express\nAnd plainly said, he would not refuse\nTo acquit himself of this horrible deed\nNot excepting, that he was so worthy\nOf birth and blood, and of high kin\nAll this devotion of knighthood and might\nAs he that gave, of life nor death no fors\nBefore them all, to Jupiter his corpse\nWithin a field, where they list ordeal\nLike as a knight, this quarrel to dare\nWith whom that lists, or dares it undertake\nExcepting, him liked none to make\nOf high or low, who that were so bold\nTo prove the reason, that I have told.\nBut they had falsely completed this thing of his answer,\nAnd each one in the host was stoned, not one\nWho dared, if I don't feign, to dare engage\nIn this quarrel close, neither Ulysses nor Diomedes,\nChief workers of this foul deed.\nBut Ulysses, as he was customarily deceitful\nIn everything, double in his work and full of deceit,\nLike a serpent that lies in wait\nWhich under flowers can so glide and trace,\nRight so Ulysses, with a feigned face,\nWhen he saw the knightly high prowess,\nThe manly cheer and the hardiness,\nAnd the renown of Palamedes.\nAn immediate falsehood put him in pressure,\nAnd like a friend who meant not but well,\nBrotelus, like glass, pretending outwardly to steal,\nWith one of the first began him to excuse,\nThem counseling no longer to ponder\nThis matter, for their elder ease.\nAnd by craft they appeased the rumor of this high treason, removing all suspicion from their hearts, concluding in a truce. This accusation was in vain, and conspired only out of hatred. Although he himself was the root of all this deed.\n\nBut when he saw he could not achieve his goal, as you have heard, this worthy king was moved to lay some spot of treason upon him. He had found another way, by the full consent of Diomede, under the pretense of friendlyhood. Coming to him again on a certain night, under the guise of a trusted knight, he counseled him to keep either for sweet or sour, informing him of a great treasure of gold and infinite riches. Discovered and hidden in a well low in a field, a little way off. Which he desired not to hide from him, but to trustfully disclose. So he would do his best to cure the matter that night with him.\nThey three and no more,\nTo fetch away that great sum of gold,\nAnd he, in truth, who understood not\nWhat they meant, assented at once,\nAnd so they three together went\nTo the well, as I have told,\nAnd for that he was manly and bold,\nPalamides, like they tell,\nDescended low, supposing to find a treasure,\nBut they alas, falsely to confound,\nHad murdered him with stones great and huge,\nHe in the bottom having no refuge,\nAnd who they had, had accomplished their intent,\nThey returned each to his Tent.\nThis tale, the story tells us,\nThat feigned was to King Nauplius,\nTouching the death of Palamides,\nTo discredit those who were guiltless,\nFor Ulysses and Diomedes,\nWere innocent, plainly as I read,\nAnd Greeks all, both nearby and far,\nFor he was slain, knightly in the war,\nDuring the siege of Troy with an arrow.\nBut who is false, find a tale,\nThat never yet was thought.\nAnd of the treason that should have been wrought touching the letters sent out of the town, there was no such conspiracy by Greeks wrought but a false and unsound fable, feigned to make Nausicus angry with Ulysses and Diomedes, Agamemnon and other Greeks more, to let them homeward in their way and hindrer also. And as they reappear to their regions, Nausicus and they, by this occasion, and Oetes his son, a manly man, agreed by one assent to avenge mercilessly the cruel murder of Palamedes and to ordain, at their home passage, to work fully into their damage. For Greeks must homeward sail by necessity. Wherefore this king has devised a ruse on him. In winter season, every night, he makes fires and sets up light to cause them on the sea to err. For as Greeks saw the fire afar, unaware of harm, they cast themselves to land. As they who could, no peril understood.\nBut they should come with all their might\nTo arrive quickly by the light\nTwo hundred of their ships broke\nAmong rocks and were completely destroyed\nMany worthy men were drowned\nAnd thus the vengeance began first\nKing Nausus has taken vengeance\nOf deadly hate for his sons' sake\nGreat misfortune and confusion\nFor nearly all Greeks but Agamemnon\nWith great peril, death was escaped\nHe had almost been among them captured\nFor earls, dukes, and worthy kings were crowned\nThrough this train, in the sea were drowned\nBut Menelaus and also Diomedes\nEscaped this misfortune as I read\nAnd when they were all danger gone\nThis Oetes kindled a fire in one\nIn his heart, he planned another scheme\nAnd thought he would deceive Agamemnon\nBy instigating a full mortal strife\nLet a letter be sent at once\nTo the wife of this mighty Agamemnon\nIn which there was included false treason\nIndeed, as I truly say, they did this.\nFirstly, King Agamemnon had done a wondrous thing at the siege, bringing disgrace and scandal to his queen's reputation, despite her having no fault. He loved a daughter of King Priam and took her as his wife, but eventually forsook her. This queen, once of great fame, was named Clemestra. She was beautiful and royal in descent, possessing all the excellence one could ask for, yet she had never done any offense. Nevertheless, Agamemnon, driven by newfound jealousy, took another wife, the letters conveying his intentions. Clemestra was both good and fair, but suddenly she was exiled from his land, thousands of miles away. He warned her to be prudent. This was the substance of the letter that Oetes wrote to the queen. Despite Agamemnon's innocence and cleanliness, he took another wife.\nAnd was to her, in all his living,\nLoving and true, in every way,\nAnd her to please, passing kindly,\nIn word and deed, throughout his life,\nAs far as anything, of reason desired,\nBut the letters, falsely conspired,\nThey had her put, part of Innocence,\nTo give, to hasty credence,\nThanking first Oetes, for his truth,\nWho so willingly, desired to have pleasure,\nUpon her wrong, of high compassion,\nAnd yet the story makes mention,\nHereafterward, as I shall describe,\nThat she was, the falsest one alive,\nTo her lord, and in his long absence,\nAnd in all haste, she made strong efforts,\nAgainst this thing, and began to pursue,\nBy such deceit, that she did not die,\nBut of her work, in truth, she was to write,\nWhich, alas, I must now conclude,\nAs the story plainly teaches me,\nA sorrowful tale, and mortal to hear.\nUncertain trust, of all worldly glory,\nSuddenly changed, put out of memory,\nO joy, unstable, of vain ambition.\nWith unwaring tower turn around and reverse up so down\nO idol fame, blow up to the sky\nOverwhelming, with twinkling of an eye,\nOpulent, with pomp, of triumph and victory,\nLike a shadow, waste and transitory,\nO Fortune, false and unassured,\nThat to no man was ever fully lured,\nTo high or low, of no manner of estate,\nWith bond of faith, to be conferate,\nAgainst whose might, no man may withstand,\nBut at his turn, that he shall descend,\nWhen he sits highest on thine unstable wheel,\nThy brotherly favor, forged not of steel,\nMint and allayed with mutability,\nFor welfare and false felicity,\nWith sudden sweetness, froward you canst allure,\nNow fresh of cheer, now for anger pale,\nOf high disdain, thou sparest no degree,\nFor Princes, Dukes, highest in their see,\nMighty kings and worthy Emperors,\nRichest reign in their royal flowers,\nWith scepter and crown, you can pull down\nI take witness, of Agamemnon,\nWho was so noble and mighty in his life,\nAs various Authors, his high renown describes.\nBut swiftly, despite his excellence,\nHe could not make a difference\nWith all the kings that his banner showed\nConspired murder to void and eschew\nRescue was none that he could make\nFor which, alas, my pen quakes and blots\nThat doth my ink blot on my book\nO mighty god, with thine inward look\nSeest every thing through thy eternal might\nWhy wilt thou not, of equity and right,\nPunish and chastise, so horrible a thing\nAnd specifically, the murder of a king\nAlas, the pain of Ixion in hell\nOr of Manes that with Satan dwells\nWere not equal nor sufficient\nTo avenge murder nor sufficient\nFor it exceeds, in comparison,\nAll felony, falsehood, and treason\nWherefore, O lord, that seest and knowest all\nThrough thy power that is eternal\nSuffer not such to live upon thee ground\nWorse than Tyger or Cerberus the hound\nThat lies chained, bound at hell's gate\nWhich of malice plainly thinks and hates\nHe barks first or does offense\nBut murder gladly is wrought in silence.\nOr men adversely/or take any keep,\nA prince/to slay him in his sleep,\nOn his pillow/when he sleeps softly,\nThat cries wretch/to high god a loft,\nAnd asks vengeance/to take as fast,\nThough it abides/it will out at the last,\nA king/spoken of so far,\nWho was so worthy/outward in the war,\nHis cruel fate/passing odious,\nDisposed has/in his own house,\nHis mortal end/to be executed,\nAgainst which/there was no refute,\nFor right as he/his ship to land sets,\nThe queen Clemestra/on the shore met,\nWith humble cheer/and looks full benign,\nAnd showed out/full many faithful signs,\nOf wifely truth/in her countenance,\nAlthough in her heart/there was variance,\nNot perceived/plainly in her face,\nWhom the king goodly did embrace,\nAs he in truth/that but truth meant,\nAnd to his palace/the high way he went,\nNot adversely/the treason that was shaped,\nWhich alas/he might not escape,\nOf the falsehood/he could no thing feel,\nBut I may not/no longer it conceal.\nAgain, her lord, how Clemestra worked\nFor her bond, of wedlock she neither thought\nThe true look, truly, of spousal fidelity\nAgainst her malice, little could avail\nTo her lord, she pledged to preserve\nNewfangleness, causing it to spread\nHer old faith and her assurance\nHer love remained on a fickle chance\nLong absence had her heart appalled\nShe loved one, named Egistus\nWho before all, in her grace stood\nNot of birth nor blood\nLittle or nothing of reputation\nNor renowned of manhood nor renowned\nNor of knighthood nor of high prowess\nBut for his labor and his diligence\nAnd good wit upon her by night\nTherefore he was best, advanced in her sight\nSuch fear she had, to live alone\nSorrows, she could well endure\nI cannot say, what life they led\nExcept that she by him bore a daughter\nAnd Exyona, Guydo says her name was\nTo him, Clemestra vowed\nAssuring him, upon pain of her head\nHe should reign, when her lord was dead\nAnd to enhance this conclusion,\nKing Agamemnon, their worthy lord,\nWas murdered the next night most treacherously,\nBy false Egistus and the queen most willing,\nNo longer could the story be taught,\nBut in all haste, they were wedded elsewhere,\nAnd by her false and cunning schemes,\nShe made him crowned king of Messene,\nAnd placed him fully in possession.\nAlas, that sin has dominion,\nTo further wrong and abate right,\nFor in this world, falseness has more might\nThan righteousness full often,\nAnd in the state and condition of worthiness,\nSee how the sin of adultery\nBrought in murder through conspiracy,\nSin upon sin linked together,\nAnd embraced in the chains of the devil,\nPerpetually to endure in hell.\nAlas, who can himself fully assure,\nFrom cruel murder, his body to withdraw,\nWhen kings themselves are in slavery,\nBringing in alienation,\nBy extorting title, false succession,\nThere may be a color of pretense seem,\nBut strictly, God will after judge.\nAnd justly avenge with due recompense\nIntrusions brought in by violence,\nAnd fully quit such horrible things,\nAnd suddenly slaughter, especially of kings,\nGreatly to be feared in every region,\nAnd as I find, Agamemnon\nBy Clytemnestra, the false queen,\nHad a son, passing fair to see,\nRight gracious in every man's sight,\nAnd Hector, the book says, was his name,\nWonderfully handsome and but young of age,\nAnd for great fear of this mortal rage,\nDesired he be slain, as it was to be feared,\nTo annul his title, that he not succeed,\nHim to preserve, that he be not harmed,\nKing Taltybus, with power, has sent him\nFull secretly out of that country,\nTo a king called Idume,\nWho held his scepter and royal seat\nMightily in the land of Crete,\nAnd Clytemnestra, named was the queen,\nWho had a daughter, also named Clymene,\nBorn to be heir of that region,\nAnd as it is made, also Mencius,\nThis Hector, to remember all things,\nWas with the queen and also with the king.\nThe story is as well-known as Clymen's own daughter, Cherrysshed. She was kept and cherished, point to point, like him, with suitable attendance and due care to his estate. Those skilled and wise governed him until he came of age, to rejoice if God granted him his heritage by clear descent. I leave him under such governance.\n\nNow, from this matter, I will tell of Diomede's adventures in Gydo as I have read. His woeful fate and painful suffering, which he could not alleviate. As it is clearly recorded in writing:\n\nOres, son of the rich king Nauplius, was called such deep sorrow in his heart. Towards the Greeks, he bore a desire to return home from Troy. His lust and inner joy hindered both high and low. And it is not unknown to you why.\nIn Greece, a kingdom wide and large,\nConquered in one, Calydonia and Arg\u00e9,\nAbundant in riches and rent,\nOf which the king was called Pollente,\nA worthy man and of noble fame,\nHe had a son, Assandrus was his name,\nAnd a daughter, Egra, passing fair of sight,\nAnd truly, for her father,\nLike as writ Guydo named,\nHad but these children two,\nFor them he had provided, out of wisdom,\nThis mighty reign, to be divided,\nBetween them two, for each to live in peace,\nTo exclude them from indigence or need.\nAnd she was wife to Diomede, though before the story of him was told, he once loved Cryseis. I cannot say where it was duplicity, but Guido bears witness, and in his book, he sincerely says no other. And how Aeneas, his own wife's brother,\nFull lusty, fresh, and full of manliness,\nTo Troy went with this Diomede.\nBut in the sea, they were driven down by a tempest.\nThey rose up in the region\nCalled Boeotia, all disconsolate.\nWith the tempest driving them, weary and in want,\nThey sought refuge there, and for no other reason.\nIn whose realm was Thelepus king,\nWhose rule heard he speak:\nIn his heart, he had high disdain\nThat they were bold to do such great offense,\nTo enter his land without permission.\nAnd yet truly, they did no harm\nTo high or low, of any age.\nNor did Nortos hinder them.\nTo that land, they paid justly at the end,\nFor flesh and fish, and for bread and wine.\nYet for all that, out of indignation,\nKing Thelephus descended with great army to harm them if he could. They began to bicker and to fight. And Sandrus, full of high prowess, like a lion, his form oppressed them. He fought most nobly in the field and slew many worthy men of high courage and manly pride that day. When the king, who stood aside, saw his men slain on every side, he took a javelin at once and cast it at him. Alas, the fatal blow struck him through mail and plate of Sandrus, and he fell dead. The soil around him was stained red with his blood. His deadly wound began to bleed. And Woodus, like a knight, came to avenge him. He slew and killed and put them to flight. After that, such sorrow took hold of knightly rout, for his brothers' sake, that he did not know what to do. But as I find, he saved the best and the worst from the dead corps. Like his estate, he allowed a grave to be made.\nAnd buried him after old rites\nBut Oetes told his sister that he was killed by Dionede's deceit\nTo fine the reign of Argive, whole and free from strife,\nWith the appurtenances annexed to his wife.\nFor by his death, he might season take and told her also,\nThat she was forsaken for all her womanhood,\nOf her lord, called Dionede.\nAll this he told in hell, him being chained,\nAnd moreover, he forged and feigned,\nHow Ajax lost his life through envy,\nAnd how her lord had taken another wife,\nWho was to her dishonor and shame,\nBringing her great scandal to her name,\nIn prejudice of her estate,\nAll this he told to instigate debate,\nJust as he wrote in conclusion,\nTo Clytemnestra, of Agamemnon.\nWhich moved her heart deeply,\nFor he put her fully in belief,\nOf all the treason you have heard me tell,\nThat for your sake, she grew pale and cold,\nUnkindness, so her heart died,\nAnd heaviness of her brother.\nFor never yet, Gyas does assure.\nNo woman loved a creature better than she loved him, in no manner of age. For first, she set her heritage in comparison to her brothers' life. Look how Oetes made a new strife, as you have heard in the story told. The guiltless, worthy Diomede, when he had long lain at the siege, and to his kingdom wanted to come again, By my mighty hand, this worthy queen and her lords gave consent. He was exiled from that region. There may be no remedy. Thus, in him, mate and despised, Disconsolate, he is again repaired To Salerne, a land of great riches. There Tiberius, through his worthiness, had reigned long with his lords and his strong knights. And Apax Thelamon, his brother, was murdered, as is mentioned. And Diomede, poor and destitute, may find no refuge. For when Tiberius first began to espie him, He sowed him, by full great envy, Having to him always suspicion, Touching the death of King Thelamon.\nBut Dyomede, in secret, had taken flight one night from Salerne, and hastily began to climb, hoping to find better remedy or help in some other place if Fortune granted him grace. Ashamed and confused, he wandered to and fro, unsure of what to do. But I find the Trojan Aeneas, who had remained at Troy all this time, surrounded and besieged, supporting those left in the town, living in constant doubt about their lives and their fate, surrounded by enemies and in constant fear, knowing no escape or comfort in this situation. Until by the counsel of this Aeneas, they sent in haste for Dyomede, knowing full well his desperation and his proscription from his region, they begged him, in his humanity and in their distress, to hasten without delay.\nWith all that he gained and soldiers also, every man without abode, he led them to Troy to support them in this great need. And Diomede came and stayed not long at their request, as he was besought, to relieve them in this harsh shower. And with him he brought many soldiers. And Aeneas on the way met him in a friendly way and welcomed him into the town. And he made him passing great cheer there. And they began to recount their adventures, both of land and sea, entertainingly with great adversity. That no man may depart nor avoid but take his part as it is due. As fate or chance leads, his bridegroom guides him. And in this story, shortly to proceed, the Celenians, almost destroyed, with their allies from the adjacent isles, besieged them, but through the manhood and the high renown of Diomede and his soldiers, and other noble knights, they were rescued and helped utterly. They fought for four days in succession.\nIn knightly wise, defending the Citadel and through the prowess of Aeneas, they slew and took all who opposed them. In distinction of Trojan blood, such as they found to be false to the city, they hung up high by the neck and punished them for their great wrong. Dionedes grew strong in this manner, as is well known, becoming the chief protector of Troy's town. No enemy dared to remain within a large distance but had to seek his grace. To this licentious behavior, he made them shout, and thus his name spread about. His fame, the great opposition, was extended to the region. By swift report, he reached Calydon and Argus. The queen was greatly alarmed when she heard of this, and her power and might began to fear. He desired to win her land and begin a new war of knighthood. Secretly, he pondered this matter. Her lord and mighty king, late exiled and put to flight, had found grace in Fortune's sight.\nAnd is remounted to such a high estate,\nWhereof she was in checkmate,\nAnd ways cast, as she who was prudent,\nBy the whole advice of her Parliament,\nWithout grumbling or rebellion,\nHim to recall, to his region,\nAnd thereupon, to him lowly sent,\nAnd with letters, the messenger forth went,\nThe cause annulling, by which he was exiled,\nAnd how he was fully reconciled,\nBy the whole assent of his lords all,\nAnd full lowly, each one they called,\nFor their offense and of their trespass,\nWithout rigor, for to do them grace,\nAnd he anon, like a manly knight,\nMore of mercy, truly than of right,\nWhen he has, their son well conceived,\nAnd their meaning fully apparent,\nTo stop all strife, thought for the best,\nIn goodly wise, to grant their request,\nAnd to his reign, within a certain day,\nHe is repaired, in full rich array,\nOf whose coming, full glad his lords be,\nAnd reconciled, both he and the queen,\nAnd all rancor, of any old offense,\nOnly of wisdom, they put in suspension.\nAnd of one heart they led a blissful life in Troy, I recount no more of him. But let him live in felicity, returning to tell of Aeneas After he had spent his time, which was from Troy with many Trojans. His ships were filled, he and his men Sailed forth by many strange seas Many dangers and narrow passages Before he arrived in Carthage, Leading with him his father Anchises And by the way I find that he lost His wife Creusa By fatal chance But all the woe that he endured He who is eager to see it should know How he deceived the queen I mean Dido, Of womanhood's flower,\nWho gave to him her riches and treasure,\nJewels and gold, & all that might please him,\nAnd every thing that might ease him,\nBut for all that, how unkind he was\nRead Eneidus, and there you shall find it,\nAnd how he falsely seduced\nBy night time, while she lay in bed,\nAnd of his conquest also in Italy,\nWhere he had many strong battles.\nHis adventures and his works all,\nAnd of the fine that is to him fall,\nYou may all see, by full sovereign style,\nCompiled from point to point in verse,\nWritten and made, since then go forth,\nFor Trojus book speaks of him no more,\nBut proceeds, as I shall recite,\nHow Hector cast himself to quit\nHis father's death, plainly and not spare,\nIf you list here, as Guido shall declare.\n\nIt is required, of equity and right,\nOf that judge, who is most mighty,\nAnd equally holds his balance,\nOn death conspired, for to take vengeance,\nThe voice of blood does so ever continue,\nTo cry wretch, with importunate clamor,\nUpon them in truth, who unjustly shed,\nFor murder wrought, will have his equal reward,\nAnd his guerdon, as he has deserved,\nThey may not flee, the judgment reserved,\nOf him that sits, highest in his throne,\nAnd all beholds, by himself alone,\nFull rightfully, the noble mighty king,\nFor though he suffer, he forgets nothing,\nBut all considers, in his inspection,\nAnd for the murder, of Agamemnon.\nThe mighty lord, who is most sovereign God,\nMade his minister, of the same blood,\nYoung Horestes, full of high prowess,\nTo execute his decree, of right wisdom,\nAnd gave to him grace, power and might,\nHe at once took the order of a knight,\nWhen he was, four and twenty winters old,\nFresh and lusty, and wonderfully prudent,\nAnd in wardely, desireous of intent,\nIf Fortune would not hinder,\nHis heritage, to recover again,\nWhich Egistus falsely denies,\nAnd the crown, in unjustly occupies,\nBy false title, of her that was his wife,\nBut Horestes will Iupparis his life,\nAnd adventure, while he lasts, breathes,\nFirstly, to be avenged, on his father's death,\nUpon them too, who the treason wrought,\nAnd first and foremost, he humbly beseeches,\nKing Idumee, of his goodness,\nTo further him, in this great need,\nAnd the king, benignly, at once,\nHas assigned, to go with him,\nA thousand knights, manly and right strong,\nTo redress, the great horrible wrong,\nOf Egistus, wrought by violence.\nAnd by his wisdom and diligence, This Hippolytes began to pursue\nHim within a while, there is no more to say,\nHe had gained, the store would not lie,\nAnother thousand, to his company,\nOf worthy knights, all of one accord,\nTo go with him, as what they were their sovereign lord,\nIn every thing, his bidding to obey,\nAs you have heard, Egistus waged war,\nAnd thus Hippolytes, in full rich array,\nBegan to host, and made no delay,\nAnd his lodging, firstly, began to choose,\nIn a city, that was called Troyes,\nReceived there, with great reverence,\nOf the king, who was named Frances,\nA manly knight, as books specify,\nAnd bore in his heart, passing great envy,\nTowards Egistus, by double occasion,\nFirstly, for the death, of Agamemnon,\nAnd also, because,\nHe had a daughter dear,\nThat was to him, in wardly enter,\nBoth good and fair, & but young of age,\nThat once upon a time, was given in marriage\nTo Egistus, but he, of doubtfulness,\nOf false treason, and newfangledness,\nThe king's daughter, has utterly forsaken.\nAnd in all haste he made a label,\nForged a writ of rejection,\nAlthough he had no true reason,\nThis Egistus, who left her,\nExcept that he falsely took to wife,\nQueen Clemestra, against all right and law,\nWhen by consent they murdered and enslaved,\nA gameton, as before is told,\nWho once was so mighty and bold,\nAnd for the hateful, false conspiracy,\nBoth of murder and adultery,\nTo avenge both by due retribution,\nThe worthy knight, my mighty king Theseus,\nOffered Hercules to make him strong,\nAnd went with him to help avenge his wrong,\nAnd with him he led four hundred knights,\nWell-mounted and brightly armed,\nTaking the field with a manly cheer,\nAnd so Hercules and the king rode forth,\nWith many valiant men.\n\nBut Hercules, before this war began,\nWhen bright Phoebus shone in the morn,\nHe went to the temple, humbly,\nAnd to the gods did make his sacrifice,\nIn hope of fairer fortune.\nWhere he was bound for life or death to spare,\nWithout mercy or remission,\nThe death to avenge of Agamemnon,\nOn Clytemnestra, who was most to know,\nAnd that he first make his sword to bite,\nOn his mother with his hands twain,\nAnd over more to do his utmost pain,\nWithout pity and no mercy show,\nOn small pieces till she be to hew,\nAnd dismember a joint from joint,\nAnd also that he forget not a point,\nJustly to punish by rigor and by right,\nOrestes also, the false unfaithful knight,\nAnd that he be not slow nor negligent,\nTo execute the goddesses' commandment,\nAnd then Horace with his knights all,\nAnd Theseus, the mighty king also,\nOf one heart be to the siege go,\nOf the city that was called Methene,\nWithin which was the false queen,\nClytemnestra, God give her harsh grace,\nAnd when Horace has the place,\nWith his knights, set it round about,\nFalse Orestes was Iris out.\nTo gather men and to be a wreck,\nAnd fall upon and the siege break.\nIf he could, and with great strength, he rode,\nTaking up men from every coast,\nUntil he had made a full mighty host.\nBut Horeses, who at the siege lay,\nHis governance spied out day by day,\nAnd sent out men, as one who was wise,\nTo stop ways and let his passage.\nAnd made knights, a full huge route,\nTo pursue him every cost about,\nAnd of the siege, men fully began,\nBy assault, he had the town won,\nAnd entered in on a night full late,\nAnd set wards strong at every gate,\nAnd in a dungeon, most strong and principal,\nThat was of building, mighty and royal,\nThis Horeses first found, his mother,\nThe queen Clemestra, lady of that land,\nWho, for fear, sore began to quake,\nBut mercilessly he made her take,\nAnd put in chains till the next morrow.\nEgistus, give him evil sorrow,\nWith all the stuff he might accrue,\nToward the town, fast he began to approach,\nIn purpose full, Horeses, to grieve,\nAnd them within, suddenly to relieve.\nBut all in truth, he couldn't avoid\nFor or that the city couldn't withstand\nHippocetes' knights unexpectedly met him\nAnd all at once, proudly set themselves against him\nFirst, he slew his men and put them to flight\nAnd took him, despite all his might\nAnd with chains, like how they found him\nMercilessly, they bound him fast\nAnd shut him up, fettered in prison\nAnd all false, found in the town\nThose who were in agreement, winning or helping\nIn the murder, of the worthy king\nGreat workers and conspirators\nRising against their lord, acting as traitors\nWere taken and bound by force\nThe same night, and shut up in a tower\nUntil the morrow, as the lot may draw\nEach of them under the law,\nLike his deserving, exception was none\nAnd when the night, passed was and gone\nAnd Phoebus rose eastward in his sphere\nAnd on the towers, shone bright and clear\n\nWhen Clytemnestra,\nBrought forth, quaking in fear,\nWas set before Hippocetes,\nTo judgment fettered.\nHe with a sharp and keen sword\nLike the goddesses had commanded him before,\nHe cut her small pieces,\nAnd carried her out of the towns boundaries,\nTo be viewed by beasts and hounds.\nPity was none in his breast reserved,\nBut he quartered her fully, as she had deserved,\nFrom point to point, and forgot nothing.\nThen Christhus was brought forth,\nAnd justly taken by the law's rigor,\nOn an hurdle, naked to be drawn,\nThrough the town, that all might see,\nAnd after, hung high on a tree,\nTo rot and dry again against the sun.\nLo how murder,\nHas won its reward.\nLo how falsehood,\nCan awaken its master.\nAnd all the traitors in the town,\nWere hanged on gibbets, honored each one,\nTill they were severed, a bone from bone.\nThey on a hill, again against the stars' shine,\nThus the town was purged from treason, clean.\nAnd with truth, augmented and honored,\nAnd to his reign, Horestes was fully restored.\nAs the story tells, it shall explain.\nAnd when he took his crown,\nAnd when my mistress and every cloudy sky,\nOf false treason and conspiracy,\nWere tried out on every side,\nFalsehood had no place to abide,\nThe story says, in order recounting,\nThe same time, Menelaus the king,\nOut of the sea, full of waves, arrived in Crete,\nFreely escaped, many fear and pain,\nWith his queen, the beautiful Helen,\nAnd because she was so famously fair,\nGreat was the press, and marvelous reception,\nFrom every part, her beauty to behold,\nFor whom Troy, with walls not yet old,\nWas destroyed, the noble royal town,\nAnd many a man, full worthy of renown,\nHad lost his life; there may no man say nay,\nAll for Helen, wife to Menelaus.\nWhen things are done, it may be none other,\nBut who this king,\nA gamelon, murderer and every villain,\nHe was full trusty, and liked nothing well,\nBut inwardly, felt full great sorrow,\nAnd his new wife, he had also in his heart,\nI mean Paris, who was so merciless.\nLike a tyrant, who was graceless,\nHis mother slew, and had no pity,\nOf moral yield in his cruelty,\nAnd fully cast, that he would blue,\nOf scepter and crown, plainly deprive him,\nFully affirming, for this hateful cause,\nBy all law, that he was unworthy,\nHis father's reign, as heir to possess,\nJustly considered, his horrible deed,\nAnd all atones, furious and wroth,\nWithout abode, unto ship he goes,\nMelancholy, in his great tenor,\nOut of Crete, saying to Athene,\nAnd took the land, out of ships' border,\nWhere Duke Nestor was governor and lord,\nWho received them, like a gentle knight,\nWith all his power, diligence and might,\nBut Menelaus, of rancor and great heat,\nBegan with the duke, secretly to treat,\nTo find a means, in his inward sight,\nFor to deprive Horeses of his right,\nAnd thereupon, to have a judgment\nAt Athens, was held a parliament\nOf all the lords, of that region,\nTo give thereon, a definition,\nIn which was shown, openly enough,\nHow Horeses, his own mother slew.\nAnd the manner of his great offense,\nhe himself, being in presence,\nand when this thing he fully did,\nfor his party's sake he began to reply,\nas one who felt himself freely at his large disposal,\nfor him alleging that he had in charge\nthe gods' declaration of\nhis mortal sword, that he would not spare,\nupon Clytemnestra, root of false treason,\nwho slew her lord, King Agamemnon,\nand the murder, through her malice, was wrought,\nTherefore Orestes humbly besought\nthe lords all, with a manly heart,\nof equity, consider and advise,\nfor no malice, rancor, nor rage,\nhim to deprive, since he was Agamemnon's son,\nborn to inherit that region,\nas you have heard, who was called was Menelaus,\nAlthough his mother, Clytemnestra the queen,\nhad plotted his destruction,\nBut Duke Nestor, reasoning,\nin sustaining Orestes' right,\nrose up at once, like a manly knight,\noffering himself proudly for his sake,\nThis high quarrel, for to undertake,\nwith his body, to the death to dare.\nWith whom did he show his title to be seen, but there was none in all that company who dared a word against him. So holy he stood in his openness, and by his knightly bearing he feigned in nothing. Therefore, Horestes was crowned king of Meneste with the assent of all. And when the Parliament was dissolved, this Horestes, with a new crown, was received by his true lords. And by the treaty of lords, many one, King Menelaus and he were made atone. And they their Ire and their rancor were appeased. And Ydumee, the worthy king of Crete, so prudently governed this matter, that Hermione, the young daughter dear of Menelaus and the queen Eleanor, was wedded without further delay to Horestes, the new lusty king. And because of this alliance, all rancor and distance were removed between the kings Menelaus the old and Horestes of whom I told. Thus I leave them as it was the best.\nEche in his reign lived in peace and rest,\nFor all strife was ceased in this case,\nBut Erygona, that the daughter was\nOf Egistus, as you have heard me tell,\nFor sorrow and fear she longed no longer to dwell,\nBut took a rope and spared nothing,\nAnd with it began to choke herself,\nThe story says, she hung upon a tree,\nThis was her fine, you get no more of me,\nBut I will now seriously recount,\nThe story of Oviles, in my writing,\nHis adventures come forth on the stage,\nFull wonderful, both on land and sea,\nEntertainingly met with great adversity,\nFor Guydo first seeing your preparations,\nTells how you found fair and foul weather,\nNow agreeable, now the thunder shone,\nNow still and smooth, now clouds frown,\nAnd says also that you arranged,\nFor your passage, mighty ships in twain,\nApparelled, all for merchandise,\nSo that you might in most secret way,\nEscape every misfortune of the sea,\nBut for all that, you had a treacherous ship.\nFor this author, in his writing, he says Ulysses, who was robbed of riches and good,\nEncountered contrary winds, standing against him,\nDriving him to confusion,\nInto the mighty, strong region,\nWhere Thelamon reigned by his life,\nAnd there he was seized and taken blue,\nBy mighty hand, said by the breast,\nMercilessly put under arrest,\nFor they suspected him in the working,\nTouching the murder, of the same king.\nBut he so wrought by his cunning wile,\nAnd his tale set in such a style,\nThat they all were plainly deceived,\nAnd from their hand, freely escaped,\nExcept that he, for all his clever ruse,\nOf his treasure, was made completely bare,\nAnd for his passage, was made unwelcome,\nHe filled himself again into the wolf's mouth,\nFor truly, as it is specified,\nKing Naulus' men have him yet espied,\nTake and bind, and chain mercilessly,\nFor the murder, of king Palamedes.\nBut the story recounts, in certainty,\nBy his prudence, he escaped again.\nFor he was both expert and wise, and old.\nAlthough the manner of his escape is not fully told,\nThrough his great pain,\nHe escaped from danger,\nThrough Fortune, he came from misfortune,\nTo the presence of King Idume,\nIn simple array and torn apparal,\nWhich greatly amazed the king,\nFor his poverty in such low manner,\nBut he made him good cheer,\nThough at that time he was unfortunate,\nHe received him as if he were of equal estate,\nAnd when they were both alone,\nUlysses spoke to the king as one who was full of wisdom,\nSeriously, the type of his passage,\nWith a sad face and solemn cheer,\nFrom point to point, as you shall hear,\nMy lord said he, briefly to express,\nOf trust I have, in your gentleness,\nI shall to you, my adventures all,\nRehearse here, exactly as it happened.\nFirst, when I, Trojans, forsook the land,\nAnd took to the water with my ships,\nI was immediately with a pesky wind,\nTo an island, which was unknown to me.\nCalled Miriam, of great habitude,\nAnd all things pleasing to me, I found ready,\nEither for silver or for gold to buy.\nI remained long in joy, with the treasure I gained at Troy,\nMy ships filled, my men whole and sound.\nWe lingered there, for the country envied us not,\nFor recreation and sport, we thought not long to stay.\nNo man did us any wrong, till one day,\nWhen the eye was still, and the wind was at our command,\nWe sailed forth in quiet and peace,\nTo a port called Clausenpasses.\nThere I found all things according to my payment,\nThe weather lovely, agreeable and fair.\nBut who can trust in wind or air?\nBy faith in the smooth sky,\nAgainst ship I made haste,\nI tarried not, but took to the sea,\nSmooth and calm, enduring three days,\nIn which we found no lack,\nBut suddenly, the heavens turn black.\nThe hydrous tempest and the green waves\nHave left me completely dispirited\nTroubled my spirit and made me pensive\nWithout recourse to escape with my life\nTossed and driven by many diverse iles\nUntil at last I beheld Cecyle\nReturning land with great annoyance and pain\nWhere once ruled two kings\nAnd as I can recall, doubtless\nThe names of them were Syrens\nWhose tunes were full contrary to mine\nAnd the other, Polyphemus\nBrothers by birth and in conclusion\nAs cruel as condition allowed\nFor though my kind had forms for the occasion\nBoth of them filled me with retribution\nOppressing me in full great distress\nSpoliating my ships of treasure and riches\nAnd pitiless, they showed no mercy\nUntil I was left destitute and bare\nOf all my goods, alas, my mortal chance\nAnd most of all, it was a grievous thing\nWhen of my gold they could seize no more\nThey sent down their mighty sons two\nAlpheus, who was large and long\nAnd Polyphemus, the mighty giant strong\nWhich of my men were so eager to avenge were they,\nWho had slain a hundred,\nDisarmed to stand at defiance,\nAnd from malice with sudden violence,\nThey took me, almost lost,\nAnd Alphenor, my own brother sworn,\nHatefully, as they had found us,\nIn chains cast and in stocks bound,\nAnd after that, locked in prison,\nAnd to make plain mention,\nThis mighty man, this great Polypheme,\nA sister had, shortly to judge,\nOne of the fairest that ever was born,\nShe might in beauty so beset before,\nNature gave her such a prerogative,\nA maiden, truly and no wife,\nFlourishing in fairness and bounty,\nWhom Alphenor, when he saw,\nAlthough he was fettered in prison,\nFor love he lost wit and reason,\nAnd she, narrowly, did bind him,\nSave upon her, always was his mind,\nAnd closed, always was his perilous wound,\nWe lay bound thus for six months,\nBoth he and I, to tell the plain truth,\nUntil Polypheme had upon us.\nAnd through his grace and mercy,\nHe released us from that prison,\nAnd showed us mercy and pity,\nAfter our sorrow, great humanity.\nBut Alphenor, like one in agreement,\nWas with the bride of Cupid burned,\nAnd felt his part with many mortal blows,\nUntil he so worked with his foolish wit,\nThat on a night, whether he was willing or not,\nHe stole this maiden and went his way.\nThrough the help of men, with him at that time,\nBut on the morrow, at the hour of prime,\nPolyphemus began to seize us,\nWhose mighty hand we could not escape,\nAnd such an assault on us they made,\nThat by force, they took the maiden from Alphenor,\nAnd Polyphemus, to my damage,\nWith his knights, laid upon me so sore,\nThat I might not escape away,\nTo save myself, surrounded by enemies,\nPursued by death, this champion.\nBut when I saw, there was no other gain,\nTo flee from death, shortly to say,\nWhile this giant most freely set upon me,\nWith my sword, I struck out his eye.\nAnd to the ship with my company, I fled in haste, so no man might see where I came or Alphenor, my fear. When the waves began to clear and a gracious wind gave us a wake, we had left that country. It was not healthy for us to remain. But of this man, just as written in Ovid, Polyphemus, the Cyclops, out of fear had an eye amidst his forehead. Which wiles smote out at a stroke, and like the brows of a beheaded oak, was all his hearing and his long beard. Children were afraid to look upon him, and when he had lost his sight among the hills, he ran day and night in a rage to find himself some refuge. Casting rocks and great stones huge, he surrounded the country in envy, seeking revenge on Ulysses. Thus says Ovid, in conclusion, in his book of Metamorphoses, there you may see it. Whenever your leisure is, I will continue in writing. And in writing, I will proceed. How Ulysses, with face dead and pale, told his tale to Ithaca. Re.\nIn the island of Polypheme, when we had escaped,\nThrough our misfortune and inf infliction,\nWe were driven, when it grew night,\nAnd Helios, that little kingdom named,\nWhere Circe, the great enchantress,\nAt that time was Lady and goddess,\nSuddenly, a man to transform,\nTo have the likeness and lose his reason,\nOf horse, of bear, tiger or lion,\nWolf or fox, or whatever she desired,\nHer dreadful craft was shaped in such a way,\nSo powerful were her strange potions,\nHer lethalities and conjurations,\nAnd she also, so fair to behold,\nFrom her power, no man could flee.\nFor by the work of this sorceress,\nI was so enchanted by her beauty,\nThat finally, I remained with her,\nLiving a year, having no power or might,\nTo depart, neither day nor night,\nSo lusty was the life I led,\nIn which time, by me, a child she had,\nFair and goodly to the sight,\nAnd Thelagonyus, in sadness he was named.\nAfterward, I can recount how I, a manly man,\nBy my style and secret provision,\nOutwitted her craft, despite her enchantments old,\nAnd escaped her grasp, going free from her land.\nBut little did this achievement avail me,\nFor on my journey, as I began to sail,\nIn a short while, Jupiter appeared on an isle,\nWhere Calypso, Circe's sister,\nWas crowned queen and held her scepter in peace.\nHer crafts were so mighty and strong,\nDespite my will, she kept me there long.\nBut in truth, speaking of womanhood,\nOf bounty, freedom, and goodness,\nShe possessed such sovereign excellence,\nThat my stay with her was no offense.\nBut whoever cried or clapped there,\nIn the end, I escaped from her trap,\nAnd came to an isle, just as the line specified,\nThrough divine power alone.\nOrdered is a spiritual oracle, as it were,\nA man to have in a temple there,\nSuddenly answering of what he inquires or demands,\nAnd of souls, what shall also befall,\nWhen men are dead and lying under stone,\nI began to ask in the temple at once,\nMy adventures that should follow,\nAnd where a man might escape his fate,\nAnd of all this, like to my intent,\nI had answer, full convenient,\nSave what befalls when a soul is gone,\nDistinction, unto me, was none,\nSuch a thing to assuage, accords not to right,\nIt is reserved, unto God's might,\nExceeding reason and man's wit,\nAnd from thence, forth to sail I began,\nDriven with wind, and no part succored,\nWhere I was like, to have been devoured,\nBy Caries, with his profound well,\nWhere Sirens, Mermaids dwell,\nThat from their breasts, with silver sheen,\nAre of their shape, fish's fresh and clean,\nAnd over more, their kind does compass,\nThem to appear, feminine of face.\nLike virgins, who were of nature\nWithout spot, undefiled, pure\nAnd of custom, in waves as they flee,\nThe song of them is to heavenly sweet,\nSo angelic and full of harmony,\nThat very gently, the sugared melody\nWould rouse anyone to life\nOf inward joy, almost his heart would rise\nMakes a man of sudden high pleasure,\nForgets himself and lessens his remembrance,\nGodlike him clean from his own thought,\nUntil unexpectedly he is brought to mischance\nAnd with their song or he takes heed,\nHe shall be brought in a mortal sleep\nAnd they anon, it may not be withdrawn,\nWill drench his ship low under the wave,\nThus the sweetness of their heavenly sound\nBrings a man to confuse his senses,\nWhoever by their bounds passes by,\nBut with life, I escaped by grace,\nFor my eyes, with wax and gums clear,\nWere stopped so that I might not here\nTouch nor tremble at their instruments,\nWhereby the reason of a man is blinded,\nAnd finally, through my subtlety,\nI and my men were escaped free.\nSaying forth all my troubles, we came up with full great distress at Phoenice and took the land, cast anchor and our ships were secured. But truly there, it filled us full of unfare, for the people were cruel and contrary. Only of malice, they filled me alone, and slew my men almost every one. Treasure and good, little that I had, was taken from me and all with them they led away. Few of them that were left alive, they took and put in prison blue. Thus has Fortune led me her dance, with little joy and plenty of mischance. Of whose danger, I have learned and experienced. I am fallen into great chiefest and poverty. And with great dole and sorrow, full my breast, I am come unto your presence. I have declared plainly in sentence, my adventures, to your worthiness. Of trust and faithfulness, I have to you in particular. And now I have rehearsed and told all, to your highness, and my best way, without more, it suffices.\nAnd though in his heart he was constrained sore,\nThat time Ulixes spoke no more,\nBut held his peace, full heavy in looking,\nAnd Idumeus, like a gentle king,\nComforted him and all that he might,\nAnd was busy, his heart to light,\nAnd him besought, his heaviness leave,\nAnd as long as he listed in Crete,\nWith him abide, he made him sure,\nHe should fare also well as he,\nAnd not want of what may do him ease,\nAnd when his sorrow some what began to ease,\nThat his cage drew unto an end,\nHe took leave and said he would wend,\nOut of there,\nBut first the king of freedom and bounty\nGave unto him great riches and array,\nAnd whatsoever was to his pay,\nGold treasure and many other things,\nAnd at parting of these two kings,\nThere were ships, when he listed to sail,\nReady stuffed with men and victuals,\nAnd thus Ulixes made himself ready,\nAnd when he had his leave fully taken,\nHe hastened him and took anon the sea,\nAnd went to sail towards his country,\nBut first he went to king Alphenon.\nWhichever person had affectionately welcomed Vulixes at his home, desiring above all things to have new acquaintance with him. For to him was inwardly a great pleasure to hear him speak, due to his eloquence, wisdom, and high prudence. And there he was, after all his suffering, received warmly with as glad a heart as any man had ever been. Since then, time immemorial, there first heard he of Penelope, his true wife, without blame, of whom the noble fame remains green. She, from her lord, for all his long absence, never committed offense in thought or deed. But truly was she, both in character and action, throughout Greece, an example of womanhood. And yet she was, as books delight to express, throughout the world, a mirror of beauty. And among Greeks, she was born of the highest blood. Called by authors both fair and good, and in books, of her doubtless virtues, there never was any who had such great praise. But she kept her virtue unchanged for no new one.\nIn her heart, ever one, not divided into two,\nShe is called queen and sovereign, in this old book's truth,\nOft I find her heart grows cold,\nShe turns pale from her lord so far,\nIn her closet, she hears of the war,\nOf fear she had, and tremblingly quakes,\nFrom fantasies, for her lord's sake,\nHis absence is death to her, and unbearable sorrow,\nAnd truly, for joy or any game,\nWhen it fills her, she hears Ector's name,\nIn any place alone, she fills with sorrow,\nAnd she drowns herself in tears,\nOf womanhood, she was afraid,\nTo hear the slaughter of his mortal sword,\nHer lord's desire, of knightly surrender,\nFortune had fallen into jeopardy,\nOf happiness or sort, to a worthy knight,\nWho seldom or never, she felt her heart light,\nAnd many a dream, a night's deed, her spirit vexed,\nWhile the siege lasted,\nAnd every play was poison in her sight,\nWhen she was, from her own knight.\nFor in this world joy had none\nShe of high or low, plainly but one\nFor whose sake all mirth she refuses\nAnd he that in his heart muses\nOf any woman anything but good\nOf melancholy mew'd in his blood\nLet him admonish of wisdom and see\nAnd remember Penelope\nFor his desert lusted that he be blamed\nAnd O Guido, thou shouldst be ashamed\nTo say of wives anything but well\nFor in good faith, as far as I can feel\nThough one or two do among offense\nShe that is good through her providence\nIs thereof no thing for to write\nAnd though Guido in his book ends it\nThe variance of Heloise or Chretien de Troyes\nOr Medea that for sorrow died\nLet the ague of right and equity\nThe wife's truth of Penelope\nThe maidenhood of young Polyxena\nAnd the goodness of Hecuba the queen\nOf Cassandra too the steadfastness\nAnd with all this take the kindness\nOf Pantasylle without variation\nAnd put all this together in balance\nAnd you shall find if you list account\nMaugre, who grudges the truth, shall overcome it. I dare affirm and take away the prize. No man, who is wise, will reply against it. He would be too weak in his opinion. While Vlixes was with Aeneas, it was to him that this relation was made. Of a hateful conspiracy, certain lords envied his country. Baucis would. Maugre, though she was ever plain in her speech, in her heart she had them dismayed. Yet they have openly declared that she shall be taken by force. But if she is rescued in haste, they will not have the time averted. For day and night with her they sojourn. In her heart, for love dismayed, but of wisdom she has delayed them. There was none so manly or so sage that could gain advantage from her. So crafty she was in her dealings. And when Vlixes conceived all this thing, and fully knew by open evidence, and had also in special confidence received a message from Penelope, declaring the matter in secret.\nHis own son, Thelamonyus,\nHe waxed in heart, wood and furyous,\nAnd would make no dilacyon,\nBut in all haste besought Alphenon,\nThe mighty king, of his high bounty,\nTo relieve him in his adversity,\nAnd that he would, through his mighty hand,\nOf gentleness, convey him to his land,\nHe granted him and said not once no,\nAnd both two, in full great array,\nTook the sea, when the wind was good,\nWell fortuned, for nothing them withstood,\nThey were arrived and had no letting,\nWhere vixens, as you have heard, were king,\nAnd secretly in a night, they were conveyed\nTo them that had his liegeance disobeyed,\nAnd mercilessly or they might awake,\nIn their beds, they have them all take,\nMaking no prolonging till the morrow,\nBut in all haste, for no might durst thee borrow,\nSomething from their heads, by Judgment final,\nAnd set them upon the castle wall,\nEach by other enduring the row,\nUpon the tower, when the cock began to crow,\nAnd thus all night, they kept themselves close.\nTyll, as Phebus gently rose in the Orient, when the lark sang, and these kings with their strong men entered Cytee. Who was glad but Penelope, who made joy but this good queen, full desirous to see her own lord. But if I should set in order the great mirth they made when they met, and rehearse complaints old, and how they unfolded their hearts to one another, and each to the other delighted in nothing, and the joy and heartfelt glory they felt, if I should put all in memory, the rejoicing and the heartfelt glory that his lieges made at his coming, the costs they had at his meeting, the great gifts and rich presents in all this world none could equal. It would be too long lingering for my book. And how he took new assurance from his lords and lieges all, and how they fell to his grace, the cheer he made also to Alphenowne, of gentleness through his high renown, and how the daughter was inwardly debonair.\nOf Alphenon and Nausica the fair,\nBy Vlixes and Medyacyon,\nWedded was Vnto Thelamon,\nBy descent, no man may say nay,\nTo rejoice his crown, after his day.\nThus came in, by his pursuitance,\nOf two realms, the mighty alliance,\nAnd how all this, brought was to the knot,\nMen would deem plainly me to be mad,\nTo presume, of opposition,\nTo relate, a description,\nSince Guyon touched but the chief,\nIn this matter of style, was but brief,\nShortly rehearsing, how King Alphenon\nRepeired is, home to his region,\nAnd Vlixes, in his chief city,\nAbode still, with Penelope,\nWhere I leave him, in joy and in solace,\nTill Antropos likes to purchase,\nTo fetch finally the thread,\nOf his lives fate.\n\nNow must I be fully busy a while,\nTo direct, the traces of my style,\nIn describing, shortly, the intent,\nThe stock of Py.\nMy Author follows, and be compendious.\nWhose old Father, named Pelleus,\nHis granmoder, called Therydes,\nFrom whom came worthy Achilles.\nThat at Troy, by treason, lost his life\nAnd Dardanus, called was his wife,\nPyrrhus mother and daughter, as I read,\nTo King Lycomedes, were named,\nHaving a father named Acastus,\nWho in sincerity, bore heavy heart\nTo King Peleus, to Achilles and Pyrrhus,\nAnd openly on that side,\nHarbored malice, rancor, and pride,\nAnd envy, in a hateful rage,\n\nWhen Peleus, in old age,\nHe took from him both scepter and crown,\nAnd from his sea, loosed him gently down,\nAnd into exile, away he sent,\nWith Thetis his wife,\nOf high disdain, no grace could he gain,\nAnd in his heart, he began to embrace\nThe death of Pyrrus, keeping it near day and night.\nAnd thus, maliciously, he began\nTo devise away, by deceitful means,\nTo slay him at his homecoming.\n\nBut this Pyrrus, from his perils, escaped,\nFrom the sea, many dangers,\nMany waves, and many tempestuous winds,\nWith great loss, both of men and goods,\nFirst landed at Malasus.\nA strong city, a little from the shore,\nWhere he was refreshed, wonderfully well,\nAnd there he knew, the ground and every detail,\nFirst of Thexyle, like men told him,\nOf Therides and Pelleus the old,\nAnd how Atastus bore to him hatred,\nUnto death, of which he grew afraid,\nAnd thought he would, as he was right wise,\nBy some engine, escape his misery,\nAnd thereupon, do his best pain,\nNowhadde Atastus, other two sons,\nMenalyppus and Polystenes,\nAnd a daughter, called Thetydes,\nAnd all this while, woeful Pelleus,\nIn an old, ruinous castle,\nWith Thetydes, full of sorrow and care,\nFor fear of death, day and night he dared,\nDespaired, in his unwise old age,\nSeeking to find, a remedy for this mortal rage,\nExcept that he had, an hope of yours,\nThat Pyrrus would help him and restore,\nAt his return, when it fell,\nAfter whose coming, often he called,\nThe time cursed, that he so long abode,\nBut when Pyrrus understood all this,\nAt Malasus, by report.\nFull speed he went/haste out of the town\nTook the sea/and quickly began to row\nToward the land/called Thesaly\nOften/to make preparations\nFor Atastus/to take revenge\nBut first, this Pyrrus, full prudent,\nSpied two/he had sent before\nTo Thesaly/together they had gone\nCryllus/was called the leader\nAnd Adastus/his brother was named\nThey were expert/they needed not to learn\nIn whose service/to bring more advantage\nThis Pyrrus/had directed his message\nTo Thesaly/a Cytesean named Assandrus\nWith Pelleus/and previously full secret\nWhile he was/flourishing in Felicity\nAnd when Pyrrus/in conclusion\nKnew all the truth/by relation\nOn sea/nor land/he desired to stay\nAlthough he/found the wind contrary\n\nBut he,\nOf Thesaly, approached the borders\nFor Eolus/whose lust he obeyed\nAnd of Fortune/won\nHe was driven/as if by grace\nTo arrive/in the same place\nWhere Pelleus/in a mournful cave\nLay himself/for fear of death\nSool saves his wife without any fears,\nEnclosed with hushes and with thorns,\nPyrrhus went up first to explore,\nSool by himself walking on the shore,\nPensiveness and trust, and his way took,\nWhere Pelleus in the cave cooked,\nHaving with him no other guide,\nSave his sword hanging by his side,\nAnd unwarily, with a dreadful heart,\nPelleus from the cave emerged,\nDismayed, doubted his life,\nWhen he beheld a knight walking about,\nAnd astonished, stood and remained still,\nImagining that he saw Achilles,\nBy this Pyrrus standing in the place,\nBy all the signs shown in his face,\nFor nature, without change,\nMade them so alike in cheer and countenance,\nOf form, of shape, and limbs every one,\nThat difference, in effect, was none,\nAnd Pelleus without further delay,\nBegan at once to embrace Pyrrus,\nAnd broke out of his deadly thoughts,\nAnd for joy, set aside all his sorrow,\nAnd to him, little by little, declared,\nBoth his exile and his wretched fate.\nHis pitiful life, his poverty and mockery,\nAnd Fortune's false variance,\nAnd of Astyanax, the fierce hot envy,\nThe cruelty and tyranny,\nHe earnestly told Pyrrhus all this,\nAnd he stood still, solemn as a wall,\nWith pale face and angry heart,\nSpeechless, he went away,\nAnd there he was informed, beyond doubt,\nThat Menelaus and Polystenes,\nAnd Astyanax, all three,\nWith a huge army and great retinue,\nWere hunting in a forest not far away,\nAnd when Pyrrus learned this,\nHe changed his clothes without delay,\nRent and disarrayed,\nLike a man who was about to be dismayed,\nGirt with his sword, made no delay,\nBut took the right way to the forest,\nAlone by himself,\nSo secretively that no man might see,\nAnd as he drew near,\nHe heard horns sounding uncoupled from hounds,\nAnd like a man who wants to make amends,\nFrom sight of people, he drew himself away alone.\nAnd casually he met with Polystenes. Menalyppus riding by his side, and both two remained by Pyrrhus. Boisterously they asked him from whence he came and what he was. So feebly clad and of such poor estate, walking there as if desolate, he answered humbly and said how he had been in peril of the sea. And affirmed pale and uncomprehending. His companions drowned were and dead. Five hundred, the waves were so fierce. Of old and young and of middle age. He had escaped, the tempest was so violent. As he told them plainly, he also touched upon his birth, that he was a Greek. Late come from the siege of Troy, and begged them towards his living, to help him with some refreshment. As they saw him, naked, he stood.\nPraying also in hope it would help,\nHim to relieve, with clothing or provisions,\nTo his refuge, something to provide,\nAnd they had him, that he should abide,\nFor they will wit, plainly what he can,\nAnd that while, beside them there ran,\nA full great heart, down by the river,\nMenalyppus pricked his courser,\nAs it seemed, it was to him due,\nThrough thine, and thine only to pursue,\nHe spares not, but always rode behind,\nAnd his brother, with Pyrrus' style abode,\nPolystenes and took no heed,\nBut in all haste alight from his steed,\nOn the green, to rest himself there beside,\nAs he that was weary for to ride,\nWithout meynes, being himself sole,\nLys. dool\nBut suddenly, or he might have discovered,\nCruel Pyrrus ran him to the heart,\nAnd left him dead, lying on the plain,\nWhen Menalyppus recovered,\nSeeing his brother bathed in his blood,\nAnd Pyrrus then, furious and mad,\nWith a face of color pale and wan,\nTo Menalyppus in his anger ran,\nAnd slew him too, or that he took heed.\nAnd they lay on the ground bleeding, the two brothers with Pyrrus' sword in hand. Pyrrus then asked, meeting an knight, whether it was of sort or cause. According to the story called Cynaras, Pyrrus inquired whose man he was or what he did there. He answered and made no delay. He was a servant with the mighty king called Atastus, lord of that country. Pyrrus, despite their deadly enmity, ran him through with his cruel sword, all fresh and red with blood. After that, he left the forest and took the right way in haste. He went to ship again, pale and black with exhaustion. He began at once to array himself in purple, a color for kings and no one else. Pyrrus, fresh and well-designed, returned to the forest. Suddenly, in a short while, he met the old king, Atastus, who asked Pyrrus, \"What man art thou, that by yourself thus?\"\nWalks here all day to and fro,\nCertainly, Pyrrus, full of sorrow and woe,\nOnce was a son of Priamus the king,\nWhom I was wont to remember,\nWhen Troy flourished in its glory,\nNow brought into misfortune, I walk,\nFull of care and thought,\nIn exile from Troy town,\nWith cruel Pyrrus to live in prison,\nBound to him, though I be loath,\nMy hand pledged with many great oaths,\nTo obey his lust in captivity,\nLo: here is all, thus it stands with me,\nAtatus, however, of intent,\nAfter many other questions,\nHe asked him in his dalliance,\nIf he knew anything of Pyrrus' rule,\nOr if he could understand,\nWhere he kept him, since he came to land,\nYes, said I, if you wish to know,\nHe keeps him confined in that cave,\nAmong rough company with a hidden face,\nMaking a sign to the same place,\nAnd all was done for an idle cause,\nFor while the king, thereward, began to gasp.\nHasty Pyrrus drew out his sword in purpose,\nIntending to make Atastus a slave.\nBut wonderfully, the story goes,\nQueen Thetis appeared at once,\nHer face wet with tears.\nShe took Pyrrus' sword and embraced it,\nBeseeching him to restrain his deadly hand.\n\"Have you not slain my two young brothers?\" she asked.\n\"And now, alas, my father, hoary and gray,\nMercy will take away from me.\nPut up the sword and shed no blood,\nHave pity on your kindred.\"\nAnd clearly she warned him,\n\"How have you come from the same line?\nUnkind blood is hateful in every man's sight.\nPyrrus, like any tiger enraged,\nAffirmed with many a great oath,\n\"Whoever grumbles or opposes,\nI will kill him with my own hands.\"\nFor has he not, by false extortion,\nDriven Pelleus from his kingdom?\nWho is your lord, and you his true wife,\nWho will finally lose your life?\nHere, from my hand, you shall die.\nIn this matter, there is no more to say.\nBut Pelleus, in the cave,\nOnly desired to save his life,\nAll other help was pointless,\nAnd Pelleus was brought forth,\nCrooked and old, unsteady to see,\nBefore Pyrrus, falling down on his knee,\nBeseeching him, with an eager face,\nAt his request, take him to grace,\nAnd that he would, in his manly heart,\nConsider the deadly woe and pain,\nOf Atastus, and the mortal price,\nHe had paid, for his sons' twain,\nWho lay dead, before him on the green,\nSlain with your sword, it is so sharp and keen,\nWhich he cannot recover in any way,\nThe sorrow of which ought to be enough,\nThough you do no more vengeance,\nAll this is justified, in balance,\nSince he is wholly submissive to your might,\nTake him now, to mercy, at once, right,\nAnd let your sword not consume his age,\nThis is my request, as I dare presume.\n\nAnd then Pyrrus, shortly to say,\nWhat he had put up his sword against,\nSeeing mercy, might most avail,\nWithout words, or any rehearsal.\nFirst of all, to everyone,\nThe kings made an accord, in one,\nBy his wisdom, concluding in deed,\nThat each of them should possess his right,\nIn Thesaly, partitioned into two,\nNeither having matter to complain,\nEach to reign in his own see,\nAnd while they were together all three,\nOut of presence of any other man,\nAtaraxis first spoke, thus his tale began,\n\"Sir,\" he said, \"this is not unknown to you,\nHow through age, now I am brought low,\nAnd through nature's kindly motion,\nI have become feeble of wit and reason,\nBeing unwieldy of my limbs all,\nSo many years are upon me fallen,\nAnd cannot understand anything,\nTo be feeble in truth, a kingdom to govern,\nOf life nor death, taking now no heed,\nSince my sons are slain and dead,\nAnd soul left, now without heir,\nOf worldly lust, fully in despair,\nThe time passed, of my felicity,\nFortune's turn, with mutability,\nHas taught me plainly, I dare it well express,\nIn worldly joy, there is no sureness,\nNor very trust, no while to abide.\nI will now, for myself, provide in all haste, by prudent pursuit, release myself from all governance. I do not wish to malinger against my sort. But scepter and crown freely I resign Of Thesalya, also the land, into your hand. No man shall reclaim or say nay, interrupt or make delay, touching this thing, by any collusion. For I put it in possession, and from this moment, of all that he ever said, making full faith, his hand in his hand laid, Queen Thetis sitting there present, and Peleus of the same intent, to Pyrrhus for his part, he also resigned his right of Thesalya. Fully affirming that from of old ago, his full desire and his joy also were ever in one, his new heir to succeed, as a rightful heir, his kingdom to possess, and utterly without repentance, all that pertains to my liegeance, scepter and sword, crown and diadem, so as a king, life and death to judge, Into your hand, without longer delay, This same hour, holy to translate.\nAnd when the knot of this conspiracy was fully brought to conclusion,\nPerformed up the unity for evermore between these three kings.\nAtatus knights dispersed envious ones\nOut of the forest descended down\nAnd by bidding plainly of their lord\nThey were each one sworn to this accord\nAnd this lusty company then\nTo Thesalya quickly began to hasten\nAnd Pyrrus people lying on the sea\nWere sailed forth straight to the city\nAnd Atatus does set a Parliament\nWhere openly he gave commandment\nThat all his lords of high or low estate\nWithout strife or any more debate\nSpecifically of gentle blood born\nThe same day to Pyrrus to be sworn\nLike their degrees in the royal hall\nTo pursue his true lords all\nDuring their life for earnest or for game\nAnd Pelleus commands likewise for his party\nWithout fraud\nAnd thus with joy and solemn praise\nPyrrus was gladly accepted to his heritage\nAnd on a day fortunate and good.\nWith a glad aspect, when heaven stood\nWell agreeing, to such a thing,\nWorthy Pyrrus was crowned king\nOf Thesalya, the rich region.\nIt is vain to mention\nTheir revelry or their great array,\nOr the feast made the same day.\nAlso in the story, I find it not true,\nI will pass over, as my Author does,\nSave in his book, it is specified,\nThat the kingdom of Thesalya\nWas greatly magnified\nBy the might of this Pyrrus,\nOnce a good knight,\nWhere I see him, in his royal seat,\nTurning again to King Idumea,\nWho in this while was grave under stone,\nAnd after him, his son Merone,\nThe story says, was crowned king of Crete,\nBut a while reigning in equity,\nHe died also, it would be none other,\nAnd then in haste, Leorica his brother,\nAs rightful heir by succession,\nWas crowned king, of that region,\nIn which time, Atastus, out of fear,\nBy the assent of Pyrrus, as I read,\nWas busy to make in special\nA rich tomb, passing royally grand.\nWhere two men, Menalyppus and Polystenes, were buried in the forest,\nThrough Pyrrus' sword, by cruel law,\nI can make no other process concerning them,\nBut there, I fully take my tale,\nOf them both, and also Atastus, their father,\nWhom I cannot read further in the Trojan book,\nBut now I must again to Pyrrus return,\nTo write of him, the sorrowful end,\nWho, when he sat highest on his sea,\nWas made completely blind by vain prosperity,\nGoverning the land of Thesalya,\nHe falsely filled his mind with a fantasy,\nTo set his love on Hermione, the queen,\nWife of Hippolyta reigning in Methene,\nFor whom he burned hot as any fire,\nAnd in fulfilling his foul desire,\nHe brought about its completion in this way,\nHe ravished her while her lord was out,\nBrought her home, and held her as his wife,\nAppearing to him it was a blessed life,\nAnd full release from his pain's torment,\nOf which, Hippolytus bore a heavy heart.\nAndronomecha openly plotted to seize the opportunity, for at that time, although he had wronged Pyrrus, he was too weak, and Pyrrus was too strong. Andronomecha, as the story goes, lived with him in the same household. Ector's wife, by whom she had once had a child, led this woman and her child out of Troy when it was taken. Lamedouta was his name, whom I find became renowned in full. And by Pyrrus, she had another son named Achylleydos, as written by Guydo. These women, despite their great estate, quarreled among themselves. Hermyone, in her heated anger, wrote to her father complaining that Andronomecha was favored over her, despite her high rank. She begged Menelaus to hasten Andronomecha and urged him to:\n\n\"Come yourself at once, and slay this woman and her child as well.\"\n\nHe did not delay but quickly made his way towards Thesalya.\nTo be avenged/ with his sword of steel,\nUpon her/ who transgresses never adequately,\nBut despite him/ in all his cruelty,\nShe was rescued/ amidst the city,\nIt is a thing/ which has not been heard,\nTo a woman/ a king to draw his sword,\nI will no more/ in this matter dwell,\nIn manner shame/ it to write or tell,\nBut this was done/ while Pyrrhus of courage,\nTo Delos was gone/ on pilgrimage,\nHaving with him/ but a little troop,\nTo Apollo/ to kneel and to shout,\nFor the soul/ to pray of Achilles,\nAnd his vows/ also to fulfill,\nAnd thank him/ with humble affection,\nOf god he had obtained/ he had at Troy town,\nAnd for wretch/ also that was taken,\nAt the city/ for his Father's sake,\n\u00b6But all this thing/ here specifically mentioned,\nKing Hipparchus/ carefully has seen,\nAnd to Delos/ began haste him right,\nLeading with him/ many lusty knights,\nAnd unwarily/ he with Pyrrus met,\nAnd vengefully/ upon him he set,\nThat finally/ in that strange land,\nHipparchus slew him/ with his own hand,\nI find in truth/ he made no defense.\nSo soon was the mortal violence\nOf his enemy he could not endure\nFor or that he might turn his sword against him\nHe was surrounded all around, deserted\nAt that time it might be no better\nFor there was neither succor nor decline\nThus was Pyrrus brought to his end\nLate crowned king of Thesalya\nLo: here the reward and medal is full of strife\nLo: how the medal and reward are rife\nTo miss use another man's wife\nIt is no fear, revenge shall follow\nSudden death or unexpected mischance\nWhich every man greatly ought to fear\nAnd in Delos in a large temple\nKing Pyrrus was locked under stone\nAnd Hipparchus forth his way is gone\nAnd by force took his wife again\nThere was no one dared to oppose him\nAnd to Metane proudly appeared\nAnd Thesalya pitifully mourned\nDestitute as those who can no read\nWhen they knew their worthy king was dead\nAnd heir was none by succession\nTo govern that noble region\nSave Achillesiod, who but little before\nIn Pyrrus' absence was born in Greece.\nThis child, not yet a quarter grown,\nOf whom I speak, was meant to be fair and green,\nWho wished to consider and to claim his might,\nTo rejoice for many days in his right,\nAnd to govern with scepter in his hand,\nThe vast lands of such a great land,\nYet this child, likely and truly fair,\nIn very truth was born to be heir.\nAfter Pyrrhus, this is plain to see,\nNo man dared object.\nBut I find, when he came of age,\nHe resigned his heritage,\nTo his brother, freely and rightly,\nLamedon, a wondrous knight,\nDescended from Trojan blood,\nFrom the stock of him who was so good,\nFlorus, flower of knighthood,\nDifference of Frigia,\nHe begot on Andromache,\nNow ordained, who so gracious,\nOf Thesalian birth, to bear the crown,\nAnd when he was made lord of that land,\nAnd all was freely resigned to his hand,\nHe commanded, through the kingdom of all Thesalia,\nThat all who were in captivity,\nOr prisoners of Troy, the city.\nFor love or hate, exception was none,\nThat all should, at their large be gone,\nBy full assent of Achilles,\nAnd such as were also in prison closed,\nWithout reason, shall be believed,\nAnd rejoice, the full liberty,\nBy custom used, both in borough and town,\nOf the judges, of great region,\nAnd thus the people, y-came thrall from Troy,\nRestored be, suddenly to joy,\nBy Lamedou, and made free,\nAnd he also reigns, in his royal see,\nFull mightily, as I have made mind,\nIn Troy book, no more of him I find,\nNor of Pyrrhus, nor of his kindred,\nFrom henceforth, I can no more process read,\nBut incidents, that bear no substance,\nWhich were but vain, to put in remembrance,\nExcept my Author, I note to what intent,\nHere impeth in me, a little incident,\nYwrought and done of full yore agone,\nTouching the death, of king Menon,\nWhose death by envy, of cruel Achilles,\nWas slain, in sooth, among Myrmidons,\nO only for he, proudly began to pursue,\nVpon Achilles, Troilus to rescue,\nWhom king Priam, made buried be.\nIn Troy, at the temple of Marble Old, I shall recount in this chapter the tale of the noble queen of King Menon. After a long time and many days since she was dead and buried, she appeared heavenly at her tomb. Surrounded by bright, clear stars, her likeness was like something immortal, impossible for any man to behold or look away from. She descended from the firmament, and many men present clad her in a celestial mantle and a royally magnificent portal. With sweetness and freshness like a rose, she quickly opened the tomb and took out the bones of her lord. She placed them in a chest made of gold and stones and disappeared, going her way. Neither before nor after was she ever heard of in that place. Some affirm that, by resemblance, she was the queen.\nShe was other / an angel or goodesse,\nThe soul or fate / of the same king,\nI cannot tell / in such heavenly thing,\nNor them hold / any opening,\nFor it transcends / shortly my reason,\nAnd I lusted not / in such matter to define,\nBut resort / right as any line,\nTo Ulysses / and a while dwell,\nOf his end / the surplus to tell,\nAnd how that he / might not escape,\nThe parody / that was for him shaped,\nFor parchments have / his last term set,\nAnd Antropose / measured out and met,\nHis life's thread / on the rock spun,\nDefend yourself / Ulysses if you can,\nShow your manhood / and be not afraid,\nAnd be the welfare / of your son's sword.\nFor I shall now / like as I am wont,\nTo describe / the fine of your sojourn,\nUpon the bounds / set of my labor,\nFor almost weary / faint and weak enough,\nBe the vestments / and oxen of my plow,\nThe long day / against the hill to bend,\nBut almost / now at the lands end,\nOf Troy's book / I will take a stake,\nSave I must spend / a few lines black.\nThe last chapter/shortly to translate\nOf all this work/Impen on that day\nDeath set upon him first\nHe fully executed/by him he loved best\nI now must kneel/to this god\nWho makes men to mourn\nAnd causes people/to have glad dreams\nBoth at morning/and on lusty evenings\nWhen Mortheus/with sleepy wonder\nHolds that which he always keeps in his hand\nHas marked them/against the dark night\nTo make men/both merry and light\nAnd for a while/to have joy\nAnd suddenly/to fall into heaviness\nLike them/he gives evidence\nBy various signs/in his appearance\nTo that lord/now must I humbly pray\nAt this time/my style to convey\nOf Vulixes/the dream to describe\nThe last of all/he had by his life\nDeclaring himself/by notable tokens\nAnd by signs/very demonstrable\nAs he slept/against the pale moon\nHis fatal day/that should follow soon\nFor it flies\nAfter my only night/before the morning gray\nHe thought he saw/appear a creature\nTo his sight, celestial in figure,\nNothing earthly thing but truly divine,\nOf port and cheer, wonderfully feminine,\nAs it seemed, in his fantasy,\nLike a thing sent out of Fairy,\nFor the beauty of her goodly face,\nRecomforted, plainly all the place,\nMost surpassing, most sovereign,\nAnd the clarity of her eyes twain,\nSuddenly or men might perceive,\nPerce would even to the heart,\nNo difference, could be contrived,\nAnd Vulixes with her look suppressed,\nBegan to behold, always more and more,\nAnd in his sleep, to see sore,\nPersisting ever, with full busy pain,\nTo embrace, in his arms twain,\nBut ever the more, that he pursued,\nShe turned away, began to shun,\nAnd ever the more, he pressed her to see,\nEver the more, from him she fled,\nSo contrary, to him was Fortune,\nAnd when she saw, he was importunate,\nShe asked him shortly, what he would,\nAnd he to her, the plain truth told,\nCertes, quoth he, my life's Empress,\nWhere thou art, woman or goddess.\nI cannot determine or judge half a right thing. I am so darkened and blinded in my sight. But I dare affirm in this place, my life, my death, stand wholly in your grace. More mercy requiring than of right, to show mercy on me, who am your own knight, and of pity and compassion, it is goodly to see, to my salvation. For my desire, but I may fulfill, this same night, to have of you my will. To my recovery, I can no remedy, for lack of rouch, but I must die. Now have I all, at once, hope and fear. My self declared, to your womanhood, and after that, she kept her close a while, and full sadly, began on him to smile. And as it is, put in remembrance, she said to him, with sober countenance, \"Sothly, quoth she, thy affection would fully turn to confusion, of us both. It is so perilous, so inly mortal and contagious, that utterly, there is no redemption. But one of us, must an one be dead.\" This is the fine, of the hateful chance, that should follow, after our pleasure, and as vixens, began to neare.\nBeholding her heavenly countenance,\nWhere she stood upright on the ground,\nHe saw her hold a long, round spear,\nThe head of which was newly forged and ground well.\nAnd thereon, in his vision,\nHe saw a banner blazing up and down.\nThe field of it was all colored indigo,\nFull of fish biting as I find.\nAnd in some books, as it is told,\nIn the midst, a large golden crown.\nBefore she turned to leave,\nShe spoke to him and said in plain words,\n\"This full token of our parting twain,\nForevermore, neither for sour nor sweet.\nAfter this day, never again to meet.\nAnd disappearing, she took her leave.\"\nAnd after that, he suddenly awoke,\nAnd began to ponder in his fantasy,\nWhat thing this dream might signify,\nBut where it meant, either evil or good,\nThe secrecy, he did not understand.\nTherefore he sent through his region,\nFor such as were skillful interpreters.\nOf fate or sort, or crafty divines,\nFor all the clerks summoned to his crown,\nTo assemble in one, his vision to explain,\nAnd when they knew, by information,\nThe manner whole, of his avision,\nThey concluded, according to one,\nThe time approaches, and shall come soon,\nThat one, next of his kin,\nWith a spear, shall make him bleed.\nLet see, where he, his fate can remove,\nSince it is hard, destiny to avoid,\nAs those people say, in their opinion,\nWho work and trust, on constellations.\nAnd Vulpes, musing on this tale,\nChanges color, and grows pale,\nWonder dreadful, and full of fancies,\nBegins in himself, to seek remedies,\nTo avoid that which will not be,\nHe stares broad, but may not see,\nHis ward looks, was with a cloud sent,\nBut waning he, for to be prudent,\nMade call, his son Thelamon,\nAnd to be taken, and shut up in prison,\nHe supposing, fully in his wit,\nFor all mischief, thereby to go quit,\nHe neither adverted, nor took heed.\nTo the sharpness of the sphere's head,\nNot to the fish in the baner beet,\nNot of the sea where they swim and flee,\nNot of the queen who is called Circe,\nWho bore signs of war and not of peace,\nNot of the crown, token of dignity,\nOf one who shall hold his royal seat,\nMade the waves, both fell and wild,\nAmong the fish in the large flood,\nAnd he shall make the division,\nRemembered before in the auspice,\nAgainst his will, of very ignorance,\nAnd execute the fatal purveyance,\nUp from the dream with his spear of steel,\nWhich Vulixes considers never adequately,\nNor to any one, has suspicion,\nBut to his son, called Thelamon,\nWho is closed and shut up in a tower,\nAnd Vulixes, with cost and great labor,\nFrom day to day, does his business,\nFor himself, to make a fortress,\nBuilt on a rock of lime and square stones,\nDeep dyked about, for the nones,\nSo that no man may enter on any side,\nWhere he casts all his life to abide,\nNight and day, to watch upon the wall.\nThat no one should have entry\nBut it so falls that he be secret\nKnown of old and to counsel sworn\nNow as the story rehearses, the old fool\nThis dotard vexes\nA son had, begotten on Circe's\nFresh and lusty, young and courageous\nAnd he was called Thelagonyus\nBorn in the sea among the floods' rage\nThat was also to reckon his age\nFive and twenty years or thereabout\nBut of his Father, he was always in doubt\nWhat man he was or who it might be\nBeing thereof in no security\nUntil one day he was desirous to know\nIn his Mother, fell on his knees low\nBeseeching her gently and not spare\nOf his Father, the truth to declare\nWhat he was or where he should dwell\nHe besought that she would tell\nBut truly she, for long and many days\nOf prudence put him in delays\nUntil she saw she might have no rest\nSo importunate he was in his request\nAnd who she knew, there was none other but\nFrom point to point, she told crop and root\nOf vices and where that he was king.\nAnd he made no delay, but took leave, and plainly said he would see his Father.\n\u00b6The queen grew cold in her heart, but when she said she could not endure it, she besought him with cheerful countenance that he would soon return. And for that he sails onward on his way, without delaying the same day.\nBy many ports and through many a far country, he was brought to Achaya, a land of great renown. And he began to search through the region for the place and palaces of the prince where the king held his royal court. And he rode long in the country until he was taught where the king abode.\nThere lurked treachery in the midst of me. To that place, in haste, he began to pursue a great party that relieved him of his sorrow. And on a Monday, early by the morning, to the bridge he took the right way and found a porter, grim-looking. And humbly, he first began to pray him to convey me kindly into the court and make no delay.\nFor a message to the king, but proudly he denied him entry, and shortly said that he came too late to enter in any manner. And unwillingly began to despise him, froward in speech and malicious. But in all haste, Thelagonyus, as one with no fear in his heart, seized the porter by the beard and with his fist broke his jawbone, leaving him dead. And others also resisted him, but he proudly leaped into the flood. And when more came to resist, he seized a sword and furiously, in his anger, slew fifteen of them. He himself almost died and, weary, failed to breathe. And, finding his men at the entrance of the gate, dead and slain by full mortal hate, he took a dart in haste, standing opposite him. And cruelly cast it at Thelagonyus.\nDamage him not / for he delighted aside\nAnd he, for haste, would no longer abide.\nHe took up the spear / without further rest\nAnd struck the king / low beneath the breast\nThrough the ribs / shortly to see\nOf the wound / that he must die\nHaving then / no opening\nThat he was king / nor suspicion\nNor that he had / his own father's slave\nWhich quickly / began to draw near his end\nHis wound was / so deadly and so keen\nThat he could / not sustain himself\nBut pale and wan / to the ground sank\nHis men about / on every side\nWere busy / to help him and relieve\nBut his pain / grew so acute and grievous\nThat he well felt / that he must be dead\nBut, breaking through / as he lifted up his head\nHaving yet / mind and good reason\nRemembered / how it was told out of fear\nThat one / who was next of his kin\nDescended down / from his own line\nHis swoon shall / perform the deed\nAccomplish it / with a dart of steel\nAnd because he could / not conceive it well\nWhat he was or who it should be, he summoned at once to his men. Without harm or any violence, let the young man who stood at the gate, with so much blood shed that day, come before me. When he was brought before Vlixes, he inquired of him and sought to know:\n\nFirstly, of his kin, and next of his country.\n\"Certainly,\" he said, \"I was born at sea,\nAmong fish, mid the green waves.\nAnd my mother was a queen,\nCalled Circe, of whom the name is known.\nBoth east and west, and right by the south.\nAnd I also said, my father was a king\nWho begat me at his homecoming\nFrom Troy town, toward his country.\nAnd as my mother, Circe, told me,\nSecretly, that he was Vlixes,\nDesiring to see him, I entered this mighty region,\nAnd have pursued to this dungeon,\nOnly in hope, my father to see.\nBut I see well, my labor is in vain,\nAnd since in truth, my journey is lost,\nAnd it may in no way avail.\"\nIt is folly longer here to dwell\nLo, here is all that I can tell\nOf my kindred, ask me no more\nWith that vixen gan to sigh sore\nFor lack of blood, as he that was full pale\nAnd said anon when he heard his tale\nNow I well know my woeful destiny\nFulfilled is, it may none other be\nNow I well know that it is too late\nTo grutch or strive against my pitiful fate\nFor my son, as clerks once told\nHas made an end of my old days\nThereon expecting, with pains most grievous\nAnd with that word, Thelagonyus\nWhen he knew, against nature's law\nThat he alas had his Father slave\nWho in that land long bore his crown\nWithout abode, he filled anon a swoon\nHis clothes rent, his yellow he rent to tear\nAlas, said he, that ever I was born\nFor cursed is my woeful destiny\nAnd my Fortune, which I may not flee\nCursed my sort, cursed my adventure\nAnd I refuse of every creature\nForwaryed also my disposition\nAnd cursed is my constellation\nCursed also and infortunated.\nThe hour in which my father begat me, God so willed, without further delay, to forgive him if I were dead. To lay down my life for his death I was willing, and when the king saw his great sorrow and knew he was the son of Circe, by many signs revealed before, he forgave him his death as much as he could, for lack and want of breath. His passion was so importunate. His son was named Thelagon. Who had been in prison for so many days. He was summoned to his presence in all haste. When he saw his father in such a state, on the point of death, and also knew by whom he had received his last deadly wound, he drew a sword and was about to run at Thelagonyus in high spite, avenging his father. But Vulixis, out of fatherly pity, held him and restrained him. And amidst all his grievous pain, by his prudence, it was done at once. He made his sons one and gave them in charge to Thelamon.\nOf eternity and affection,\nAnd of whole heart, feigned never adequately,\nHe lived his life to love his brother's wellbeing,\nTo part with him, treasure and good as with the next born of all his blood,\nAnd though in truth, it was not longer delayed,\nVixes was carried royalty to the chief city of Achaya,\nAnd after that, lived days three,\nWithout more, and then gave up the ghost,\nI cannot plainly say to what cost,\nAfter this life, that his soul is gone,\nBut in tomb, of metal and of stone,\nThe body was closed and lies,\nAnd after that, no let,\nThat Thelamon was crowned with great solemnity,\nIn his Father's sight,\nSword and scepter delivered to his hand,\nOf Achaya, a full worthy land,\nRight abundant, of treasure and of good,\nAnd Thelagon with him there abode,\nA year completed, well cherished in his sight,\nAnd of his brother, took the order of knighthood,\nAnd for himself, no longer there wished to abide,\nThe king wisely began to provide,\nThat he with gold, great treasure and plenty.\nRepaired is home to his country\nAnd his mother of age grew sad,\nOf his return she was passing glad,\nAs she who saw by her sorcery,\nHe escaped was from many a jousting,\nMany perils and many great distress,\nAnd after that she fell into sickness,\nAnd her debt yielded to nature,\nWhose escape may no creature\nIn all this world that is here living\nAfter whose death her son was made king\nOf Anlydos the marvelous country\nAs I have told enclosed with a sea,\nAmong rocks where many ships drown,\nAnd sixty years there he bore his crown,\nThis manly man Thelagonyus,\nAnd his brother Thelamonyus,\nReigned also in their region,\nSeventy winters as is mentioned,\nAnd after that they made a royal end,\nAnd both two to Iubyter they went\nTo reign there among the stars bright,\nBut now the lantern and the clear light\nIs wasted out of Frygyus Darete,\nOnce of Troye writer and poet,\nI have no guide further to pass,\nFor even here in this selfsame place.\nHe fought at the boundaries of his style, at the siege he presented himself the whole while, and remained with them. The Greek, Dares, was on the other side, and both of them, in their writings, did not vary, but in a little thing concerning matter that is notable or historical. I do not force the inclusion of small incidents, of which the tale is but little. Save this Dares makes mention of, the number slain at the town, persisting in the siege, affirming it out of fear. Eight hundred thousand and six were there dead. On the Greek side, up right in the field, and, as Dares also saw, six hundred thousand seven and sixty were slain on the Trojan side, with those who came to help the city. From many costs and many kingdoms, in difference and risks of the town, and for ten years, as I can cast, and six months, the mighty siege lasted. Or it was gained, Dares writes himself, and over more, complete days twelve.\nThe Greeks had full possession\nBy false engine of the Greek Synon,\nJust as before was rehearsed but late,\nI have no more of Latin to translate.\nAfter Dites, Dares, nor Guydo,\nAnd I to add any more thereto,\nThan my authors specify and say,\nThe occupation was in vain,\nLike a manner of presumption,\nAnd time completed of this translation,\nBy just reckoning and a countess clear,\nWas a thousand and four hundred years,\nAnd twenty near, I know out of fear.\nAfter Christ received our manhood,\nOf her that was Empress and queen,\nOf heaven and hell, and a maid clean,\nThe eight year, by computation,\nSinging after the Coronation,\nOf him that is most gracious in working,\nHerry the fifth, the noble worthy king,\nAnd protector of Albion's Brutus,\nAnd called is through his heir and lineage,\nThrough his prowess and his chivalry,\nAlso far as passes cloud or sky,\nOf Normandy, the mighty conqueror,\nFor through his knighthood and diligent labor.\nDespite all who wished to witness it,\nHe has conquered back his heritage again,\nAnd by his mighty and prudent governance,\nHe also recovered true title of France,\nWhoever looks and unfolds the pages of old chronicles,\nAnd searches for writings long before,\nHe will find that he is justly born\nTo reign in France by lineal descent,\nAnd now advances, he is made regent\nOf that land during his father's life,\nBy his goodness to prevent war and strife,\nHe rejoices without further delay\nScepter and crown after the king's day,\nAs it is clearly stated in the convention:\nThen I hope the fortunate time of the old world,\nCalled the Golden Age,\nWill return,\nBy the influence of grace,\nThat cruel Mars will no longer menace,\nWith his furious and mad looks,\nBy false aspects, to shed blood\nBetween the peoples of these realms,\nWhich every man ought to complain,\nBut as I trust in my opinion,\nThis worthy king of wisdom and reason.\nAnd of knighthood, shall one do his pain\nTo make one who long has been two\nI mean this: England and France\nMay be all one, without variation\nFrom hearts, old rancor to increase\nBy influence, of his mighty grace\nCalled the sovereign lord and prince of peace\nAnd I hope, his grace shall now reign\nTo set rest between these realms two\nFor in his power truly stands all\nAnd alliance of the royal blood\nTied up by bond of marriage\nOf war shall void away the rage\nTo make peace with bright beams shine\nAnd one who is called Catherine\nAnd named is, right good and fair also\nShall be a means between both two\nOf grace imprinted in her womanhood\nThat to complain, we shall have no need\nAnd I hope, her gracious arrival\nInto this land, shall so much avail\nJoy, honor, and prosperity\nWithout trouble, of all adversity\nRepeat and all her heartily pleasure\nPlenty, welfare, and fullsome abundance.\nPeas and quiet, both near and far,\nWithout strife, debate, or any war,\nMischief, poverty, need, or indigence,\nWith full ceasing, of death and pestilence,\nIndeed, all this, I hope you shall see,\nCome into land, with this noble queen,\nThat we shall say, from heart and feign naught,\nBlessed be she, who has brought us all this,\nAnd he who has, through his mighty working,\nOf his knighthood, concluded all this thing,\nAnd such marvels, in arms, done and wrought,\nAnd his purpose, fully about, brought,\nOf high wisdom, set in his inward sight,\nRejoicing all, that belongs to his right,\nAnd highest seat, of worthiness in glory,\nWith the Scepter, of conquest and victory,\nI pray God, only for his best,\nWhen he has all, set in peace and rest,\nAnd is fully possessed, of all that belongs to his subjects,\nTo send him home, with as great honor,\nAs ever yet had, any conqueroor,\nLong after, in joy and in quiet,\nTo reign, in his royal seat,\nThus shall I ever, there is no more to say.\nDay and night, for my example I pray,\nOf faithful heart and whole intent,\nOnce commanded me, long ago, in his time,\nNot yours ago, in his father's time,\nThe siege of Troy, in my manner to rhyme,\nMost for his sake, to speak in particular,\nThough I be boisterous and rural,\nHe gave me charge, this story to translate,\nRude of knowledge, called John Lydgate,\nBegin, take up, an habit of perfection,\nAlthough my life accords not thereto,\nI feign not, I know not well it is so,\nIt needs not, witnesses for to call,\nRecord I take, of my brethren all,\nWho will not fail, at such great need,\nAnd all that shall, this noble story read,\nI beseech of support and of grace,\nWhere I offend, in any manner place,\nOr where so ever, that they find error,\nOf gentleness, to show his favor,\nBenignly, for to do their pain,\nTo correct, rather, than disdain,\nFor well I know, much thing is wrong,\nFalsely metered, both of short and long,\nAnd if they should, have of all disdain,\nIt is no fear, my labor were in vain.\nLet ignorance and rudeness excuse me,\nIf you plainly all refuse my thanks,\nFor certain faults which you shall find,\nI doubt not, my thanks are not behind.\nIn metering, though there be ignorance,\nYet in the story, you find may please,\nTouching the substance of my author's write,\nAnd though it be that any word misses the right,\nAmend it with cheerful demeanor,\nFor an error, to hinder and appear,\nIs not said on purpose or with malice,\nIt is no dishonor to him who is wise,\nAnd no one gladly acknowledges a lack,\nSpecifically, behind at the back,\nHe goes all the way, who never had a fall,\nAnd I find not of new or old,\nFor to judge, there is none so bold,\nAs he who is yoked with unconjugal,\nFor blind Bayard casts pearls of no thing,\nUntil he stumbles in the middle of the lake,\nAnd none so ready for to undertake,\nAs he in truth, nor bolder to say worse,\nWho cannot skill on prose nor on verse,\nOf all such, who cannot be styled.\nFor those who say I am good or ill-written, my book is not directly for them, but for simple folk who have compassion and can amend a thing that hindrance never hindered. For he who was accustomed to good speaking in all his life, encountered no making, my master Chaucer found full many spots. He did not pinch or grutch at every blot, nor move himself to disturb his rest. I have heard told that he was never, to this day, alive, to reckon both young and old, who were worthy, his inkwell for holding. And in this land, if there be any, in borough or town, village or city, who can trace his steps, where he went broad or was shut in mew, to him I make a direction of this book to have inspection, beseeching them with their prudent look.\nTo race through and scrape out all my book,\nVoid and add where it seems necessary,\nAnd though it be that they cannot read\nIn this book, no new rhetoriques,\nYet I hope they shall find truth\nThe story plain, clearly in substance,\nAnd he who likes to see variety\nOf worldly things wrought by days old,\nIn this book, he may full well behold\nChange of Fortune in her course mutable,\nSometimes or not, faithfull or stable,\nLords, Princes, suddenly brought in adversity,\nAnd kings also plunged in poverty,\nAnd for fear, dwelling in desert,\nUnwarranted slaughter, compassed by envy,\nMurder executed by conspiracy,\nAway lying falsehood and treason,\nAnd of kingdom, sudden every change,\nBawdish behaviour of women for delight,\nThe root of the war and mortal spite,\nFalse maintenance of armies,\nMany worthy causing for to die,\nSin ever concluding, who so takes heed,\nVengeance unwarranted for his final reward.\nVO declare, that in all worldly lust,\nWho looks for right is but little trusted,\nAs in this book you shall find,\nIf you wish, impress it in your mind,\nHow all passes and halt there no succor,\nWasting away, as does a summer flower,\nRich and poor, of every manner of age,\nFor our life here is but a pilgrimage,\nMeant with labor and much woe,\nIf men would, beforehand prudently avert,\nLittle joy they should have in their heart,\nTo set their trust in any worldly thing,\nFor there is neither Prince, lord, nor king,\nBy example of Troy, like as you may see,\nThat in this life may have full security,\nTherefore to him who suffers on the cross,\nEnduring death for our all good,\nLift up your hearts & think on him among,\nFor be you never so mighty or strong,\nWithout him, all may not avail,\nFor he can give victory in battle,\nAnd hold a field shortly to conclude,\nWith a few, against great multitude,\nAnd by grace, he makes princes strong,\nAnd worthy kings, to reign long.\nAnd suddenly oppresses Tyrantes all, through the down for their great riches. In his hand, he reserves power, each to acquit like as he deems fit. To whom I pray, with devotion, with all my heart and whole affection, that he may grant long continuance, prosperity, and good perseverance, health, welfare, victory, and honor to that noble, mighty conqueror, Henry the father, before specified. So that his name may be magnified here in this life up to the stars clear, and afterward above the ninth sphere, when he is dead, for a place. This prayer I ask God for to send him, at whose bidding, as I told late. First, I began the siege to translate, and now I have, in his honor, executed the fine of my labor. To all that shall read this story, with humble heart and all humility, this little book I lowly betake, it to support, and thus an end I make. Laus deo. Most worthy Prince of knighthood, sources and well.\nWhose high renown shines through the world,\nExcelled by all in manhood,\nEqual in merit to the worthy nine,\nBorn also by descent of line,\nAs rightful heir by title to attain,\nTo bear the crown of worthy realm twice,\nAnd also far as Phoebus in his sphere,\nFrom east to west, he sheds his bright beams,\nAnd Lucina, with ashrouded cheer,\nGoes compass round with her pale light,\nThou art renowned as the best knight,\nTo be registered worthy as of name,\nIn the highest place of the house of fame,\nTo hold a palm of knighthood in thy hand,\nFor worthiness and for high victory,\nAs thou that art dreaded on sea and land,\nAnd evermore with laud, honor and glory,\nFor just conquest to be put in memory,\nWith a crown made of laurel green,\nUpon thy head before that famous queen,\nWhom once ordained only for conquerors,\nSteadfast of heart with long perseverance,\nAnd gave not up till they were victors,\nEmpires take for no sudden chance.\nWhose name flowers anew with remembrance,\nAnd fades not of years yore gone,\nAmongst whom thou mayst be set for one,\nFor through the world in many region,\nReported is, with fame that flies wide,\nThat naturally, thy condition\nOn thing begun, is knightly to abide,\nAnd for the time, manly set aside,\nRest and ease, what cost thereon be spent,\nTill thou have achieved the fine of thy intent,\nMost circumspect and passing auise,\nAll thy works conveyed with prudence,\nSad and demure, like to Joshua,\nAgainst whose sword is no resistance,\nAnd hast also heavenly influence,\nOnly by grace, thy people to govern,\nMercy meant with thy magnanimity,\nOn all oppressed, for to have pity,\nAnd of rebels, by manly violence,\nAbate canst the great cruelty,\nAnd so with David, thou hast kingly pity,\nAnd high prowess with Julius Caesar,\nIn his time, most victoryous,\nAnd manly holdest in thy hands two,\nWho can behold by clear inspection.\nThe sword of knighthood / thy scepter also\nThe tone to bring / to subjection\nProud hearts / by false rebellion\nAnd with the scepter / to rule at the best\nThy true people / that can live in rest\nNow thou hast / manhood, virtue, and grace\nTemperance / freedom and bounty\nLowly I pray / with dreadful face\nDisdain not / benignly to see\nUpon this book / roughly made by me\nTo finish only / to agree with thine highness\nAnd remember / upon my simplicity\nAnd in thy noble / kingly discretion\nConsider and see / my sovereign lord most dear\nOf thine influence / famous wisdom\nThat Christ Jesus / received with good cheer\nThe two Monasteries / you of heart enter\nBy the widow / which of will and of thought\nGave all her good / & kept herself right nothing\nBy which example / so that it not offend\nThrough my unskillfulness / to thy high noblesse\nLet good will / my little gift amend\nAnd of thy mercy / and renowned goodness\nHave no disdain / of my bare rudeness\nAnd in making / though I have no muse\nLet true men meaning/ the surplus all excuse\nMore than good heart/ has no manner of worth\nTo present/ neither to God nor man\nAnd for my part/ to thee it is right\nThat I give/ as far as I can\nAye to persevere/ from time that I began\nWith will and thought/ for thine estate to pray\nWhich to conserve/ thus finally I say\nFirst of all/ Almighty God to come\nWith all that may/ be to His pleasure\nAnd to thy crown/ and thy diadem\nGrace and good ear/ with long continuance\nOf thy lieges/ faithful obedience\nAnd each virtue/ that man may specify\nI pray God/ grant unto thy regality.\n\u00b6Explicit Liber quintus & ultimus.\nOf him that is/ most excellent\nAnd be not hardy/ to appear in no place\nWithout support/ of his magnificence\nAnd who so ever/ in the find offense\nBe not bold/ for no presumption\nThy self arm/ aye in patience\nAnd the submit/ to their correction.\nAnd for thou art/ enamored with no flowers\nOf Rhetoric/ but with white and black.\nTherefore thou must abide all showers\nOf them that list set on the alarm\nAnd when thou art most likely go to wreck\nAgainst them thine Error not differ\nBut humbly with draw and go back\nRequiring them all yis amiss to amend.\nHere ends the Trojan book\nOtherwise called the Siege of\nTroy / translated by John Lydgate\nmonk of the Monastery of Bery\nAnd Emprinted the year\nof our Lord MCCCCC.\nXIII.\nBy Richard Pynson / printer\nunto the king's noble grace.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "This part goes to him who gives first to the marshal: knowledge of it, and his body to be imprisoned and punished at the king's will. Every man must keep or cause to be kept his prisoner whom he rides with, neither in the host nor in lodgings, except under guard, on pain of losing the same prisoner. The first part is to him who accuses, and the third part is to the marshal, and also his body in arrest at the king's will. A prisoner must not go out of the host for ransom or for any other cause without safe-conduct from the king, his lieutenant, or the marshal, on pain of forfeiting the same prisoner to the king.\n\nEvery captain in like manner must present and show his prisoner to the treasurer of the wars, so that the king may be answered for his part, on pain of forfeiting the same prisoner to the king.\nAlso, the marshal from the sixth day to the sixth day's journey, the king's army must certify the treasurer of the war reserves of all such certificates, which will be brought to him by the captains or any other person, concerning his own as well as other prisoners taken by anyone in the host, certified to him upon pain of the king's indignation and forfeiting double the value of the said prisoners so named, and in the same way and under similar penalties, they and each of them shall bring in and certify all other prizes, goods, and cattle won by war.\n\nAlso, every man must pay his thirds to his captain, lord and master, and those who are not in the army but logging or hosting under the banner or pennon of their captain.\nIn order to forfeit his share of the winnings from the game to his captain and be imprisoned by the marshal until he has agreed with his master, and also for every captain to pay one third of their own winnings from the war, as well as one third of the thirds that each of their retainers will be answering to them, of which thirds and thirds of thirds, every captain will be accountable before the treasurer of the king's wars. Upon forfeiture of the said winnings to the king. No man is to give safe-conduct to a prisoner or to any other person, nor grant leave for an enemy to come or go out of the host, nor into the host, except the king, his lieutenant, or the marshal, if they have special commission to do so. No man is to break the king's safe-conduct, his lieutenant, or his said marshal having such authority.\nUpon pain of being hanged and quartered, and his goods and chattels forfeited to the king.\n\u00b6No man grant any pardon by writing or otherwise to any noble person, nor for the appearance of any courtier, except the king, upon pain of imprisonment and punishment at the king's will.\n\u00b6No man grant any pardon to any vendor, except the marshal and provost of the king's host, upon the same pain.\n\u00b6Every man going to the army or battle, of whatever estate, condition, or nation he be, except he be a bishop or officer of arms, shall bear a cross of St. George, sufficient and large, upon the pain that if he is wounded or slain in default thereof, he who wounds or slays him shall bear no penalty for it. And if he passes the bounds of the field, then he shall openly bear a cross of St. George with his captain's consent, upon pain of imprisonment and punishment at the king's will.\nAnd that no soldier bear any consequence but the kings and his captains, on pain of death. Also that no man make any roads by day or night, at the chieftain's command. Also that no assurance be made to castle or town. Also that no man be so bold to take or withdraw a servant from another who is in covenant with. Also that no man be so bold to take any children and bring him unto the king within eight days. His highness therefore desires and tenderly prays his said subjects to consider and understand that his swift progress in his said journey, the honor of his kingdom, and the welfare and security of the same are at stake.\nHis subjects stand under the observation of the said statutes; therefore, although it may be to the greatest harm and displeasure, yet he of necessity, when the case requires it, must see that the said statutes are executed, and the offenders punished.\n\nIn consideration of this, he earnestly requests and strictly charges his said subjects to have themselves in such a state that in no way they offend the said statutes, and to ensure they have no cause to excuse themselves from their offenses by pretense of ignorance of the said ordinances.\n\nHis majesty, above and beyond the open proclamation of the said statutes, has commanded and ordered, by various and numerous books conveying the same statutes, to be made and delivered to the captains of his host. He charges them to avoid his great displeasure by causing the same to be read twice or once at the least in every week in the presence of their retinue.\n\nHere ends certain Statutes and ordinances of\n\"War made, enacted and established by the most noble, victorious and most Christian Prince, our most dread sovereign lord, King Henry the VIII of England and of France, and lord of Ireland, with the advice of his noble and discrete council, for the welfare, security, good rule and safekeeping of his honorable lords captains and other his humble subjects, and also for those of his said Realm of France who will become his true subjects being in his most royal host against his ancient enemies of France.\nPrinted at the high commandment of our sovereign lord the King Henry VIII. By Richard Pynson, printer to his noble grace. The year of our Lord 1494 and 14.\"", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "A friar and a shepherd God who died for us all And drank both eyesel and gall Bring us out of trouble And give us good life and long Who listens to my song Or tends to my tale\n\nThere dwelt a husbandman in my country\nWho had three wives.\nBy process of time\nBy the first wife a son he had\nWho was a good sturdy lad\nAnd an happy one\nHis father loved him well\nSo did his mother never a care\nI tell you as I think\nAll she thought was lost by the road\nThat did the little boy any good\nAnd yet indeed it was but bad\nAnd thereof not half enough he had\nBut evermore of the worst\nTherefore evil she must fare\nFor ever she did the little boy care\nAs forth as she dared\n\nThe good wife to her husband said:\n\"I would you would put this boy away\nAnd that right soon in haste\nTruly he is a cursed lad\nI would some other man him had\nThat would him better chaste\nThan said the good man again\nDame, I shall to the same\nHe is but tender of age\nHe shall abide with me this year\"\nA man, stronger than he, keeps our net in the field, sleeping all day. He will come home, God shield him, and the boy will go to keep the beasts in the field if he can. The wife agreed, for I think it most necessary. In the morning, when it was day, the little boy went to the field, ready. He had no care for any man. He sang, \"Hey howe away, the mare,\" making enough joy. He went truly until he reached the plain. He ate his dinner there. When he saw it was poor, he had little desire for it. He put it away. Therefore, he was not satisfied. He said he would eat little until night, when he came home. As the boy sat on a hill, an old man came to him. The old man said, \"God greet you, good sir.\" The little boy said, \"I am very hungry. Do you have any food you can give me?\" The old man said, \"I am also very hungry. Have you any food to share?\" The child said, \"God save me.\"\nTo such a welcome, you shall be, the old man was pleased, the boy drew forth what he had, and said, \"Do gladly.\" The old man was easy to please, he ate and made himself comfortable, and said, \"Soon you have given me food. I shall give you things three. You shall never forget them. The boy said, as I believe, 'It is best that I have a bow. Birds for shooting. A bow I shall give you, that shall last all your life. And ever a like meal. Shoot therein when you think good. For if you shoot and wink, the prick you shall feel. When he felt the bow in hand and the bolts under his belt, he laughed. He said, \"Now had I a pipe. Though it were never so small, I would be glad enough. A pipe you shall have also. In true music it shall go. I do well to know. All that may hear it shall not themselves sterile, but laugh and leap about. What shall the third be? For I will give the gifts three. As I have said before, the little boy laughed.\"\nAnd said Sir, I have had enough, I will ask for no more. The old man replied, \"Your truth I pledge, you shall have that which I possess. Now speak, and let me see. The boy then said at once, \"I have a stepmother at home, she is a shrew to me. When my father gives me food, she would then check me and stare at me in the face. When she looks at me thus, I would she should let a rap go, that it might ring over the whole place. Then said the old man, \"When she looks at thee so, she shall begin to blow, all that ever it may hear shall not save themselves but laugh on a row. Farewell, said the old man. God keep thee, said the child then. I take my leave at thee. God that most best may keep both night and day. Gramercy, son, said he. Then he drew it towards the night, Iacke him home full right. It was his custom. He took his pipe and began to blow, all his beasts on a row around him. Thus went he piping through the town, his beasts following him by the sound. Into his father's close, he went and put them up each one.\nHomeward he went, straight to his father's hall. His father sat at supper. Little Jack espied him and said, \"Father, I have kept your net. I pray you give me some meat. I am hungry by Saint John. I have sat mealess all day, tending your beasts. My dinner was weak.\" His father took a capon's wing and began to roast it. He gave a piece to the boy and said, \"Eat, that pleased his stepmother not at all. As I told you before, she stared him in the face. With that, she let out a blast that startled everyone in the hall. It echoed throughout the room. They all laughed and had a good time. The wife grew red with shame. She wished she had been gone. \"Well shot, indeed,\" said the boy. \"How my lady lets pigeons fly.\" In truth, or ever she stopped, The boy said to his lady, \"Tame your bombard for shame. She was full of sorrow.\nA woman said to the good man, \"Go your way. I swear by my faith, your gear is not to borrow after this. A friar came to the house to stay the night. The wife loved him as a saint and told him her complaint. She had a boy within her, a shrew for the nones he was. He caused me much care. I dare not look upon him. I am ashamed by St. John's, to tell you how I fare. Pray you, meet the boy tomorrow. Beat him well and give him sorrow. Make the boy lame. The friar said, \"I shall beat him.\" The wife, \"Do not forget.\" He caused me much shame. I think the boy is some witch. The friar said, \"I shall teach him.\" The wife, \"Pray, do not spare him.\"\n\nThe boy arose on the morrow, went soon into the field to drive his beasts. The friar ran out at the gate, lest he came too late. He ran fast and blue. When he came upon a land, little Jack there he found, driving his beasts alone.\nBoy: God give you shame, what have you done to your dame? Tell me at once. But if you can excuse yourself, I will believe you and stay. Said the boy: What ails thee? My dame is faring as well as you. Why do you reproach me? Said the boy: Will you know, how I can shelter a bird and other things? Sir, I said, though I am small, I will strike this bird and give it to you. There sat a bird on a branch. Shot at the boy said the friar. I wish to see, he said. He hit the bird on the head, and it fell down dead. No further could it fly. The friar went to the bush to catch the bird. He thought it best to do so. Jack Soke his pipe and began to blow. Then the friar, as I suppose, began to dance soon. As soon as he heard the pipe, he acted like a madman. He leapt and danced about. The brothers scratched him in the face and other places. The blood burst out and tore his clothes bit by bit. His cope and his scapular and all his other vestments.\nHe daunced amonge thornes thycke\nIn many places they dyde hym prycke\nThat fast gan he blede\nIacke pyped and laughed amonge\nThe frere amonge the thornes was thronge\nHe hopped wonders hye\nAt the last he helde vp his honde\nAnd sayd I haue daunced to longe\nThat I am lyke to dye\nGentyll Iacke holde thy pype styll\nAnd my trouth I plyght the tyll\nI wyll do the no woo\nIacke sayd in that tyde\nFrere skyppe out on the ferder syde\nLyghtly that thou were goo\nThe frere out of the busshe wente\nAll to ragged and to rente\nAnd torne on euery syde\nVnnethes on hym had one cloute\nHis hely for to wrappe aboute\nHis harneys for to hyde\nThe breres had hym scratched so in the face\nAnd many an other place\nHe was all to bledde with blode\nAll that myght the frere se\nWere fayne awaye to flee\nThey wende he had ben wode\nWhan he came to his hoost\nOf his Iourney he made no boost\nHis clothes were rente all\nMoche sorowe in his herte he had\nAnd euery man hym dradde\nWhan he came in to the hall\nThe wyfe sayd where hast thou bene\nIn an evil place I went\nI think by thy array, Dame,\nI have been with thy son,\nThe devil of hell him overcome.\nFor no man else may\nWith that came in, the good man\nThe wife said to him then,\nHere is a foul array,\nThy son, that is the left and dear,\nHas almost slain this holy friar.\nAlas and wellaway,\nThe good man said, \"Bless me,\"\nWhat has the boy done, friar, to thee?\nTell me without delay,\nThe friar said, \"The devil sped him,\nHe made me dance against my will,\nAmong the thorns go better,\nThe good man said to him,\nHadst thou lost thy life so,\nIt had been great sin,\nThe friar said, \"By our lady,\nThe pipe went so merrily,\nThat I could ne'er blink,\nWhen it drew towards the night,\nThe boy came home rightly,\nAs he was wont to do,\nWhen he came into the hall,\nHis father bade him come hither,\nBoy, he said, \"Tell me here,\nWhat hast thou done to the friar?\nTell me without lying.\"\nFather he said, \"By my faith,\nI did nothing else as you say,\nBut piped him a spring,\nThat said my father would I hear.\"\nMary said the friar: \"May God forgive me, I beseech thee. I have done wrong. Yes, you are right, good man, by God's grace. Then the friar cried out, 'Alas!' and made great mourning, for the love of God, said the friar, 'If you will that he pipe here, bind me to a post. For I know no other redemption. And I fear I am but dead. I well know my life is lost.' Strong ropes they soaked in hand, The friar to the post they bound, In the midst of the hall, All who were at the supper sat, Laughed and had good sport there, And said the friar would not fall. Then said the good man, 'Pipe on, good son, Hardly when thou wilt. Father, he said, So may it be with me. Have ye had enough of merriment Till you bid me be still? As soon as Jack the piper took hold, All who were there began to dance and leap, When they heard the pipe, They could not restrain themselves, But hurled on a heap, The good man was not dismayed, But lightly leapt out of his chair, With a good cheer. Some leapt over the stock, Some stumbled at the block, And some fell flat in the fire. The good man had great sport.\"\nThey all danced together, the wife began to step,\nHer eyes kept darting at Jack, her tail began to crack,\nThey could scarcely speak, the friar himself was almost lost,\nFor knocking his head against the post, he had no other grace,\nThe rope rubbed under his chin, causing blood to run,\nIn many a diverse place,\nJack ran into the street,\nAfter him they leapt,\nThey could not stop,\nThey went out the door so thick,\nThat each man fell on another's neck,\nSo neatly out they went,\nNeighbors who were nearby\nHeard the pipe play so merrily,\nThey ran to the gate,\nSome leapt over the threshold,\nThey had no time to draw the latch,\nThey thought they had come too late,\nSome lay in their beds and held up their heads,\nAnon they were awakened,\nSome started in the way,\nTruly, as you say,\nThey stood there naked,\nBy that they were surrounded.\nThere was a great rout,\nDancing in the street,\nSome were lame and could not go,\nBut yet truly they danced.\nOn hands and on feet.\nThey boy said now I will rest, Quoth the good man, I hold it best, With a merry cheer. Seize soon when thou wilt, In faith, this is the merriest tale I've heard in seven years. They danced all in the same, Some laughed and had good game, And some had many a fall. Thou cursed boy, quoth the friar, Here I summon thee that thou appear. Before the official, Look thou be there on Friday. I will the mete and I may, For to order the sorrow. The boy said by God's oath, Frere, I am as ready as thou, And Friday were to morrow. Friday came as may be here, Iakes stepmother and the friar, Together there they met, Folk gathered a great pace, To hear every man's case. The official was set, There was much to do, Matters more than one or two, Both with priest and clerk, Some had testaments to prove, And fair women by your leave, That had strokes in the dark. Every man put forth his case, Then came forth friar Topias, And Iakes stepmother also. Sir official said he, I have brought a boy to thee, Who hath brought me much woe.\nHe is a great necromancer. In all other respects, his peer is not his father, as I truly believe. He is a witch, quoth the wife. I shall tell you cheerfully what she could blow. Some laughed without fail. Some said, \"dame temper your tail.\" You wrest it all in vain. Dame said the official, \"tell forth on your tale. Let not this deter you.\" The wife was afraid of another crack. That no more word she spoke. She dared not for fear. The friar said, \"so mote I the knave,\" this is long of the evil that thou shouldst speed. The friar said, \"sir official,\" the boy will bring us all together. But if you may chasten him, Sir, he has a pipe truly. It will make you dance and leap high till your heart bursts. The official said, \"so mote I the pipe,\" I will here now how you can play it. Iacke blew up to say the truth and made them dance all soon. The official leapt over the desk.\nAnd danced about in great wonder, fast\nUntil both his shynnes were all unveiled\nHe thought it was not the best, then cried he unto the child,\nTo pipe no more within this place,\nBut to hold still for God's grace,\nAnd for the love of Mary mild,\nThen said Jack to them all,\nIf you would grant me with heart free,\nThat he shall do me no villainy,\nBut depart even as I come,\nThereunto they answered all at once,\nAnd promised him at once right,\nIn his quarrel to fight,\nAnd defend him from his foe.\nThus they departed in that time,\nThe official and the summoner,\nHis stepmother and the friar,\nWith great joy and much pride.\n\n[Ends here the tale of Jack and the child.]\nPrinted at London in Fletestreet at the sign of the Sun,\nby Wynkyn de Worde.\nW\nSymbol for the numbers 74\nC\nWynkyn de Worde.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"},
{"content": "The book of courting and serving, and all the feasts in the year for the service of a prince or any other estate, as you shall find each office described following in this book:\n\nBreak that deer\nSlice the brawn\nRear that goose\nLift that swan\nSauce that capon\nSpoil that hen\nFreshen that chicken\nUnbrace the malard\nUnlace the cony\nDismember the heron\nDisplay that crane\nDisfigure that peacock\nVineyard the butter\nEntice the curlew\nAllay that partridge\nWing that partridge\nWing that quail\nMince the plover\nThey that pegion\nBorder that pasty\nThey that woodcock\nThey all manner of small birds\nTime the fire\nTier the egg\nChine the salmon\nString the lamprey\nSplatter the pike\nSauce the place\nSauce the tench\nSplay the brime\nSide the haddock\nTusk\nYou shall be butler and panter for the first year, and you must have three pantry knights: one knife for squaring treasure loves, another to be a chopper, the third shall be sharp to make smooth treasure. Chop your sovereign's bread hot and all other bread let it be a day old. Household bread three days old, trencher bread four days old. Look that your salt be white and dry. The planed wood of ivory two inches broad and three inches long. Ensure that your salt seller's hand touches not the salt. Look that your table clothes, towels, and napkins are fair, folded in a chest or hung upon a perch. Look that your table knives are fairly pulled and your spoons clean. Look that you have two tapers, a larger and a smaller, and wine cannels of boxwood made accordingly. A sharp gymlot and faucets.\nWhen you place a pipe on a brazier, do this: set it four fingers' breadth above the nether part upwardly aslant, and then you shall never rise. Also, ensure you have in all seasons, besides cheese, apples, pears, plums, grapes, dates, figs, and raisins, for the composition. Serve fasting with butter, plums, damsons, cherries, and grapes. After the meal, pears, plums, strawberries, hurts-in-the-throat, and hard cheese. Also, brandrels or pippins with caraway in confets. After supper, roast apples and pears with white powder and hard cheese. Beware of cow cream and of good strawberries, hurts-in-the-throat, and juniper, for they will make your sovereign sick. But hard cheese has these open properties; it will keep your stomach open. Butter is wholesome first and last, for it will drive away all poisons. Milk cream and juniper will close the maw and so does a posset. Therefore, eat hard cheese and drink Romney wine. Beware of green salads and raw fruits, for they will make your sovereign sick. Therefore, set not.\nEat an almond and hard cheese, but not much cheese without rye bread. If diverse dricks have displeased your sovereign, let them eat a raw apple and the dricks will cease. Measure is a merry custom and it should be well used. Abstinence is to be praised, whatever God is pleased with. Take good heed of your wines every night with a candle, both red wine and sweet wine, and look they reboil not or leak not. Wash the pipe heads every night with cold water, and if you reboil, you will know by the hissing. Therefore keep an empty pipe with colored rose lies and draw the reboiled wine to the lies, it will help it. Also, if your sweet wine pales, draw it into a rye vessel for lessening.\n\nRed wine, white wine, clarified wine, ose, capryle, capolet, reynesse wine, malmsey, bastard, tyro rye, muscadell, clarrey, rasps, vernage.\nTake verjuice, wine, and ypocras.\nPrepare ginger, pepper, rue, cinnamon, sugar, and torn sole. Then look that you have five or six earthenware jars for your ypocras to run in, and a perch that your runners may run on. You must have six pewter basins to stand under your jars. Then ensure your spices are ready, and your ginger well prepared or it be beaten to powder. Ensure your stalks of cinnamon are well colored and sweet. Cinnamon is not so gentle in operation, sycamore is hot and moist, ginger, ginger, long pepper, and sugar are hot and moist, sycamore, cinnamon, and red wine are hot and dry, torn sole is wholesome for red wine coloring. Now know the proportions of your ypocras. Then beat your powders each by themselves and put them in bladders. Hang your jars securely so that no jar touches another, but let each basin touch another. Let the first basin be of a gallon and each of the others of a pot. Then put in your basin a gallon of red wine.\nPut your powders in the first bag and let it run / Then put it in the second bag / Take a piece in hand and test if it is strong with ginger / If it is strong, add sinamon / If it is sinamon, add sugar / Let it run through six renners / Your ypocras shall be the finer / Put your ypocras in a close vessel and keep the receipt / For it will serve for sews / Serve your sovereign with wafers and ypocras / Ensure your composition is fair and clean / And your ale is five days old or men drink it / Keep your house of office clean & be courteous to answer each person / Do not give anyone a dowled drink / For it will break the scab / When you lay the cloth, wipe the border clean with a cloth / Take a fellow and hold one end, I hold the other end / Draw the cloth straight and lay it on the outer edge / Take the outer part and hang it.\nIt even/than take the third cloth and lay it on the inner edge / and lie down with the upper part half a foot broad / then cover your cupboard and yourself with the diaper towel / then take your towel around your neck and lay one side of the towel on your left arm / and there place your sovereign's napkin / and lay seven loaves of bread with three or four trencher loaves on the left side of the towel in your left hand / then take your salt cellar in your left hand and take the end of the towel in your right hand to bear in spoons and knives / then set your salt on the right side where your sovereign shall sit and on the left side set your trenchers / then lay your knives & set your bread one loaf by another / your spoons and your napkin folded beside your bread / then cover your bread and trenchers, spoons and knives / & at every end of the table set a salt cellar with two trencher loaves / and if you will wrap yourself.\nYou must square and proportion your bread, ensuring no loaf is larger than the others. Make your wrapper manly. Take a towel of two and a half yards long and fold it in half. Place it on the table. Take the end of the bread in one hand and wrap it tightly, placing the wrapped end between two towels on the table. Lay the bottom of the bread on top of the towels. Set the bread in its proper form. Once your sovereign's table is thus arranged, cover all other boards with salt trenchers and cups. Ensure each person is provided with basins, ewers, hot and cold water, napkins, cups, and spoons. Make sure your pots for wine and ale are clean. For the surname, make a courtesy with a cloth beneath a fair double napkin. Take the towel's end next to you and the outer end of the cloth on the outer side of the table. Hold these three ends together and fold them together.\nA plate should not pass a foot broader than it should lie. After meals, wash it with what is at the right end of the table. You must guide it out, and the marshal must convey it. He should look on each side of the cloth outward and draw it straight. Then, raise the upper part of the towel and lay it without any wrinkles. At every end of the towel, convey half a yard, so the sewer may make an estate reverse evenly. Then place the reversed end in the middle of the board and lift it before your sovereign, bringing it to each person in turn. When your sovereign sets, look that your towel is about your neck. Then make your sovereign a curtsy. Uncover your bread and set it by the salt. Lay your napkin knife and spoon before him. Kneel on your knee until the purpayne passes eight loves. Look that each person has a napkin and a spoon. Wait well to the sewer how many dishes are covered.\nThe butler and pantry boy should carry more cups than serve them properly at the table, so that every man may speak courtesies. Here ends the instruction for the butler and pantry boy, and others.\n\nThe sewer must sew and convey all manner of potages, meats, and sauces to the table every day. He must also understand and know how many dishes will be served and speak with the pantry and officers of the spicery for fruits that will be eaten during fasting. Then go to the table of sewing and ensure that officers are ready to convey and servants are available to bear your dishes. If marshals, squires, and servants of arms are present, serve your sovereign without blame.\n\nFirst, set forth mustard and brown potage, beef broth, stewed mutton, pheasant, swan, capon, pig, venison, custard, and leek pudding. For the main course, serve roasted venison, kid, hare, coney, bustard, stork, peacock with its tail heron, partridge, rabbit, and grete rablishes.\nButchers: larks, doves, pigeons, white loaf, leek, ambrosia (cream) of almonds, curlew brew, snipe, quail, sparrows, martinets, perch, pretty-faced quails, bake loaf, deer, fruit, dwarge\n\nHere ends the preparation of flesh.\n\nThe butcher must know the carving and the fair handling of a knife and how to carve all manner of fowl. Your knife must be fair and your hands must be clean, keeping no more than two fingers and a thumb on your knife. In the midst of your hand place the half unyielding your two fingers and a thumb carving bread, and the handling of crumbs with two fingers and a thumb. Look that you have it in check; never set on fish, flesh, beast, nor soul more than two fingers and a thumb. Then take your loaf in your left hand and hold your knife securely, not wetting the tablecloth but wiping on your napkin. Then take your trencher loaf in your left hand and with the edge of your table knife take up your trenchers as near the point as you may. They lay four.\nTake your knife in your hand and cut brine in the dish as it lies and place it on your sovereign's trencher. Ensure there is mustard. Venison with formality is good for your sovereign. Touch not the venison with your hand but with your knife. Cut it into twelve drafts with the edge of your knife.\nknife and cut it into the fourmenty / do in the same way with pork and bacon before chine and motoo / pare the bacon, cut the motoo / & lay to your sovereign / beware of fumosites / salt senna fat rest and raw. In syrup, feathered partridge and chickens / in the left hand take them by the pinions & with the forepart of your knife lift up your wives / then mince it into the syrup / beware of skin raw and senna. Goose, the malarde and swan, rise the legs then the wings / lay the body in the middle or in another platter / the wings in the middle & the legs after / lay the brown between the leg-wings & the wings in the platter. Capon or hen of Greece lift the legs that the wings & cast on wine or ale / then mince the wing & give your sovereign. Feathered partridge plow or lapwing raise the wings & after the legs. Woodcock bite, heron snipe unlace them break of the pinions neck & back / then raise the legs & let the feet be still then the wings. A.\n\nThis text appears to be a recipe from the Middle Ages, likely written in Old English or a similar dialect. I have made some corrections to the text based on the given requirements, but I have tried to remain faithful to the original content as much as possible. Here is the cleaned text:\n\nKnead and cut it into the fourmenty. Do the same with pork and bacon before chine and motoo. Par the bacon, cut the motoo, and lay to your sovereign. Beware of fumosites. Salt senna, fat rest, and raw. In syrup, feathered partridge and chickens: in the left hand take them by the pinions, and with the forepart of your knife lift up your wives. Then mince it into the syrup. Beware of skin, raw, and senna. Goose, the malarde and swan, rise the legs then the wings. Lay the body in the middle or in another platter. The wings in the middle & the legs after. Lay the brown between the leg-wings & the wings in the platter. Capon or hen of Greece, lift the legs that the wings, and cast on wine or ale. Then mince the wing and give your sovereign. Feathered partridge, plow or lapwing, raise the wings & after the legs. Woodcock, bite, heron, snipe, unlace them, break of the pinions neck & back. Then raise the legs & let the feet be still, then the wings. A.\nCrane raises its wings first and beware of the trumpet in its breast. Peacock starts and should stand with feet still. Quail sparrow lark martynet peggon swallows and thrush your legs first then the wings. Fawn kid and lamb lay the kidney to your sovereign and lift up the shoulder, then give your sovereign a rib. Venison roast, cut it in the dish and lay it to your sovereign. A cony (rabbit) lie on the back, cut away the vent between the hind legs, break the canal bone, then raise the sides, and lay the cony on the womb on each side. The two sides separated from the chieftain lay the bulk chain and sides in the dish. Also, you must mince four lesses (lessons) to one morcel (morsel) of meat, so your sovereign may take it in the sauce. Bake all hot meats open them above the coffin, and all that are cold open them in the middle. Custard check them inch square so your sovereign may eat of it. Doucettes (pigeons) pare away the sides and the bottom, beware of fumosites. Fruit.\n\"Vantage fruit is better than fruit pouches. Apples are good hot, and all cold fruits touch not. Tasse is good hot: words or gruel of beef or mutton is good. Gelter mortrus creme, almonds, blancmange, jussell and charlet cabbage, and nobles of a deer are good, and beware of all other potages.\n\nHere ends the provisioning of flesh.\n\nMusterde is good with brawn, beef, chine bacon, and mutton. Vergius is good for boiled chickens and capon, swan with cauldrons, ribs of beef with garlick mustard, pepper, verjuice, ginger sauce for pigeon and fawn, mustard and sugar for feathered partridge and coney, sauce gamelyn for heron, sewe egret plover and crane, to brew curlew, salt, sugar, and water of tame, to shoulard and byttre sauce for bustards. Woodcock, lapwing, lark, quail, merlin, venison, and snipe with white salt, sparrows and throstles with salt and syrup, thus with all meats sauce shall have the operations.\n\nHere ends the sauces for all manner of fowls and meats.\n\nON\"\nEvery day and thereafter at Pettycoat, after serving the table, there shall be set bread, three trenchers and spoons, according to the estimation of those who shall sit there. Serve your sovereign layman three trenchers / and if he is of a lower degree estate, five trenchers / and if of a lower degree, four trenchers / and if of another degree, three trenchers. Cut bread for your sovereign according to his conditions, whether it be cut in the middle or pared, or else cut into small pieces. Also, you must understand how the meal shall be served before your sovereign, and specifically on Easter day, according to the governance and service of the country where you were born. Firstly, on that day, he shall serve a roasted calf, blessed, / and then soft-boiled eggs with green sauce, setting them before the most principal estate. That lord, because of his high estate, shall distribute them all around him. Then serve potage, such as peas, beans, or beef broth, with capons that are colored with saffron.\nand bake metes. And the seconde course Iussell with mamony and rosted endoured / & pegyons with bake metes as tartes chewettes & flawnes & other af\u2223ter the dysposycyon of the cokes. And at soupertyme dyuers sauces of motto\u0304 or vele in broche after the or\u2223dynaunce of the stewarde / and than chekyns with ba\u00a6con vele roste pegyons or lambe & kydde roste with ye heed & the portenau\u0304ce on lambe & pygges fete with vinegre & percely theron & a ta\u0304sye fryed & other ba\u2223ke metes / ye shall vndersta\u0304de this maner of seruyce\ndureth to Pentecoste saue fysshe dayes. Also take hede how ye shall araye these thynges before your soueray\u2223ne / fyrst ye shall se there be grene sauces of sorell or of vynes that is holde a sauce for the fyrst course / and ye shall begyn to reyse the capon.\n\u00b6 Here endeth the Feest of Eester tyll Pentecoste.\n\u00b6 Sauce that capon. \u00b6 Take vp a capon & lyfte vp the ryght legge and the ryght wynge & so araye forth & laye hym in the plater as he sholde flee & serue your souerayne & knowe well that capons or\nCheckens are arranged after one course. The checkens should be sauced with green sauce or verjus.\nLift up that swan. \nTake and truss him like a goose, but let him have a large yard and look that you have a chaudron.\nRoast that pheasant. \nTake a pheasant and truss its legs and wings as if it were a hen, and no sauce but only salt.\nWing that partridge. \nTake a partridge, truss its legs and wings like a hen, and mince it, sauce it with white powder of ginger and salt, and set it on a chafing dish of coals to warm and serve it.\nWing that quail. \nTake a quail, truss its legs and wings like a hen, and salt it.\nDisplay that crane. \nTake a crane, unfold its legs and cut off its wings at the joints, take up its wings and legs, and sauce it with powdered ginger, mustard, vinegar, and salt.\nDismember that heron. \nTake an heron, truss its legs and wings like a crane, and sauce it with vinegar, mustard powder, and salt.\nVenison that [something]\nTake a bittern. Roast its legs and wings like an heron, with no sauce but salt.\nTake an egret. Roast its legs and wings like an heron, with no sauce but salt.\nTake a curlew. Roast its legs and wings like a hen, with no sauce but salt.\nRoast that brew. Roast its legs and wings in the same manner, with only salt and serve your sovereign.\nTake a cony. Lay it on its back, then raise the wings and sides, and lay bulky chin and sides together, sauce with vinegar and ginger powder.\nRoast that sarcell or teal. Raise its wings and legs, with no sauce but only salt.\nMince that plowman. Roast its legs and wings like a hen, with no sauce but only salt.\nTake a snipe. Raise its wings, legs, and shoulders like a plowman, with no sauce but salt.\nThose who want woodcock. Take a\nIn the second course for the meals beforehand, take for your sauces wine, ale, vinegar, and powders according to the meat. In the first course, serve motton (sheep) stewed with capons or roasted. If the capons are stewed, arrange them as described earlier. When he is roasted, cast salt on it with wine or ale. Take the capon by the legs and cast the sauce over it, break it open, and lay it in a dish as if it were fleeing. First, cut the right leg and right shoulder, and between the four limbs place the capon's brain with the crop in the end between the legs as possible. Bake other meats with this. In the second course, there will be potage, such as julliane, charlet, or morue with young geese, veal pigs, piglets, or chickens roasted with pain puff, trout, and other baked meats.\nordnance of the coke. The goose should be cut member to member beginning at the right leg and so forth, underneath the right wing, and not upon the joint above. It ought to be eaten with green garlic or sorrel or tender vines or verjuice in summer season, according to your sovereign's pleasure. Also, understand that all manner of fowl that has whole feet should be raised under the wing and not above.\n\nHere ends the feast from Pentecost to midsummer.\n\nIn the first course, potage was made with gruel and fourmenty with venison and morturn and pestles of pork with green sauce. Roasted capon and swan with chaudron. In the second course, potage was made after the ordnance of the cokes with roasted mutton, veal porke chineys or endured pygmies, heron sews, fruits or other baked meats. Take heed that the fesande is arranged in the manner of a capon, but it shall be done dry without any moisture, and it shall be eaten with salt and powder of ginger. And the heronsewe shall be arranged in the same manner.\nFrom the feast of St. Michael to the feast of Christmasse. In the first course, potage should begin with bacon or pestles of pork, or goose, capon, mallard, swan, or feathered game such as capon. In the second course, potage should include morter, conies, or sewe. Then roast meat: motton, porke, veal, pullets, chickens, pygons, teeles, weygons, mallards, partridge, woodcock, plover, curlew, heron, swan, venison, roast great birds, snipes, femetes (as aforementioned). If you carve before your lord or lady any sodden flesh, remove the skin above, and carve reasonably of the flesh for your lord or lady. Ladies are quick to anger for their thoughts change quickly, and some lords will be pleased and some will not, as they are.\nThe goose and swan may be cut like other fowl that have hole feet, or as your lord or lady asks. A swan with a capon or feathered cap ought to be dressed as previously stated, but the skin must be removed. When they are prepared before your lord or lady, generally the skin of all claw-footed birds is unhealthy, while the skin of all hole-footed birds is healthy to eat. Note that all claw-footed birds that live on the water have clean and healthy skins due to the cleansing effect of the water, and fish is their living food. If they eat anything foul, it is made clean with the water, and all corruption is removed. The skin of capon hen or chickens is not as clean because they eat foul things in the street, and therefore the skins are not as healthy, as it is not their kind to enter the river to void their waste. Mallard goose or\nThey ate upon the land foul food, but after their feast, they went to the river and cleansed themselves of their foul stench. A swan, as previously stated, but the skin is not wholesome, take the heads of all field birds and wood birds: partridge, peacock, woodcock, and curlew, for they eat in their degrees foul things like worms and such.\n\nHere ends the feasts and the carving of flesh\n\nThe first course: To go to sewing of fish, musculature men serve in porpoise or samon bacon, with green fish: pike, lampraye, salmon, porpoises roasted, baked gurnard and lampraye.\n\nThe second course: White and red dates in confit: samon dory, turbot, halibut, for standard bass, trout, molette, chevene, and lampray roost in gelly.\n\nThe third course: Fresh sturgeon, breme, perch in gelly, a jelly of samon sturgeon and walnuts, apples, and pears roasted with sugar and candy. Figs of malmsey and raisins, capon with dates.\nminced ginger/wafers and ypocras they are agreeable/this feast is done, empty the table.\n\nHere ends the cooking of fish.\n\nThe fish keeper must ensure the fish are cleaned and gutted. Check if there is a specific salt purpose or select turrentyne, and proceed according to the form of venison. Bake the herring whole on your sovereign's trencher. White herring in a dish, open it by the back, pick out the bones and the roe, and check for mustard. For salted fish, green fish, salted salmon, and conger eel, pare away the skin. Salt fish, stock fish, marlying makrell, and hake with butter, remove the bones and skin. Place the pike on its trencher with pike sauce enough. A salt lamprey, bone it flat in 7 or 8 pieces, and lay it on your sovereign's plate. Drain it, then cross it with your knife, cast on salt and wine or ale. Garnish with garnishes: gornarde, rochet, breme, cheuene, base, molet, roche, sole, makrell, and whiting, and pick out the bones and clean.\nthe refet it in the belly. Carpe breme, sole and trout, bring them together. Conger, sturgeon, turbot, thorpole, thornback, haddock, and halibut, cut them in the dish as you prepare about tench in its sauce. Else and lampreys, roast, pull off the skin, pick out the bones, put vinegar and powder. A crab, break it apart in a dish, make the shell clean and put the stuff back in it. Temper it with vinegar and powder, then cover it with bread and send it to the kitchen to heat. Then set it before your sovereign and break the great claws and lay them in a dish. A crevette, separate it, slip the belly out and take out the fish, pare away the red skin, mince it thin, put vinegar in the dish and set it on the table without heat. A jolly of sturgeon, cut it into thin morsels and lay it around the dish. Fresh lampreys, bake open the pasty. Then take white bread and cut it thin and lay it in a dish. With a spoon, take galantine and lay it upon the bread with red wine.\nPowder of saffron. Cut a gobone of lamprey and mince it thin, then lay it in a galantine. Set it upon the fire to heat. Fresh herring with salt and wine, shrimps well picked, flounders, gogions, menewes, and muscles, eles and lamprey sprouts are good in a sew. Musculade in words, oysters, oysters in gray menewes, porpoises, samo, and seale gellee.\nWhite and red cream of almonds, dates in comfits, pears and quinces in syrup with pepper, morus of hounds, sysse ryse standing.\n\nHere ends the cooking of fish.\n\nMusselarde is good for salting salt fish, salt conger, samo, sparingly, salt eel and ling, vinegar is good with salt porpoises, turrentine, sturgyo, salt threpole, and salt walley.\nLamprey with galantine, verjus to roach dace, breme, molet, base flounders, sole, crab, and chevine with powder of saffron to thornback herring, haddock, whiting, and cod, vinegar powder of saffron and ginger green sauce is good with green fish, halibut, cot.\nfresh turbot / put away your green sauce, it goes well with mustard.\nHere ends all manner of sauces for fish according to their appetite.\nThe chamberlain must be diligent and clean in his office, keeping his head low and so to his sovereign, that he is not reckless, and ensure he has a clean shirt, breechcloth, and doublet. Brush his hose within and without, and see that his shoes and slippers are made clean. In the morning, when your sovereign will arise, warm his shirt by the fire and ensure you have a footstool made in this manner. First, place a chair by the fire with a cushion and another under his feet, spread a sheet over the chair, and ensure there is a kerchief and a comb ready. Then warm his breechcloth, doublet, and stomacher, and put on his hose and shoes or slippers. Strike up his hose properly and tie them, then lace his doublet hole by hole and lay the cloth about his neck, comb his head. Ensure there is a basin and an ewer with warm water and a towel, and wash him.\nHandes/ place your hands upon your knee and ask your sovereign what robe he will wear. Bring him such a robe as your sovereign commands and put it on him. Then do his girdle around him and take your leave manerly. Go to the church or chapel to your sovereign's closet and lay carpets and cushions and place his book of prayers. Then draw the curtains and take your leave goodly. Go to your sovereign's chamber and cast all the clothes off his bed and beat the featherbed and bolster. But look you waste no feathers. Then see that the blankets and sheets are fair and sweet or else look you have clean sheets. Make up his bed manerly. Then lay the head sheets and pillows. Then take up the towel and basin and lay carpets around the bed or windows and cupboards laid with carpets and cushions. Also look that there be a good fire burning brightly. And see that the house is sweet and clean and the pretty board covered with a green cloth and a cushion. Than see that there be blankets done or cotton for your.\nsouvereign: Have basin and ever with water and a towel for your sovereign. Then take off his gown and bring him a mantle to keep him warm. Then bring him to the fire and take off his shoes and hosen. Then take a fair kerchief of linen and comb his head and put on his kerchief and bonnet. Spread down his bed, lay on the headsheet and pillows. When your sovereign is to bed, draw the curtains. Then see that mortar or wax or perfumes are ready. Drive out dog or cat and look that basin and ewer are set near your sovereign. Then take your leave manfully, so that your sovereign may take his rest merily.\n\nThe marshal and the usher must know all the estates of the church and the high estate of a king with the royal blood.\n\nThe estate of a pope has no peer.\n\nThe estate of an emperor is next.\n\nThe estate of a king.\n\nThe estate of a cardinal.\n\nThe estate of a king's son, a prince.\n\nThe estate of an archbishop.\n\nThe estate\nThe estate of a bishop, a marquis, an earl, a viscount, a baron, an abbot with a mitre, the estate of the three chief judges and the Mayor of London, an abbot without a mitre, a knight bachelor, a prior, dean, or knight, the estate of the master of the rolls, the estate of other justices and barons of the exchequer, the estate of the Mayor of Calais, a provost, a doctor divine, a prothonotary - he is above the pope's collector and a doctor of both laws, the estate of one who has been Mayor of London and a servant of the law, the estate of a master of the chancery and other worshipful preachers of pardon and clerks that are graduable, & all other orders of chastity persons & priests, worshipful merchants & gentlemen. An archbishop and a duke may not keep the hall but each estate.\nby themselves in chamber or in pauper's hall, neither seeing each other.\nBishops, Marquesses, Earls, and Viscounts may sit two at a table.\nA baron and the mayor of London, three judges, the speaker of the parliament, an abbot with a mitre, may sit two or three at a table.\nAnd all other estates may sit three or four at a table.\nThe marshal must understand and know the royal blood, for some lord is of royal blood and of small livelihood. And some knight is married to a lady of royal blood; she shall keep her estate that she was before. And a lady of lower degree shall keep the estate of her lord's blood. Therefore, the royal blood shall have the reverence as I have shown you here before.\nThe marshal must take heed of the birth and next of the line of the royal blood.\nThe marshal must take heed of the king's officers of the Chancellor, Steward, Chamberlain, Treasurer, and Controller.\nThe marshal must take heed of strangers and put them to worship and reverence.\nthey have good cheer it is your sovereign's honor. A marshal must take heed if the king sends any message to your sovereign and if he sends a knight, receive him as a baron. And if he sends a squire, receive him as a knight, and if he sends you a yeoman, receive him as a squire, and if he sends you a groom, receive him as a yeoman. It is no rebuke to a knight to set a groom of the king at his table. Here ends the book of service and carrying and showing and all manner of office in his kind to a prince or any other estate and all the feasts in the year.\nPrinted by Wynkyn de Worde at London in Flete Street at the sign of the Sun. The year of our Lord God. M.CCCCC.xiii.\nprinter's device of Wynkyn de Worde\nWynkyn de Worde", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"},
{"content": "In this land, and you shall remain still,\nI shall tell you a gentle tale,\nOf knights from this country,\nWho traveled beyond the sea,\nTo seek adventures both night and day,\nAnd how they tested their strength,\nAs did a knight named Sir Degore,\nOne of the best ever found,\nOnce in England there was a king,\nA noble man in every way,\nStrong in arms and under shield,\nDoubted greatly in battle and field,\nThere was no man more truly,\nWith him in struggle,\nWho could bring his foot from the stirrup,\nHe was so strong without a doubt,\nThe king had no children but one,\nA daughter as white as bone,\nThat maiden he loved as his life,\nHer mother was dead, the queen his wife,\nIn childbirth she died, alas,\nBut when that maiden reached an age,\nKings' sons desired her,\nEmperors, dukes, and other men,\nTo have that maiden in marriage,\nFor love of her great heritage,\nBut then the king answered them,\nNo man should wed her,\nBut if he could with strong justifying.\nThe king brought out of his saddle and lost his stirrups two. Many tried and could not do it right every year. A great feast he would hold on his queen's mourning day, who was buried in an abbey. So one day the king would ride to the abbey beside it to do dirges and masses, to feed the poor and clothe the naked. His own daughter rode with him. In the forest she still remained. She called her chamberlain and other maidens to her. And she said, \"Down I must alight.\" \"Better to amend and right my clothes.\" Down they all three were alighted: her damsel and she. A long time she stood there, till all the men had ridden away. They got up and wanted to go, but they could not hold their way right. The wood was rough and thick indeed. They took their way all in confusion. They rode south, they rode west, into the thick of that forest. And at last they came to a land. They were weary and wondered quickly that they had gone astray.\nAnd down the light everyone,\nThey called all in fear,\nBut there could no man reach them,\nThe weather was hot before noon,\nThey knew not what was best to do,\nBut laid them down upon the green,\nSome fell asleep as I suppose,\nThus they all fell asleep,\nSave the king's daughter alone,\nShe went about and gathered flowers,\nAnd to hear the song of small birds,\nSo long she did this pass,\nThat she knew not where she was,\nThe way to her damsels she would have known,\nBut she knew not how to come,\nThen she began to cry sore,\nShe wept and wringed her hands,\nAnd said, alas, that I was born,\nFor well I know I am lost,\nFor wild beasts will rend me,\nOr any man may find me.\nAnd then she saw a joyful sight,\nTo her came pricking a fair knight,\nFull well he seemed a gentle man,\nAnd richly clothed him,\nWell faring both in foot and hand,\nThere was none such in that land,\nSo stout a man as he.\nHe said, madam, God be with you,\nBe you not afraid of me right now,\nI have no arms with me brought.\nI have loved you for many a year\nAnd now I have found you here\nYou shall be my lover or I go\nWhether it turns to well or woe\nNo more to be done than you could do\nBut wept and cried and wanted to flee\nImmediately he began to hold her\nAnd did what he would\nThen before the lady he stood\nHe said, gentle and free, madam,\nI well know that you are with child\nWell I know it will be a knave\nTherefore, my sword he shall have\nMy good sword of amusement\nFor with it I slew a giant\nI broke the point in his head\nAnd in the field I left it\nLady, take it up, for you speak not with me for many a year\nAnd yet perhaps the time may come\nThat I may speak with my son\nAnd by this sword I may know him\nHe kissed his love and went then\nThe knight passed as he came\nAll weeping the lady that sword up named\nShe went away sorrowfully\nAnd found her maidens sleeping\nShe hid the sword as she could\nAnd called them up immediately\nAnd took their horses each one.\nAnd began to ride soon afterward. Then, at last, many a knight racing fast came. From the king they were sent to where they went. They brought them into the high way and rode fearfully towards that abbey. There was service done and all things. With many a mass and rich offering. And when that service was all done and began to pass the high noon, the king rode to his palaces. And much people rode by his side. When every man was glad and cheerful, the lady sang many a syllable. Her babe grew more and more. She wept and wringed her hands sore. So on a day she began to weep sorely. A maiden of hers took good care. And said, madam, for charity, why do you weep, you will tell me? Maiden and I will tell it before. And you me, I was but a maid. For I have always been meek and mild. And truly now I am with child. And if any man it knows under me, every man would tell in every place. That my father it wanted from me. For I loved never other man. And if my father it may know, such sorrow may his heart get. That he shall never merry man be.\nFor all joy is laid on me, and I told the damsel all in fear,\nHow the child was begotten on you. Now, gentle lady, grieve you nothing,\nFor still it shall be forth brought. Shall no man it write certainly,\nTruly, madame, but you and I. Time was come, she was unbound,\nAnd delivered both whole and sound. A man child there was born,\nGlad was the lady therefore. The maidservant served her at her will,\nAnd laid the child in a cradle. She wrapped him in clothes anon,\nAnd was all ready for to have gone. Yet was the child unto the mother hold,\nShe gave it 20 pounds of gold, and 1 pound of silver also,\nUnder his head she began it to do,\nMuch it is that a child behooves,\nShe put with him a pair of gloves,\nHeralds gave her them in a stand,\nThey would else on no woman's hand,\nOn children nor woman they would not,\nBut on his mother's hands they would,\nAnd bade the child no wife wed in land,\nBut the gloves would on her hand.\nFor they might serve nowhere,\nSave the mother that did him bear,\nA letter with the child put she.\nWith the gloves also perde (removed meaningless \"With the\" at the beginning of the sentence). She knitted the letter with a thread. Around his neck a full good speed (removed \"Than was it in the the letter wrytte\" and \"Who so it founde shulde it wytte\" as they do not add any meaning to the text). For Christ's love, if any good man\nThis woeful child finds,\nDo him be christened by priests' hand,\nAnd to help him to live in land,\nWith this silver that is here,\nTill he may bear arms,\nAnd help him with his own good,\nFor he is come of gentle blood.\n\nAnd when she had thus done,\nThe maiden took her leave full soon,\nWith the child in the cradle and all thing,\nShe stole away in the evening,\nAnd went her way she knew not whyder,\nThrough thick and thin in the brier,\nShe went all the winter night,\nBy shining of the moon light.\n\nThen was she readily ware anon,\nOf an hermitage made of stone,\nAn holy man had there his dwelling,\nAnd thither she went without delaying,\nAnd set the cradle at the door,\nFor she durst dwell no longer thore,\nBut turned again at none right,\nAnd came again the same night.\n\nThe hermit rose on the morrow though,\nAnd his knave also.\nThe lord said \"I cry for mercy. Now I hear a young child cry. This holy man unlocked his door and found a cradle in its place. He lifted up the sheet at once and looked upon the little boy. Then he held up his right hand and thanked Jesus Christ for his son. He brought the child into the chapel for joy and rang the bell. He laid up the gloves and the treasure and christened the child with great honor. In the worship of the Trinity, he named the child Degore. Degore, for it is almost lost, as a thing almost gone. Therefore he called this child so. The hermit was an holy man of life. He had a sister who was his wife. He sent the child to her willingly with much money through his servant. And he bade her should take good care of it, to nurse and feed it. I, Degore, was born in that city. The good man and his wife were afraid. They kept the child as if it were their own until it was ten winters old. He grew up to be a fair and bold child.\"\nWell-taught fair and kind,\nThere was none such in all that land,\nFor ten years had come and passed,\nTo the hermit they him sent,\nThe hermit longed to see him,\nThen he was a fair and free child,\nHe taught the child letters,\nAnother ten winters without more,\nAnd when he was twenty,\nHe was a man of great power,\nThere was no young man in that land,\nWho could withstand his strong hand,\nAnd when the hermit saw this,\nThat he would be a strong man in any work,\nAnd of his time a good clerk,\nHe took his flowers and his gloves,\nWhich he had kept for himself in his house,\nBut his ten pounds that were sterling,\nwere spent on the child's keeping.\nThe hermit gave him his letter to read,\nHe looked therein in that same place,\n\"Sir,\" he said, \"for Saint Charity's sake,\nWas this letter made by me?\nYou, son, by whom it is deemed,\nThus I found you and told you all,\nHe set him down on his knees, full of joy,\nAnd thanked the hermit many times,\nAnd said he would not rest in the land.\nUntil he had found his father,\nHe gave the hermit half his gold,\nAnd the remainder he folded,\nHe took his leave and was willing to go.\nThe hermit said he should not,\nTo seek your kin you may not endure,\nWithout a good horse and good armor.\nSir hermit he said in truth,\nI will have no other weapon,\nBut a battlement in my hand,\nWith which to withstand my enemies.\nA full good sapling of an oak,\nWith which he set a stroke,\nNo matter how tall a man,\nOr how good armor upon him,\nHe would bring him to the ground,\nWith that same battlement in that stance.\nThe child kissed the hermit then,\nAnd took his leave to go.\nDegore went forth on his way,\nThrough a forest half a day,\nHe heard no man nor saw none,\nUntil it was past the high noon.\nThen he heard great strokes fall,\nThat made great noise withal.\nFull soon he thought that thing to see,\nTo know what the strokes might be.\nThere was an earl, both strong and gay,\nHe had come there that same day,\nTo hunt for a deer or a doe,\nBut his hounds were gone from him.\nA dragon great and grim was there,\nFull of fire and venom,\nWith a wide throat and tusks large,\nHe began to beat upon that knight,\nLike a lion, his feast,\nHis tail was long and unmeasured,\nBetween his head and tail,\nTwenty-two feet without fail,\nHis body was like a wine ton,\nShining bright against the sun,\nHis eyes were bright as any glass,\nHis scales were hard as any brass,\nAnd he was necked like a horse,\nHe lifted up his head with great force,\nThe breadth of his mouth breathed out fire,\nAs if it had been a fire low,\nHe was to look upon as you tell,\nAs if a fiend from hell,\nMany a man he had frightened,\nAnd many a horse he had rent,\nAnd to that earl hard battle began,\nBut he defended himself like a man,\nAnd boldly struck him with his sword,\nBut of all his strokes, he was not afraid,\nHis skin was hard as any stone,\nTherefore he could do him no harm,\nAnd when Sir Degore saw the earl,\n\"Help, Sir,\" he said for Saint Charity,\nThen Sir Degore answered.\nThe dragon of Degore sighted Sir and God, and happily the dragon left the earl and came straight to him. The strong child took his long staff and struck the dragon on the crown, causing him to fall down. The dragon then immediately struck the child with great might on the right side with his tail, causing the child to fall into the water. He rose up again at once and defended himself with great strength using the long staff. He broke both of the dragon's feet and bones, which was a wonder to see. The dragon was so tough he could not die until Degore struck him on the crown with his strong staff, causing his brains to fly out. The earl was glad and thanked Degore many times, asking him to ride with him to his palaces by the side. There he made him a knight and gave him rent, treasure, and half his land. He wanted to seize it into his own hands.\nSir Degore thanked him truly and prayed him to let his ladies come before him, some wives and his daughter also. And if my gloves are for their sustenance or will be upon any of their hands, I would gladly give my lands. And if my gloves will not do so, then I will take my leave and go. All the women were brought out. Those who might be sought were tried with the gloves, but they did not fit any woman. Sir Degore took up his gloves at once and also took leave to go. The earl was a lord of gentle blood. He gave Sir Degore a good horse and, in addition, good armor that was both fair and secure. He also gave him a page and a hackney to ride on truly. Sir Degore was glad and thanked the earl many times. He rode forth on his way, many miles on a summer day. On a day, he met many people. He stopped and greeted them kindly and asked a squire what was happening and from where came all these people riding. The squire said, \"Sir, in truth.\"\nThey come from the parliament\nFrom a council the king made\nFor his daughter's sake\nBut when the parliament was most plentiful\nThe king let cry both far and near\nIf any man were so bold\nThat with the king he would\nHave his daughter in marriage\nAnd all his land and heritage\nIt is a land both good and fair\nAnd the king thereof had none heir\nBut certain there dare no man grant it\nMany one said they might not do\nFor every man that rides to him\nHe beats them with grim strokes\nSome he breaks the neck at once\nOf some he cracks both back and bone\nSome through the body he gnashes\nAnd some to death he strikes\nAnd to him may no man do anything\nSuch grace ever had our king\nSir Degore stood in a stupor then\nAnd thought he was a valiant man\nAnd I am in my young blood\nAnd I have horse and armor good\nAnd as I believe a full good steed\nI will try if I may succeed\nAnd if I may bear the king down\nI may be a man of great renown.\nThere is no body who knows what I am,\nDeath or life that shall become me,\nI will ride against him once,\nThus in the city he takes rest,\nAnd makes merry,\nSo on a day the king he met,\nHe knelt down and greeted him fair,\nHe said, sir, king of great might,\nMy lord has sent me to you, right,\nTo warn you of what is to be,\nMy lord will come and fight with,\nTo justice, my lord has no name,\nThe king said, he shall be welcome,\nWhether knight or baron,\nEarl, duke, or peasant in town,\nThere is no man I will forsake,\nWhoever wins, all may take,\nSo on the morrow the day was set,\nThe king asked much for the better,\nBut then there was no living man\nThat trusted much in Don Jorge,\nBut to church that time he went,\nTo hear a mass of the Trinity,\nTo the Father he offered a florin,\nAnd to the Son another fin,\nThe third to the Holy Ghost he offered,\nThe priest in his mass prayed for him,\nAnd when the mass was done,\nTo his side he went at once,\nHe armed him well in truth,\nIn rich armor, good at need.\nHis good steed he began to ride,\nAnd took his spear and forth did ride,\nHis knave took an other spear,\nAnd after his master did bear,\nThus in the field Sir Degore abode,\nThey king came with many a man,\nMany came there readily,\nTo see the justice truly,\nAll that in the field were,\nThey said and did swear,\nThat they never or that time saw,\nSo fair a man with their eye,\nAs was that young knight, Sir Degore.\nBut none knew what man he was.\nThey rode to gather at the last,\nOn their good steeds full fast,\nThe king had the greater shaft,\nAnd more he could of that craft,\nTo dash him down then had he meant,\nAnd in his shield set such a dent,\nThat his good spear all to burst.\nBut Degore was strong and sat fast.\nThen said the king, alas, alas,\nFor me befell never such a case,\nThere was never man that I might hit,\nThat ever might my stroke sit,\nThis is a man all for the nones,\nFor he is a man of great bones.\nThen took the king a greater tree,\nAnd square also might I he.\nAnd if his neck will not yield two.\nThe king rode towards him with great pomp,\nIntending to knock the child down.\nHe struck Sir Degore immediately,\nBefore the breastbone.\nHis horse reared up high,\nAnd Sir Degore was near falling.\nSir Degore thrust out his course,\nHe was very angry, in his mood,\nAlas, he said, I have missed again,\nAnd he has hit me twice,\nAnd never have I met him once,\nBy God, I will avenge it.\nThey rode together with great might,\nIn their shields they brandished their spears,\nTheir good spears all shattered,\nInto their hands with the stroke.\nThen the king began to speak,\nGive me a spear that will not break,\nFor he will soon be struck down,\nThough he be as strong as Samson,\nAnd if he be the devil of hell,\nI will soon bring him down.\nThe king took a spear firmly and struck,\nAnd Sir Degore took another long and strong,\nAnd struck the king steadily,\nThe king's horse lifted up its feet.\nBoldly he rode up then.\nAnd he seemed a good man\nThe king was out of his saddle cast\nWhereof his daughter was sore distressed\nThen there was much noise and cry\nThe king was sore ashamed for this\nI well know his daughter was sorry\nTherefore she knew readily\nThat she should be married\nTo a man of a strange country\nAnd lead her life with such one\nThat she knew never from whence he came\nThe king said to Sir Degore,\nCome here, fair son, before me,\nAnd thou couldst be as gentle a man\nAs thou seemest to look down\nAnd thou couldst wit and reason do\nAs thou art a doughty man,\nI would think my land well-settled\nAnd if it were five times the better\nFor words spoken I must needs hold\nBefore my barons who are so bold\nI take thee by the hand, my daughter,\nAnd see thee in all my land\nTo be my heir after me\nIn joy and bliss to be\nA reception was prepared\nTo the church door they were brought\nAnd there were wedded truly\nTo the holy sacrament\nLook what folly happened there\nThat he should wed his own mother.\nThe who had borne him on one side\nAnd yet he knew nothing of that time\nHe knew nothing of her kin\nNor she knew nothing of him\nAnd both together ordered to bed\nYet perhaps they may be suitable\nThus did Sir Degore the bold\nHe wedded his mother to have and to hold\nGod allowed much there\nBut yet he let them not sin in fear\nIt passed on the high tide of none\nAnd the day was near at hand\nTo bed were brought both he and she\nWith great mirth and solemnity\nSir Degore stood and held then\nAnd thought of the holy hermit\nThat he should never for this\nWed a wife or lady\nBut if she might the gloves two\nLightly upon her hands do\nAlas then said Sir Degore\nThe time that ever I was born\nAnd said anon with heavy cheer\nI would rather than all this kingdom here\nThat now sits in my hand\nI were fair out of this land.\n\nThe king heard these words and said, \"Why say so, my son?\nIs there anything against your will?\nOther has done or said that does the harm?\"\nOnly one thing that has been done\nTell me and it shall be amended soon\nA new lord he said then\nBut for all the marriages that have been done,\nI will not with any woman mingle.\nWife, widow, or damsel,\nBut if she could lightly upon her hands place\nTwo gloves,\nAnd when the lady began this here,\nA nun she changed all her demeanor,\nAnd all at once turned her mood,\nHer face grew red as any blood,\nShe knew that the gloves longed for her,\nAnd said, give me the gloves, fair sir,\nShe took the gloves in that place,\nAnd lightly upon her hands she placed them,\nShe fell down and began to cry,\nAnd said, Lord God, I ask mercy,\nI am thy mother that bore thee,\nAnd thou art my own dear son.\nSir Degore, take her up in your arms two,\nThen they were glad and happy,\nThey kissed each other many a time,\nThe king of them was greatly amazed,\nAt the noise they made without fail,\nAnd was ashamed of their weeping,\nAnd said, daughter, what is this thing,\nFather she said, will you hear it here?\nYou think that I was a maiden.\n\"Nay truly, father I am not he,\nFor it is twenty winters gone,\nThis is my son, God it swore,\nAnd by these gloves I it swore,\nShe told him all together there,\nHow he was begotten on her,\nThen spoke Sir Degore,\nSweet mother, he said,\nWhere is my father winning,\nAnd when have you heard of him anything,\nShe said by heaven's king,\nI can tell of him no news,\nBut when your father left me,\nA pointless sword he lent me,\nAnd charged me to keep it then,\nUntil the time you were a man,\nShe sheathed the sword quite,\nAnd Sir Degore drew it out,\nLong and broad it was,\nThere was none such in that country,\nTruly said Sir Degore then,\nWhoever owes it, he is a man,\nNow God of heaven keep me,\nNight nor day I will not sleep,\nUntil the time I may see my father,\nIn Christendom if he be,\nHe made him merry that same night,\nOn the morrow when it was daylight,\nHe went to the church to hear mass,\nAnd made himself ready to pass.\"\nWith no other man but my knight shall go,\nHe leapt on horse, the truth to say,\nAnd rode forth on his journey,\nMany a mile and far away,\nHe rode forth on his palfray,\nAnd ever more he rode west,\nTill time he came to a forest,\nWhere wild beasts went by his side,\nAnd birds sang there in full merry,\nSo long he rode till it drew to night,\nThe sun went down and failed light,\nTo some town he'd ride, fair would he be,\nBut none was on either side,\nSoon after he found a clear castle,\nA lady truly won there,\nA fair castle of lime and stone,\nBut other town there was none,\nDegore said to his knight that day,\n\"Shall we to that castle ride,\nAnd stay all night, we will,\nAnd ask for lodging for charity?\"\nThe drawbridge was drawn then,\nAnd the gate stood open also,\nTo the castle they made their speed,\nAnd first he stable'd up his steed,\nAnd then he set up his hakeney,\nThey found no corn nor hay,\nHe went about and began to call,\nBoth in the court and in the hall.\nIn the midst of the hall, a great fire burned in the hearth. A man, neither moved by love nor fear, observed this sight. One of Sir Degore's men asked, \"Sir, who made this fire?\" If he comes again tonight, I will wait for him as I am a knight. He sat down on the dead body and made it comfortable. Soon, he saw someone approaching the door. Three fair maidens entered, their hands bound at the knee. Two of them carried a bowl, while the other two charged it with venison, which was excellent. Sir Degore then stood up and blessed them. But they did not speak to the knight. When they went into the chamber and shut the door, a dwarf entered the hall. He was four feet long. His face was both great and grim. His head bore a yellow hair. But his eyes looked fiercely. He wore a green circlet, furred with blanched mermaids. He was well dressed and adorned.\nHis shine was that of a knight. He was large in both feet and hands, the largest man in that land. Sir Degore looked at him in reverence and did him homage. He made him busy to lay the board and set forth bread and also white and red wine. Torches he lit in the hall, all things ready for supper. And soon after, with great honor, a lady came out of her boudoir. With her came fifteen maids, some in red and some in green. Sir Degore followed suit and washed everyone. And to supper they went. The lady was fair and bright. In the midst of the desert she sat down. On either side sat fine maids. Fair and goodly as any living. By God, said Sir Degore, I have blessed you and not me. But you seem dumb by St. John. I shall make you speak and I can. Sir Degore, courteous as he was, went and sat before the lady. And when he had taken his seat.\nHe took a knife and cut a little meat. At supper, he ate so little that the maiden seemed the fairest lady he had ever seen. His heart and might were entirely focused on that lady who was so bright. When they had finished supper, the dwarf brought water into the hall. Then they began to wash everyone. Afterward, they went to their chambers. Truly, Degore said, and I will, to look at that lady in full. Whoever warns me, he shall leave or make a sorry cry. On the stairway, he named it, and soon he came into the chamber. The fair and bright lady sat up on her bed. She played sweet and fine notes on the harp. Her maids filled a pitcher with wine. And Sir Degore sat down to hear the harp's sweet sound. Through the notes of the harp, he laid himself down and slept in full. That fair lady of that night, she bade the gentle knight go cover himself and cast rich clothes about him. The lady went to another bed at last.\nSo on the morrow when it was day,\nThe lady rose and went to say,\nTo the chamber her way she took,\nShe said, \"Sir knight, arise and wake.\n\"The lady said, all in jest,\n\"You are worthy to have blame,\n\"For as a beast all night you slept,\n\"And from my maidens you took no keep.\n\"Then answered the knight so free,\n\"Mercy, madam, and forgive it me,\n\"The notes of thy harp it made,\n\"Or else the good wine that I had,\n\"But tell me now, my lady fair,\n\"Or I from this chamber will depart,\n\"Who holds this castle in his hand,\n\"And who is lord of this land,\n\"Whether you are maiden or wife,\n\"And in what manner you lead your life,\n\"And why you have so many women,\n\"Alone without any men.\n\"Sir, I would gladly tell,\n\"And you could it amend well.\n\"My father was a bold baron,\n\"And held a lordship of town and tower,\n\"He had never child but me,\n\"I am heir in this country.\n\"There have many a knight and squire\n\"Desired me long and yore,\n\"But then they were busy elsewhere,\n\"A stout giant full of pride\n\"He has desired me a long time past.\"\nAnd he is a knight with his skill,\nTo bring me shame and dishonor,\nHe has slain my men, each one,\nLeaving my dwarf alone,\nRight as they stood, she fell to the ground,\nAnd there she remained in that position,\nAll her damsels came to comfort her and lift her up,\nTo help her regain her composure,\nThe lady looked at Sir Degore,\n\"Fear not, fair lady, I am here,\" he said,\n\"I will lend you my strength,\"\n\"Then all my land I will give to you,\nAnd all my goods, and myself,\nTo be at your will, always and forever,\nAnd your lover to be,\nTo avenge me now against my enemy,\nWho was eager to fight,\nTo defend the lady's right,\nAnd to kill that other knight,\nAnd win back the bright lady,\nAnd as they stood, both afraid,\nHer maids came riding with heavy hearts,\nShe bade them draw the bridge quickly,\n\"For here comes your enemy,\" she cried,\n\"Or else he will kill us all.\"\nSir Degore sprang up at once,\nHe saw him through a window,\nHe was soon armed on horseback.\nA man as strong as he, none had ever seen\nSir Degore armed him to live\nAnd one from the castle he drove\nRode directly against the giant\nThey struck together with great force\nTheir good spears all shattered\nDegore was strong and stood firm\nBut his steeds' sides burst open\nThen Sir Degore fell to the ground\nAnd then he rose and laughed\nAnd drew out his good sword\nThen the giant said to him, \"On foot we will meet\nYou have said, Degore, that you have slain my good steed\nI hope to avenge that deed\nTo kill your steed is not my intention\nBut to fight with my fill\nAnd so they fought on foot in fear\nWith strong strokes on clear helmets\nThe giant gave Sir Degore\nHeavy strokes in great abundance\nAnd Sir Degore did the same\nUntil helmet and basinet split in two\nThe giant was greatly injured\nBecause he had lost a lot of blood\nHe struck upon Sir Degore so\nThat he made him fall to the ground\nSir Degore recovered quickly\nAnd gave such a stroke that knight\nIt struck the crown so hard\nThat threw his helmet and basinet, he made the sword go through his head. The giant fell down dead. The lady sat in her castle, and all the hold battle rejoiced at the sight. That would have laid siege to her, she was as glad of that sight as a bride of the day's light. Sir Degore came to the castle. Again, it was the damsel who came against him. She thanked him for his good deed and led him into her chamber. She set him on her bed and disarmed him quickly. She took him in her arms two times and more, and said, \"All my good I will give, and my body while I live.\" \"Gramercy, damsel,\" he said, \"for this you have granted me. But I must go into far country, to see more adventures. For twelve months be gone, and then I shall come to you.\" He left her with the heavenly king. The lady wept at his departure. Sir Degore rode on his way. He rode many a long journey, and ever more he rode west. Until he found a land in a forest. To him came preaching a knight.\nA well-armed knight on horseback,\nIn arms that would endure,\nWith fine gold and rich asure,\nThree heads were therein.\nThose of fine gold,\nAs soon as ever he saw that knight,\nHe spoke to him, not right,\nAnd said, \"Viviane, what do you here?\nIn my forest, to slay my dear?\nSir Degore replied with meek words,\nSir, of your dear I take no care,\nFor I am an adventurous knight,\nThat goes to seek war and fight.\nHis father answered and said, \"Safely,\nAnd you have come to seek battle,\nThen make ready in a moment,\nFor you have found your fellow.\nAnd then, Sir Degore, without danger,\nArm yourself to fight with your father.\nA good helmet for the nones,\nAnd well set with precious stones,\nIt might well be your own, safely,\nFor he wanted it once in battle.\nHe cast his shield about his sword,\nOf royal arms, good and dear,\nHis good steed he began to ride,\nHe took his spear and began to ride,\nAnd his man took another spear,\nAnd by his side he began to bear it.\nBut look what folly began that time.\nThe son rode against the father,\nBut neither knew each other right.\nThus they began to fight.\nSir Degore had the greater staff,\nAnd well he could use his craft,\nTo dash him down, had he gone.\nAnd in his shield gave such a bite,\nThat his good spear all to burst.\nBut his father was strong and steadfast.\nAnother course they took then,\nFor the son's sake,\nSo hard they struck together in truth,\nThat their horses' backs both broke.\nAnd then they fought on foot in fear,\nWith hard strokes on helmet clear.\nThus his father marveled at this,\nOf his sword that was pointed.\nAnd to him said at once, right,\nWait a while, thou gentle knight.\nWhere were thou born and in what land?\nSir, I was born in England.\nA king's daughter is my mother,\nBut I do not know who is my father.\nWhat is thy name then, said he?\nSir, my name is Degore.\nSir Degore, thou art welcome,\nFor I well know thou art my son.\nBy this sword I know thee here,\nThe point is in my paternity.\nHe took the point and set it to.\nAnd they agreed, both two.\nSo they have spoken together\nBoth the son and the father,\nUntil they are right well one,\nThe father and the son alone,\nSir Degore and his father dear,\nInto England they rode in fear,\nThey were both armed and well-equipped,\nAs becomes every knight,\nThey rode forth on their journey,\nMany a mile of that country,\nAnd on their way they rode full fast,\nInto England they came at last,\nWhen they might see England,\nThey drew there as they would be,\nWhen they knew where that palace was,\nThey were welcomed all and some,\nAnd they beheld over all,\nThe lady saw them over a wall,\nAnd when that lady saw that sight,\nShe went to them with all her might,\nAnd right well she knew them,\nAnd then she changed all her hue,\nAnd said, \"My dear son Degore,\nThou hast brought thy father with thee.\n\" Truly, madame, said he,\nI well know that it is he.\n\" Now thanked be God, said the king,\nFor now I know without doubt,\nWho is Sir Degore's father in truth.\nThe lady fainted in that place,\nAnd soon after securely,\nThe knight wedded that lady.\nShe and her son departed twinned, for he and she were nearly of kin. Then went Sir Degore, with the king and his men, his father and his mother, in fear to their castle, where dwelt that lady bright, whom he had won in fight and wedded with great solemnity before all the lords of that country. Thus came the knight out of his care. God give us grace to farewell. And may we all come to the bliss that lasts always on Doomsday. Amen.\n\nThus ends the treatise of Sir Degore. Printed at London in Flete Street at the sign of the Sun by Wynkyn de Worde.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"},
{"content": "For as last granted to every such person having lands, tenements or tentures, freehold copyholds: Ancient demesne of every person, man or woman, born under the king's allegiance, and every such person having goods or cattle to the value of \u00a340 or about and under the value of \u00a340, and every such person having goods, of every such person having goods or cattle, of every such person having goods or cattle, of every such person having goods or cattle, of every such person having goods or cattle, of every such person having goods or cattle, of every alien born made denizen and every alien and stranger not born under the king's allegiance and not made denizen having any lands tenements or rents, of every laborer, journeyman, artificer, handicraftsmen and servant, as well men as women, above the age of 10, of every laborer, journeyman, artificer, handicraftsmen and servant, as well men as women, above the age of 10.\nOf every laborer, journeyman, artificer, handcraftsmen, and servant, male and female, above the age of fifteen years, taking wage or other value of twenty shillings by the year or above, and under the value of forty shillings, are born under the king's obedience. Women covered by the mantle of a baron except.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"},
{"content": "A king of Henry the VIII's reign, when the king of Scots was removed. Northerne firm entanglement of perpetual peace between the kings' heirs, the Earl of Surrey, and him, had invaded this realm, spoliated, burned, and robbed various towns and places within it. He had also cast down and destroyed the Castle of Norham. Cruella had murdered and slain many of the king's liege people, coming to give him battle. And, despite being a king and a great prince, he requested that, for as much as he was, he would consent to this and tarry there. And for my lord's part, his lordship promised the assured accomplishment and performance thereof, as he was a true knight to God and the king his master. The king of Scots, hearing this message, renewed and kept out of him the said Ruge Croz Persenaught, and would not suffer him to return again to my said lord at that time.\nThe fifth day of September, his lordship approached the borders of Scotland at Bolton-on-Glade, and lodged there with his entire army that night.\n\nThe sixth day of September, the king of Scotland sent a herald to my said Lord Surrey. I lay in wait and demanded if my said Lord would justify the message sent by the said herald.\n\nIn this battle, the Scots had many great disadvantages, that is to say, high hills and mountains with them, and a sudden rain all contrary to our bows and archers.\n\nIt is not to be doubted that the Scots fought manfully and were determined either to win the field or to die. They were also as well appointed as possible at all points with armor and weapons, so that few of them were slain by arrows. However, the bills did wound and hew down Englishmen with some pain and danger.\nThe Scots were so determined to abide battle and not to flee that they put from them their horses and also doffed their boots and shoes, and fought in the waves / of their houses, every man for the most part, with a keen and sharp spear of five yards long and a target before him. And when their spears failed and were spent, they fought with great end, sharp swords making little or no noise, for the most part, without this, many of them would desire to be saved.\n\nThe field where the Scots lodged was not to be reprieved but rather commended greatly for its many and great number of good tents and much good stuff in the same. And in the said field was plenty of wine.\n\nHereafter ensues the names of such noble men as after the Field were made knights for their valiant acts in the same by my said lord Earl of Surrey.\n\nFirstly, my lord Scrope of Wpsall\nSir William Percy\nSir Edmond Harde\nSir George Darcy.\nSir William Gascoigne, the younger.\nSir William Medlton, Sir William Maleuery, Sir Thomas Bartley, Sir Marmaduke Constable, Sir Xpher Dacre, Sir John Hoothome, Sir Nicholas Appleyarde, Sir Edward George, Sir Rauf Ellercar, Sir John Wyliyby, Sir Edward Echit, Sir Edward Musgrave, Sir John Stanley, Sir Walter Stonner, Sir Nyiane Martynfelde, Sir Raffe Bowes, Sir Brian Stapleton of Wyghall, Sir Guy Dawny, Sir Raffe Salwayne, Sir Richard Malleuerey, Sir William Constable of Hatefelde, Sir William Constable of Carethorpe, Sir Xpher Danby, Sir Thomas Burght, Sir William Rous, Sir Thomas Newton, Sir Roger of Fenwyke, Sir Roger Gray, Sir Thomas Connyers, My Lord Ogle, Sir Thomas Strngewase, Sir Henri Thinaittes, My Lord Lumley, Sir Xpher Pekerynge, Sir John Bulmer\n\nPrinted by Richard Faques dwelling in Paul's Churchyard\nThe manner of tribute-paying of my lord Surrey, treasurer and marshal of England, and lieutenant-general of the northern parts thereof, with 26 men, to ward the king of Scotland and his army, was viewed and named to an hundred thousand men at the very least.", "creation_year": 1513, "creation_year_earliest": 1513, "creation_year_latest": 1513, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"}
]