1630

1640

Ful soth is seyde, that love ne lordschipe
Wol not, his thonkes, have no felaschipe.
Wel fynden that Arcite and Palamoun.
Arcite is riden anon to the toun,
And on the morwe, or it were day light,
Ful prively two harneys hath he dight,
Bothe sufficaunt and mete to darreyne
The batayl in the feeld betwix hem tweyne.
And on his hors, alone as he was born,
He caryed al this harneys him byforn;
And in the grove, at tyme and place i-sette,
This Arcite and this Palamon ben mette.
Tho chaungen gan here colour in here face.
Right as the honter in the regne of Trace
That stondeth in the gappe with a spere,
Whan honted is the lyoun or the bere,
And hereth him come russhyng in the greves,
And breketh bothe the bowes and the leves,
And thenketh, "Here cometh my mortel enemy,
Withoute faile, he mot be deed or I;
For eyther I mot slen him at the gappe,
Or he moot slee me, if it me myshappe:".
So ferden they, in chaungyng of here hew,
As fer as eyther of hem other knewe.
Ther nas no good day, ne so saluyng;
But streyt withouten wordes rchersyng,
Every of hem helpeth to armen other,
As frendly as he were his owen brother;
And thanne with here scharpe speres stronge
They foyneden ech at other wonder longe.
Tho it semed that this Palamon
In his fightyng were as a wood lyoun,
And as a cruel tygre was Arcite:
As wilde boores gonne they togeder smyte,
That frothen white as fome for ire wood.
Up to the ancle they faught in here blood.
And in this wise I lete hem fightyng welle;
And forthere I wol of Theseus telle.

1650

1660

1700

In which ther was an hert as men him tolde,
Duk Theseus the streyte wey hath holde.
And to the launde he rydeth him ful right,
There was the hert y-wont to have his flight,
And over a brook, and so forth in his weye.
This duk wol have of him a cours or tweye
With houndes, which as him lust to comaunde.
And whan this duk was come into the launde,
Under the sonne he loketh, right anon
He was war of Arcite and Palamon,
That foughten breeme, as it were boores tuo;
The brighte swerdes wente to and fro
So hidously, that with the leste strook
It seemeth as it wolde felle an ook;
But what they were, nothing yit he woot.
This duk with spores his courser he smoot,
And at a stert he was betwix hem tuoo,
And pullid out a swerd and cride, "Hoo!
Nomore, up peyne of lecsyng of your heed.
By mighty Mars, anon he schal be deed,
That smyteth eny strook, that I may seen!
But telleth me what mestir men ye been,
That ben so hardy for to fighten heere
Withoute jugge or other officere,
As it were in a lyste really."

This Palamon answerde hastily,

1710

And seyde: "Sire, what nedeth wordes mo?
We han the deth deserved bothe tuo.
Tuo woful wrecches been we, and kaytyves,
That ben encombred of oure owne lyves; 1720
And as thou art a rightful lord and juge,
Ne geve us neyther mercy no refuge.
And sle me first, for seynte charité;

But sle my felaw eek as wel as me.

Or sle him first; for, though thou knowe him lyte,
This is thy mortal fo, this is Arcite,

That fro thy lond is banyscht on his heed,
For which he hath i-served to be deed.

For this is he that come to thi gate

1670

The destiné, mynistre general,
That executeth in the world over al
The purveans, that God hath seye byforn;
So strong it is, that they the world had sworn
The contrary of a thing by ye or nay,
Yet som tyme it schal falle upon a day
That falleth nought eft in a thousend yeere.
For certeynly oure appetites heere,
Be it of werre, of pees, other hate, or love,
Al is it reuled by the sight above.
This mene I now by mighty Theseus,
That for to honte is so desirous,
And namely the grete hert in May,
That in his bed ther daweth him no day,
That he nys clad, and redy for to ryde
With hont and horn, and houndes him byside. 1680
For in his hontyng hath he such delyt,
That is his joye and his appetyt
To been himself the grete herts bane,
For after Mars he serveth now Diane.

Cleer was the day, as I have told or this,
And Theseus, with alle joye and blys,
With his Ypolita, the fayre queene,
And Emelye, clothed al in greene,
On honting be thay riden ryally.

For sith the day is come that I schal dye, I make pleynly my confessioun,

That I am the woful Palamoun,

That hath thy prisoun broke wikkedly.

I am thy mortal foo, and it am I
That loveth so hoote Emely the bright,
That I wol dye present in hire sight.
Therfore I aske deeth and my juwyse;
But slee my felaw in the same wyse,
For bothe we have served to be slayn."

1740

This worthy duk answerde anon agayn, And seide, "This is a schort conclusioun: Your owne mouth, by your owne confessioun, Hath dampned you bothe, and I wil it recorde. It nedeth nought to pyne yow with the corde. Ye schul be deed by mighty Mars the reede!" The queen anon for verray wommanhede 1750 Gan for to wepe, and so dede Emelye, And alle the ladies in the companye.

1701. boores tuo. Tyrwhitt, with most of the MSS.,

Gret pité was it, as it thought hem alle,
That evere such a chaunce schulde falle;
For gentil men thi were and of gret estate,
And nothing but for love was this debate.
And saw here bloody woundes wyde and sore;
And alle they cryde lesse and the more,
"Have mercy, Lord, upon us wommen alle!"
And on here bare knees anoon they falle, 1760
And wolde have kissed his feet right as he stood,
Til atte laste aslaked was his mood;
For pité renneth sone in gentil herte.
And though he first for ire quok and sterte,
He hath it al considered in a clause,
The trespas of hem bothe, and here cause:
And although his ire here gylt accused,
Yet in his resoun he hem bothe excused;
And thus he thought that every maner man
Wol help himself in love if that he can,
And eek delyver himself out of prisoun.
And eek in his hert had compassioun
Of wommen, for they wepen ever in oon;
And in his gentil hert he thought anoon,
And sothly he to himself seyde: "Fy
Upon a lord that wol have no mercy,
But be a lyoun bothe in word and dede,
To hem that ben in repentaunce and drede,
As wel as to a proud dispitious man,
That wol maynteyne that he first bigan.
That lord hath litel of discrecioun,
That in such caas can no divisioun;

1770

1780

That quytely were out of my prisoun,

1790

1800

And might have lyved in Thebes ryally,
And witen I am here mortal enemy,
And that here deth lith in my might also,
And yet hath love, maugré here eyghen tuo,
I-brought hem hider bothe for to dye.
Now loketh, is nat that an heih folye?
Who may not be a fole, if that he love?
Byholde for Goddes sake that sitteth above,
Se how they blede! be they nought wel arrayed?
Thus hath here lord, the god of love, hem payed
Here wages and here fees for here servise.
And yet wenen they to ben ful wise,
That serven love, for ought that may bifalle.
But this is yette the beste game of alle,
That sche, for whom they have this jelousye,
Can hem therfore as moche thank as me.
Sche woot no more of al this hoote fare,
By God, than wot a cuckow or an hare.
But all moot ben assayed hoot or colde;
A man moot ben a fool other yong or olde;
I woot it by myself ful yore agon:
For in my tyme a servant was I on.

1810

1761. The Ms. Harl. reads bare feet, which makes the line too long.

1785. eyen light. The Harl. Ms. has black and light, which makes the line too long, and the epithet black is evidently redundant.

And sythen that I knewe of loves peyne,
And wot how sore it can a man destreyne,
As he that hath often ben caught in his lace,
I you forgeve holly this trespace,
1820
At the request of the queen that kneleth heere,
And eek of Emely, my suster deere.
And ye schullen bothe anon unto me swere,
That never ye schullen my corowne dere,
Ne make werre en me night ne day,
But be my freendes in alle that ye may.
I you forgeve this trespas every dele."
And they him swore his axyng fayre and wele,
And him of lordschip and of mercy prayde,
And he hem graunted mercy, and thus he sayde:
"To speke of real lynage and riches,
Though that sche were a queen or a prynces,
Ilk of yow bothe is worthy douteles
To wedde when tyme is, but natheles

I speke as for my suster Emelye,

1831

1840

For whom ye have this stryf and jelousye,
Ye woot youreself sche may not wedde two
At oones, though ye faughten ever mo:
That oon of yow, or be him loth or leef,
He may go pypen in an ivy leef;
This is to say, sche may nought have bothe,
Al be ye never so jelous, ne so lothe.
For-thy I put you bothe in this degré,
That ilk of you schal have his destyné,
As him is schape, and herken in what wyse;
Lo here your ende of that I schal devyse.
My wil is this, for playn conclusioun,
Withouten eny repplicacioun,

If that you liketh, tak it for the best,

That every of you schal go wher him lest 1850
Frely withouten raunsoun or daungeer;
And this day fyfty wykes, fer ne neer,

Everich of you schal bryng an hundred knightes,
Armed for lystes up at alle rightes
Al redy to derayne hir by batayle.

1860

And thus byhote I you withouten fayle
Upon my trouthe, and as I am a knight,
That whethir of yow bothe that hath might,
This is to seyn, that whethir he or thou
May with his hundred, as I spak of now,
Sle his contrary, or out of lystes dryve,
Him schal I geve Emelye to wyve,
To whom that fortune geveth so fair a grace.
The lyste schal I make in this place,
And God so wisly on my sowle rewe,
As I schal even juge ben and trewe.
Ye schul non othir ende with me make,
That oon of yow schal be deed or take.
And if you thinketh this is wel i-sayde,
Say youre avys, and holdeth yow apayde. 1870
This is youre ende and youre conclusioun."
Who loketh lightly now but Palamoun?
Who spryngeth up for joye but Arcite?
Who couthe telle, or who couthe endite,
The joye that is made in this place
Whan Theseus hath don so fair a grace?
But down on knees wente every wight,
And thanked him with al here hertes might,
1817. And sythen that. Taken literally from the Te-
seide,-

Ma pero che gia inamorato fui,
E per amor sovente folegiai,

M'e caro molto il perdonare altrui. 1828. fayre and wele. The Ms. Harl. reads every dele, evidently a mere blundering repetition by the scribe of the conclusion of the preceding line.

2000

Was tonne greet, of iren bright and schene.
Ther saugh I furst the derk ymaginyng
Of felony, and al the compassyng;
The cruel ire, as reed as eny gleede;
The pikepurs, and eek the pale drede;
The smyler with the knyf under his cloke;
The schipne brennyng with the blake smoke;
The tresoun of the murtheryng in the bed;
The open werres, with woundes al bi-bled;
Contek with bloody knyf, and scharp manace.
Al ful of chirkyng was that sory place.
The sleer of himself yet saugh I there,
His herte-blood hath bathed al his here;
The nayl y-dryve in the schode a-nyght;
The colde deth, with mouth gapyng upright. 2010
Amyddes of the tempul set mischaunce,
With sory comfort and evel contynaunce.
I saugh woodnes laughyng in his rage;
The hunt strangled with wilde bores corage;
[The caroigne in the busshe, with throte y-corve;
A thousand slaine, and not of qualme y-storve;
The tiraunte, with the preye by force y-raft;
The toun destroied, ther was no thynge laft.
Yet sawgh I brente the schippes hoppesteres;
The hunte strangled with the wilde beres:] 2020
The sowe freten the child right in the cradel;
The cook i-skalded, for al his longe ladel.
Nought beth forgeten the infortune of Mart;
The carter over-ryden with his cart,
Under the whel ful lowe he lay adoun.
Ther were also of Martz divisioun,
The barbour, and the bowcher, and the smyth,

2000. pikepurs The pikepurses were, I believe, the plunderers who followed the army, and their introduction here is not so inappropriate as Tyrwhitt seemed to think. 2005. contek. I have kept Tyrwhitt's reading, supported by most of the мss. The Harl. Ms. reads kuttud, evidently by error.

2013. Tyrwhitt, with most of the MSS, has Yet saw I woodnesse laughing in his rage, which is perhaps the correct reading. The Ms. Harl. reads woundes for wodnes, and

here rage.

omitted in Ms. Harl., and in some of the other MSS.

I

2015-2020. These lines, given here from Tyrwhitt, art have corrected Tyrwhitt's orthography by the best of the two Cambridge MSS.

2023. infortune of Mart. Tyrwhitt thinks that Chaucer might intend to be satirical in these lines; but the introduction of such apparently undignified incidents arose from the confusion already mentioned of the god of war with the planet to which his name was given, and the influence of which was supposed to produce all the disasters here mentioned. The following extract from the "Compost of Ptholomeus." already quoted, gives some of the supposed effects of Mars. "Under Mars is borne theves and robbers that kepe hye wayes, and do hurte to true men, and nyght walkers, and quarell pykers, bosters, mockers, and skoffers, and these men of Mars causeth warre and murther, and batayle, they wyll be gladly smythes or workers of yron, lyght fyngred, and lyers, gret swerers of othes in vengeable wyse, and a great surmyler and crafty. He is red and angry, with blacke heer, and lytell iyen; he shall be a great walker, and a maker of swordes and knyves, and a sheder of mannes blode, and a fornycatour, and a speker of rybaw dry.... and good to be a barboure and a blode letter, and to drawe tethe, and is peryllous of his handes." The following extract is from an old astrological book of the sixteenth century:-"Mars denoteth men with red faces and the skinne redde, the face round, the eyes yellow,

horrible to behold, furious men, cruell, desperate, proude, sedicious, souldiers, captaines, smythes, colliers, bakers, alcumistes, armourers, furnishers, butchers, chirurgions, barbers, sargiants, and hangmen, according as they shal be well or evill disposed."

2027. Tyrwhitt has altered this line to Th'armerer, and the bowyer, and the smith. The barber and butcher, as well as the smith, were under the influence of Mars. See the extracts in the last note.

That forgeth scharpe swerdes on his stith.
And al above depeynted in a tour
Saw I conquest sittyng in gret honour,
With the scharpe swerd over his heed
Hangynge by a sotil twyne threed.
Depeynted was ther the slaught of Julius,
Of grete Nero, and of Anthonius;
Al be that ilke tyme they were unborn,
Yet was here deth depeynted ther byforn,
By manasyng of Martz, right by figure,
So was it schewed right in the purtreture
As is depeynted in sterres above,

2030

Who schal be slayn or elles deed for love. 2040
Sufficeth oon ensample in stories olde,
I may not reken hem alle, though I wolde.
The statue of Mars upon a carte stood,
Armed, and loked grym as he were wood;
And over his heed ther schyneth two figures
Of sterres, that been cleped in scriptures,
That oon Puella, that othur Rubius.
This god of armes was arayed thus.
A wolf ther stood by forn him at his feet
With eyen reed, and of a man he eet;
With sotyl pencel depeynted was this storie,
In redoutyng of Mars and of his glorie.

2050

2060

2071

Now to the temple of Dyane the chaste As schortly as I can I wol me haste, To telle you al the descripcioun. Depeynted ben the walles up and doun, Of huntyng and of schamefast chastité. Ther saugh I how woful Calystopé, Whan that Dyane was agreyed with here, Was turned from a womman to a bere, And after was sche maad the loode-sterre; Thus was it peynted, I can say no ferre; Hire son is eek a sterre, as men may see. Ther sawgh I Dyane turned intil a tree, I mene nought the goddes Dyane, But Peneus doughter, the whiche hight Dane. Ther saugh I Atheon an hert i-maked, I saugh how that his houndes han him caught, For vengance that he saugh Dyane al naked; And freten him, for that they knew him naught. Yit i-peynted was a litel forthermore, How Atthalaunce huntyd the wilde bore, And Melyagre, and many another mo, For which Dyane wrought hem care and woo. Ther saugh I eek many another story, The which me list not drawe to memory. This goddes on an hert ful hye seet, With smale houndes al aboute hire feet, And undernethe hir feet sche had the moone, Wexyng it was, and schulde wane soone. In gaude greene hire statue clothed was, With bowe in hande, and arwes in a cas. Hir eyghen caste sche ful lowe adoun, Ther Pluto hath his derke regioun. A womman travailyng was hire biforn, But for hire child so longe was unborn Ful pitously Lucyna gan sche calle, And seyde, "Help, for thou mayst best of alle." Wel couthe he peynte lyfly that it wrought, With many a floren he the hewes bought. 2090

2080

2039. in sterres. It was supposed by astrologers that every man's fortunes were depicted in the stars from the beginning of the world. Other MSS., with Tyrwhitt, read cercles

2042. This line is left blank in Ms. Harl.

2063. a sterre. The Harl. Ms. reads, by an evident mistake, is eek aftir as men may see.