Page images
PDF
EPUB

My king, my country, I seek, for whom I liveO mighty Jove, the winds for this me give!

Of such as had forsaken him

Lux, my fair falcon, and thy fellows all, a
How well pleasant it were, your liberty!
Ye not forsake me that fair might you fall; a
But they that sometime liked my company s
Like lice away from dead bodies they crawl
Lo, what a proof in light adversity!
But ye, my birds, I swear by all your bells,
Ye be my friends, and very few else.

Wyatt being in prison, to Bryan

Sighs are my food, my drink are my tears;
Clinking of fetters would such music crave;
Stink and close air, away my life it wears;
Poor innocence is all the hope I have.
Rain, wind, or weather judge I by mine ears;
Malice assaults that righteousness should have.
Sure am I, Bryan, this wound shall heal again,
But yet, alas, the scar shall still remain.

A description of such a one as he would love

A face that should content me wondrous well
Should not be fair, but lovely to behold,
Of lively look, all grief for to repel,
With right good grace, so would I that it should
Speak without word such words as none can tell;
The tress also should be of crispëd gold.
With wit, and these, perchance I might be tied,
And knit again with knot that should not slide.

Of his love called Anna

What word is that, that changeth not
Though it be turned, and made in twain?
It is mine Anna, God it wot,
The only causer of my pain,
My love that meedeth with disdain.
Yet is it loved-what will you more?
It is my salve, and eke my sore.

That speaking or proffering brings alway speeding
Speak thou and speed, where will or power aught help'th,
Where power doth want, will must be won by wealth;
For need will speed where will works not his kind,
And gain, thy foes thy friends shall cause thee find:
For suit and gold-what do not they obtain?
Of good and bad the triers are these twain.

Description of a gun

Vulcan begat me; Minerva me taught;

Nature, my mother; craft nourished me year by year;
Three bodies are my food, my strength is in nought;
Anger, wrath, waste, and noise are my children dear:
Guess, friend, what I am and how I am wrought,
Monster of sea, or of land, or of elsewhere?
Know me, and use me, and I may thee defend,
And if I be thine enemy, I may thy life end.

To a lady, to answer directly with yea or nay

Madam, withouten many words,
Once I am sure, you will or no;
And if you will, then leave your bordes,
And use your wit, and show it so;
For with a beck you shall me call.
And if of one that burns alway
Ye have pity or ruth at all,
Answer him fair, with yea or nay:
If it be yea, I shall be fain;
If it be nay, friends as before;
You shall another man obtain,
And I mine own, and yours no more.

The lover to his bed, with describing
of his unquiet state

The restful place, renewer of my smart,
The labor's salve, increasing my sorrów,
The body's ease, and troubler of my heart,
Quieter of mind, mine unquiet foe,
Forgetter of pain, rememb'rer of my woe,
The place of sleep wherein I do but wake,—
Besprent with tears, my bed, I thee forsake.
The frosty snows may not redress my heat,
Nor heat of sun abate my fervent cold.
I know nothing to ease my pains so great,
Each cure causeth increase by twenty fold,

10

10

Renewing cares upon my sorrows old;
Such overthwart effects in me they make,
Besprent with tears, my bed for to forsake.

But all for nought. I find no better ease
In bed, or out. This most causeth my pain,
Where I do seek how best that I may please,
My lost labor, alas, is all in vain.
My heart once set, I cannot it refrain;
No place from me my grief away can take,
Wherefore with tears, my bed, I thee forsake.

The lover showeth how he is forsaken of such as he
sometime enjoyed

They flee from me, that sometime did me seek,
With naked foot stalking within my chamber.
Once have I seen them gentle, tame, and meek,
That now are wild, and do not once remember
That sometime they have put themselves in danger
To take bread at my hand; and now they range,
Busily seeking in continual change.

Thanked be fortune it hath been otherwise,
Twenty times better; but once especial,
In thin array, after a pleasant guise,
When her loose gown did from her shoulders fall,
And she me caught in her arms long and small,
And therewithal so sweetly did me kiss
And softly said, Dear heart, how like you this?

It was no dream, for I lay broad awaking.
But all is turned now, through my gentleness,
Into a bitter fashion of forsaking;
And I have leave to go, of her goodness,
And she also to use newfangleness.
But since that I unkindly so am served,
How like you this? what hath she now deserved?

FROM Egerton Ms. 2711 [Help me to seek]

20

10

20

Or else it will plain, and then appear.

[blocks in formation]

10

Alas, and is there no remedy? But have I thus lost it wilfully? I wis it was a thing all too dear To be bestowed, and wist not where:

It was mine heart! I pray you heartily

Help me to seek.

FROM Additional Ms. 17492 [Forget not yet]

Forget not yet the tried intent Of such a truth as I have meant, My great travail, so gladly spent, Forget not yet.

Forget not yet when first began The weary life ye know, since

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »