Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) (33 page)

“O chaste goddess of the woodes green,
To whom both heav’n and earth and sea is seen,
Queen of the realm of Pluto dark and low,
Goddess of maidens, that mine heart hast know
Full many a year, and wost
¹
what I desire,
¹
knowest
To keep me from the vengeance of thine ire,
That Actaeon aboughte
¹
cruelly:
¹
earned; suffered from
Chaste goddess, well wottest thou that I
Desire to be a maiden all my life,
Nor never will I be no love nor wife.
I am, thou wost
¹
, yet of thy company,
¹
knowest
A maid, and love hunting and venery
¹
,
¹
field sports
And for to walken in the woodes wild,
And not to be a wife, and be with child.
Nought will I know the company of man.
Now help me, lady, since ye may and can,
For those three formes
 
that thou hast in thee.
And Palamon, that hath such love to me,
And eke Arcite, that loveth me so sore,
This grace I pray thee withoute more,
As sende love and peace betwixt them two:
And from me turn away their heartes so,
That all their hote love, and their desire,
And all their busy torment, and their fire,
Be queint
¹
, or turn’d into another place.
¹
quenched
And if so be thou wilt do me no grace,
Or if my destiny be shapen so
That I shall needes have one of them two,
So send me him that most desireth me.
Behold, goddess of cleane chastity,
The bitter tears that on my cheekes fall.
Since thou art maid, and keeper of us all,
My maidenhead thou keep and well conserve,
And, while I live, a maid I will thee serve.

The fires burn upon the altar clear,
While Emily was thus in her prayere:
But suddenly she saw a sighte quaint
¹
.
¹
strange
For right anon one of the fire’s
¹
queint
And quick’d
¹
again, and after that anon
¹
went out and revived
¹
That other fire was queint, and all agone:
And as it queint, it made a whisteling,
As doth a brande wet in its burning.
And at the brandes end outran anon
As it were bloody droppes many one:
For which so sore aghast was Emily,
That she was well-nigh mad, and gan to cry,
For she ne wiste what it signified;
But onely for feare thus she cried,
And wept, that it was pity for to hear.
And therewithal Diana gan appear
With bow in hand, right as an hunteress,
And saide; “Daughter, stint
¹
thine heaviness.
¹
cease
Among the goddes high it is affirm’d,
And by eternal word writ and confirm’d,
Thou shalt be wedded unto one of tho
^1
1
those
That have for thee so muche care and woe:
But unto which of them I may not tell.
Farewell, for here I may no longer dwell.
The fires which that on mine altar brenn
¹
,
¹
burn
Shall thee declaren, ere that thou go henne
¹
,
¹
hence
Thine aventure of love, as in this case.”
And with that word, the arrows in the case
^1
1
quiver
Of the goddess did clatter fast and ring,
And forth she went, and made a vanishing,
For which this Emily astonied was,
And saide; “What amounteth this, alas!
I put me under thy protection,
Diane, and in thy disposition.”
And home she went anon the nexte
¹
way.
¹
nearest
This is th’ effect, there is no more to say.

The nexte hour of Mars following this
Arcite to the temple walked is
Of fierce Mars, to do his sacrifice
With all the rites of his pagan guise.
With piteous
¹
heart and high devotion
¹
pious
Right thus to Mars he said his orison
“O stronge god, that in the regnes
¹
old
¹
realms
Of Thrace honoured art, and lord y-hold
^1
1
held
And hast in every regne, and every land
Of armes all the bridle in thine hand,
And
¹
them fortunest as thee list devise
¹
,
¹
send them fortune
Accept of me my piteous sacrifice. as you please
¹
If so be that my youthe may deserve,
And that my might be worthy for to serve
Thy godhead, that I may be one of thine,
Then pray I thee to
¹
rue upon my pine
¹
,
¹
pity my anguish
¹
For thilke
¹
pain, and thilke hote fire,
¹
that
In which thou whilom burned’st for desire
Whenne that thou usedest
¹
the beauty
¹
enjoyed
Of faire young Venus, fresh and free,
And haddest her in armes at thy will:
And though thee ones on a time misfill
¹
,
¹
were unlucky
When Vulcanus had caught thee in his las
¹
,
¹
net
And found thee ligging
¹
by his wife, alas!
¹
lying
For thilke sorrow that was in thine heart,
Have ruth
¹
as well upon my paine’s smart.
¹
pity
I am young and unconning
¹
, as thou know’st,
¹
ignorant, simple
And, as I trow
¹
, with love offended most
¹
believe
That e’er was any living creature:
For she, that doth
¹
me all this woe endure,
¹
causes
Ne recketh ne’er whether I sink or fleet
^1
1
swim
And well I wot, ere she me mercy hete
¹
,
¹
promise, vouchsafe
I must with strengthe win her in the place:
And well I wot, withoute help or grace
Of thee, ne may my strengthe not avail:
Then help me, lord, to-morr’w in my bataille,
For thilke fire that whilom burned thee,
As well as this fire that now burneth me;
And do
¹
that I to-morr’w may have victory.
¹
cause
Mine be the travail, all thine be the glory.
Thy sovereign temple will I most honour
Of any place, and alway most labour
In thy pleasance and in thy craftes strong.
And in thy temple I will my banner hong
¹
,
¹
hang
And all the armes of my company,
And evermore, until that day I die,
Eternal fire I will before thee find
And eke to this my vow I will me bind:
My beard, my hair that hangeth long adown,
That never yet hath felt offension
^1
1
indignity
Of razor nor of shears, I will thee give,
And be thy true servant while I live.
Now, lord, have ruth upon my sorrows sore,
Give me the victory, I ask no more.”

The prayer stint
¹
of Arcita the strong,
¹
ended
The ringes on the temple door that hong,
And eke the doores, clattered full fast,
Of which Arcita somewhat was aghast.
The fires burn’d upon the altar bright,
That it gan all the temple for to light;
A sweete smell anon the ground up gaf
¹
,
¹
gave
And Arcita anon his hand up haf
¹
,
¹
lifted
And more incense into the fire he cast,
With other rites more and at the last
The statue of Mars began his hauberk ring;
And with that sound he heard a murmuring
Full low and dim, that saide thus, “Victory.”
For which he gave to Mars honour and glory.
And thus with joy, and hope well to fare,
Arcite anon unto his inn doth fare.
As fain
¹
as fowl is of the brighte sun.
¹
glad

And right anon such strife there is begun
For thilke
¹
granting, in the heav’n above,
¹
that
Betwixte Venus the goddess of love,
And Mars the sterne god armipotent,
That Jupiter was busy it to stent
¹
:
¹
stop
Till that the pale Saturnus the cold,
That knew so many of adventures old,
Found in his old experience such an art,
That he full soon hath pleased every part.
As sooth is said, eld
¹
hath great advantage,
¹
age
In eld is bothe wisdom and usage
¹
:
¹
experience
Men may the old out-run, but not out-rede
¹
.
¹
outwit
Saturn anon, to stint the strife and drede,
Albeit that it is against his kind,
^1
1
nature
Of all this strife gan a remedy find.
“My deare daughter Venus,” quoth Saturn,
“My course
¹
, that hath so wide for to turn,
¹
orbit
Hath more power than wot any man.
Mine is the drowning in the sea so wan;
Mine is the prison in the darke cote
¹
,
¹
cell
Mine the strangling and hanging by the throat,
The murmur, and the churlish rebelling,
The groyning
¹
, and the privy poisoning.
¹
discontent
I do vengeance and plein
¹
correction,
¹
full
I dwell in the sign of the lion.
Mine is the ruin of the highe halls,
The falling of the towers and the walls
Upon the miner or the carpenter:
I slew Samson in shaking the pillar:
Mine also be the maladies cold,
The darke treasons, and the castes
¹
old:
¹
plots
My looking is the father of pestilence.
Now weep no more, I shall do diligence
That Palamon, that is thine owen knight,
Shall have his lady, as thou hast him hight
¹
.
¹
promised
Though Mars shall help his knight, yet natheless
Betwixte you there must sometime be peace:
All be ye not of one complexion,
That each day causeth such division,
I am thine ayel
¹
, ready at thy will;
¹
grandfather
Weep now no more, I shall thy lust
¹
fulfil.”
¹
pleasure
Now will I stenten
¹
of the gods above,
¹
cease speaking
Of Mars, and of Venus, goddess of love,
And telle you as plainly as I can
The great effect, for which that I began.

Great was the feast in Athens thilke
¹
day;
¹
that
And eke the lusty season of that May
Made every wight to be in such pleasance,
That all that Monday jousten they and dance,
And spenden it in Venus’ high service.
But by the cause that they shoulde rise
Early a-morrow for to see that fight,
Unto their reste wente they at night.
And on the morrow, when the day gan spring,
Of horse and harness
¹
noise and clattering
¹
armour
There was in the hostelries all about:
And to the palace rode there many a rout
^1
1
train, retinue
Of lordes, upon steedes and palfreys.
There mayst thou see devising
¹
of harness
¹
decoration
So uncouth
¹
and so rich, and wrought so weel
¹
unkown, rare
Of goldsmithry, of brouding
¹
, and of steel;
¹
embroidery
The shieldes bright, the testers
¹
, and trappures
^2
1
helmets
Gold-hewen helmets, hauberks, coat-armures;
²
trappings
Lordes in parements
¹
on their coursers,
¹
ornamental garb ;
Knightes of retinue, and eke squiers,
Nailing the spears, and helmes buckeling,
Gniding
¹
of shieldes, with lainers
²
lacing;
¹
polishing
There as need is, they were nothing idle:
²
lanyards
The foamy steeds upon the golden bridle
Gnawing, and fast the armourers also
With file and hammer pricking to and fro;
Yeomen on foot, and knaves
¹
many one
¹
servants
With shorte staves, thick
¹
as they may gon
²
;
¹
close
²
walk
Pipes, trumpets, nakeres
¹
, and clariouns,
¹
drums
That in the battle blowe bloody souns;
The palace full of people up and down,
There three, there ten, holding their questioun
¹
,
¹
conversation
Divining
¹
of these Theban knightes two.
¹
conjecturing
Some saiden thus, some said it shall he so;
Some helden with him with the blacke beard,
Some with the bald, some with the thick-hair’d;
Some said he looked grim, and woulde fight:
He had a sparth
¹
of twenty pound of weight.
¹
double-headed axe
Thus was the halle full of divining
^1
1
conjecturing
Long after that the sunne gan up spring.
The great Theseus that of his sleep is waked
With minstrelsy, and noise that was maked,
Held yet the chamber of his palace rich,
Till that the Theban knightes both y-lich
^1
1
alike
Honoured were, and to the palace fet
¹
.
¹
fetched
Duke Theseus is at a window set,
Array’d right as he were a god in throne:
The people presseth thitherward full soon
Him for to see, and do him reverence,
And eke to hearken his hest
¹
and his sentence
²
.
¹
command
²
speech
An herald on a scaffold made an O,
Till the noise of the people was y-do
¹
:
¹
done
And when he saw the people of noise all still,
Thus shewed he the mighty Duke’s will.
“The lord hath of his high discretion
Considered that it were destruction
To gentle blood, to fighten in the guise
Of mortal battle now in this emprise:
Wherefore to shape
¹
that they shall not die,
¹
arrange, contrive
He will his firste purpose modify.
No man therefore, on pain of loss of life,
No manner
¹
shot, nor poleaxe, nor short knife
¹
kind of
Into the lists shall send, or thither bring.
Nor short sword for to stick with point biting
No man shall draw, nor bear it by his side.
And no man shall unto his fellow ride
But one course, with a sharp y-grounden spear:
¹
Foin if him list on foot, himself to wear.
¹
He who wishes can
And he that is at mischief shall be take
¹
, fence on foot to defend
And not slain, but be brought unto the stake, himself, and he that
That shall be ordained on either side; is in peril shall be taken
¹
Thither he shall by force, and there abide.
And if
¹
so fall
¹
the chiefetain be take
¹
should happen
¹
On either side, or elles slay his make
¹
,
¹
equal, match
No longer then the tourneying shall last.
God speede you; go forth and lay on fast.
With long sword and with mace fight your fill.
Go now your way; this is the lordes will.
The voice of the people touched the heaven,
So loude cried they with merry steven
¹
:
¹
sound
God save such a lord that is so good,
He willeth no destruction of blood.