Chapter XV: Part 15

I you assure,
Ful wel I know
My besy cure
To yow I owe;
Humbly and low 930
Commendynge me
To yowre bownte.
As Machareus
Fayre Canace,
So I, iwus,[1723]
Endeuoure me
Yowr name to se
It be enrolde,
Writtin with golde.
Phedra ye may 940
Wele represent;
Intentyfe ay
And dylygent,
No tyme myspent;
Wherfore delyght
I haue to whryght
Of Margarite,
Perle orient,
Lede sterre[1724] of lyght,
Moche relucent; 950
Madame regent
I may you call
Of vertues[1725] all.

_To maystres Iane Blenner-Haiset._[1726]

What though[1727] my penne wax faynt,
And hath smale lust to paint?
Yet shall there no restraynt
Cause me to cese,
Amonge this prese,
For to encrese
Yowre goodly name. 960
I wyll my selfe applye,
Trust[1728] me, ententifly,
Yow for to stellyfye;
And so obserue
That ye ne swarue
For to deserue
Inmortall fame.[1729]
Sith mistres[1730] Iane Haiset[1731]
Smale flowres helpt to sett
In my goodly chapelet, 970
Therfore I render of her the memory
Vnto the legend of fare Laodomi.[1732]

_To maystres Isabell Pennell._

By saynt Mary, my lady,
Your mammy and your dady
Brought forth a godely babi!
My mayden Isabell,
Reflaring rosabell,
The flagrant camamell;
The ruddy rosary,
The souerayne rosemary, 980
The praty strawbery;
The columbyne, the nepte,
The ieloffer well set,
The propre vyolet;
Enuwyd your[1733] colowre
Is lyke the dasy flowre
After the Aprill showre;
Sterre[1734] of the morow gray,
The blossom on the spray,
The fresshest flowre of May; 990
Maydenly demure,
Of womanhode[1735] the lure;
Wherfore I make you sure[1736],
It were an heuenly helth,
It were an endeles welth,
A lyfe for God hymselfe,
To here this nightingale,
Amonge the byrdes smale,
Warbelynge in the vale,
Dug, dug, 1000
Iug, iug,
Good yere and good luk,
With chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk!

_To maystres Margaret Hussey._

Mirry Margaret,
As mydsomer flowre,
Ientill as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre;
With solace and gladnes,
Moche mirthe and no madnes,
All good and no badnes, 1010
So ioyously,
So maydenly,
So womanly
Her demenyng
In euery thynge,
Far, far passynge
That I can endyght,
Or suffyce to wryght
Of mirry Margarete,
As mydsomer flowre, 1020
Ientyll as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre;
As pacient and as styll,
And as full of good wyll,
As fayre[1737] Isaphill;
Colyaunder,
Swete pomaunder,
Good cassaunder;
Stedfast of thought,
Wele made, wele wrought; 1030
Far may be sought
Erst that[1738] ye can fynde
So corteise, so kynde
As mirry Margarete[1739],
This[1740] midsomer flowre,
Ientyll as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre.

_To mastres Geretrude Statham._

Though[1741] ye wer hard hertyd,
And I with you thwartid
With wordes that smartid, 1040
Yet nowe doutles ye geue me cause
To wryte of you this goodli clause,
Maistres[1742] Geretrude,
With womanhode[1743] endude,
With vertu well renwde.
I wyll that ye shall be
In all benyngnyte
Lyke to dame Pasiphe;
For nowe dowtles ye geue me cause
To wryte of yow this goodly clause, 1050
Maistres Geretrude,
With womanhode endude,
With vertu well renude.
Partly by your councell,
Garnisshed with lawrell
Was my fresshe coronell;
Wherfore doutles ye geue me cause
To wryte of you this goodly clause,
Maistres Geretrude,
With womanhode endude, 1060
With vertu well renude.

_To maystres Isabell[1744] Knyght._

But if I sholde aquyte your kyndnes,
Els saye ye myght
That in me were grete blyndnes,
I for to be so myndles,
And cowde not[1745] wryght
Of Isabell Knyght.
It is not[1746] my custome nor my gyse
To leue behynde
Her that is bothe womanly[1747] and wyse, 1070
And specyally which glad was to deuyse
The menes[1748] to fynde
To please my mynde,
In helpyng to warke my laurell grene
With sylke and golde:
Galathea, the made well besene,
Was neuer halfe so fayre, as I wene,
Whiche was extolde
A thowsande folde
By Maro, the Mantuan prudent, 1080
Who list to rede;
But, and I had leyser competent,
I coude shew you[1749] suche a presedent
In very dede
Howe ye excede.

_Occupacyon to Skelton._

Withdrawe your hande, the tyme passis[1750] fast;
Set on your hede this laurell whiche is wrought;
Here you[1751] not[1752] Eolus for you blowyth a blaste?
I dare wele saye that ye and I be sought:
Make no delay, for now ye must be brought 1090
Before my ladys grace, the Quene of Fame,
Where ye must breuely answere to your name.

_Skelton Poeta._

Castyng my syght the chambre aboute,
To se how duly ich thyng in ordre was,
Towarde the dore,[1753] as we were comyng oute,
I sawe maister Newton sit with his compas,
His plummet, his pensell, his spectacles of[1754] glas,
Dyuysynge in pycture, by his industrious wit,
Of my laurell the proces euery whitte.

Forthwith vpon this, as it were in a thought, 1100
Gower, Chawcer, Lydgate, theis thre
Before remembred, me curteisly[1755] brought
Into that place where as they left me,
Where all the sayd poetis sat in there degre.
But when they sawe my lawrell rychely wrought,[1756]
All other besyde were counterfete[1757] they thought

In comparyson of that whiche I ware:
Sume praysed the perle, some the stones bryght;
Wele was hym that therevpon myght stare;
Of this warke[1758] they had so great delyght, 1110
The silke, the golde, the flowris fresshe to syght,
They seyd my lawrell was the goodlyest
That euer they saw, and wrought it was the best.

In her astate there sat the noble Quene
Of Fame: perceyuynge how that I was cum,
She wonderyd me thought[1759] at my laurell grene;
She loked hawtly, and gaue[1760] on me a glum:
Thhere was amonge them no worde[1761] then but mum,
For eche man herkynde what she wolde to me[1762] say;
Wherof in substaunce I brought this away. 1120

_The Quene of Fame to Skelton._

My frende, sith ye ar before vs[1763] here present
To answere vnto this noble audyence,
Of that shalbe resonde you[1764] ye must be content;
And for as moche as, by the hy[1765] pretence
That ye haue now thorow[1766] preemynence
Of laureat triumphe,[1767] your place is here reseruyd,
We wyll vnderstande how ye haue it deseruyd.

_Skelton Poeta to the Quene of Fame._

Ryght high[1768] and myghty princes of astate,
In famous glory all other transcendyng,
Of your bounte the accustomable[1769] rate 1130
Hath bene full often and yet is entendyng[1770]
To all that to[1771] reason is condiscendyng,
But if hastyue[1772] credence by mayntenance of myght
Fortune to stande betwene you and the lyght:

But suche euydence I thynke for to[1773] enduce,
And so largely to lay for myne indempnite,
That I trust[1774] to make myne excuse
Of what charge soeuer ye lay ageinst[1775] me;
For of my bokis parte ye shall se,
Whiche in your recordes, I knowe well, be enrolde, 1140
And so Occupacyon, your regester, me tolde.

Forthwith she commaundid I shulde take my place;
Caliope poynted me where I shulde sit:
With that, Occupacioun presid in a pace;
Be mirry, she sayd, be not[1776] aferde a whit,
Your discharge here vnder myne arme is it.
So then commaundid she was vpon this
To shew her boke; and she sayd, Here it is.

_The Quene of Fame to Occupacioun._

Yowre boke[1777] of remembrauns we will now that ye rede;
If ony[1778] recordis in noumbyr can be founde, 1150
What Skelton hath compilid and wryton in dede
Rehersyng by ordre, and what is the grownde,
Let se now for hym how ye can expounde;
For in owr courte, ye wote wele, his name can not[1779] ryse
But if he wryte oftenner than ones or twyse.

_Skelton Poeta._

With that of the boke losende were the claspis:
The margent was illumynid all with golden railles
And byse, enpicturid with gressoppes and waspis,
With butterfllyis and fresshe pecoke taylis,
Enflorid with flowris and slymy snaylis; 1160
Enuyuid picturis well towchid and quikly;
It wolde haue made a man hole that had be ryght sekely,

To beholde how it was garnysshyd and bounde,
Encouerde ouer with golde of tissew fyne;
The claspis and bullyons were worth a thousande pounde;
With balassis and charbuncles the borders did shyne;
With _aurum musicum_ euery other lyne
Was wrytin: and so she did her spede,
Occupacyoun, inmediatly[1780] to rede.

_Occupacyoun redith and expoundyth sum parte of Skeltons bokes and baladis with ditis of plesure, in as moche as it were to longe a proces to reherse all[1781] by name that he hath compylyd, &c._

[Sidenote: Honor est benefactivæ operationis signum: Aristotiles. Diverte a malo, et fac bonum: Pso. Nobilis est ille quem nobilitat sua virtus: Cassianus. Proximus ille Deo qui scit ratione tacere: Cato. Mors ultima linea rerum: Horat.]

Of your oratour and poete laureate 1170
Of Englande, his workis[1782] here they begynne:
_In primis_ the Boke of Honorous Astate;
Item the Boke how men shulde fle synne;
Item Royall Demenaunce worshyp to wynne;[1783]
Item the Boke to speke well or be styll;
Item to lerne you to[1784] dye when ye wyll;

[Sidenote: Virtuti omnia parent: Salust. Nusquam tuta fides: Virgilius. Res est soliciti plena timoris amor: Ovid. Si volet[1785] usus, quem penes, &c.: Horace.]

Of Vertu also the souerayne enterlude;
The Boke of the Rosiar; Prince Arturis Creacyoun;
The False Fayth that now goth, which dayly is renude;
Item his Diologgis of Ymagynacyoun; 1180
Item Antomedon[1786] of Loues Meditacyoun;
Item New Gramer in Englysshe compylyd;
Item Bowche[1787] of Courte, where Drede was begyled;

[Sidenote: Non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum: Psalmo. Concedat laurea linguæ: Tullius. Fac cum consilio, et in æternum non peccabis: Salamon.]

His commedy, Achademios callyd by name;
Of Tullis Familiars the translacyoun;
Item Good Aduysement, that brainles doth blame;
The Recule ageinst Gaguyne of the Frenshe nacyoun;
Item the Popingay, that hath in commendacyoun
Ladyes and gentylwomen suche as deseruyd,
And suche as be counterfettis they be reseruyd; 1190

[Sidenote: Non mihi sit modulo rustica papilio: Vates. Dominare in virtute tua: Pso. Magnificavit eum in conspectu regum: Sapient. Fugere pudor, verumque fidesque: In quorum subiere locum fraudesque, dolique, Insidiæque, et vis, et amor sceleratus habendi: Ovid. Filia Babylonis misera: Psalmo.]

And of Soueraynte a noble pamphelet;
And of Magnyfycence a notable mater,
How Cownterfet Cowntenaunce of the new get
With Crafty Conueyaunce dothe smater and flater,
And Cloked Collucyoun is brought in to clater
With Courtely Abusyoun; who pryntith it wele in mynde
Moche dowblenes of the worlde therin he may fynde;

Of manerly maistres Margery[1788] Mylke and Ale;
To her he wrote many maters of myrthe;
Yet, thoughe I[1789] say it, therby lyith a tale, 1200
For Margery wynshed, and breke her hinder girth;
Lor,[1790] how she made moche of her gentyll birth!
With, Gingirly, go gingerly! her tayle was made of hay;
Go she neuer so gingirly, her honesty is gone away;

[Sidenote: De nihilo nihil fit: Aristotiles. Le plus displeysant pleiser puent.]

Harde to make ought of that is nakid nought;
This fustiane maistres and this giggisse gase,
Wonder is to wryte what wrenchis she wrowght,
To face out her foly with a midsomer mase;
With pitche she patchid her pitcher shuld not[1791] crase;
It may wele ryme, but shroudly it doth accorde, 1210
To pyke out honesty of suche a potshorde:

_Patet per versus._

[Sidenote: Nota.]

_Hinc puer hic[1792] natus; vir conjugis hinc spoliatus_
_Jure thori; est fœtus Deli de sanguine cretus;_
_Hinc magis extollo, quod erit puer alter Apollo;_
_Si quæris qualis? meretrix castissima talis;_
_Et relis, et ralis, et reliqualis._
_A good herynge of thes olde talis;_
_Fynde no mo suche fro[1793] Wanflete to Walis._

_Et reliqua omelia[1794] de diversis tractatibus._

[Sidenote: Apostolus: Non habemus hic civitatem manentem, sed futuram perquærimus. Notat bellum Cornubiense, quod in campestribus et in patentioribus vastisque solitudinibus prope Grenewiche gestum est.]

Of my ladys grace at the contemplacyoun,
Owt of Frenshe into Englysshe prose, 1220
Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun,
He did translate, enterprete, and disclose;
The Tratyse of Triumphis of the Rede Rose,
Wherein many storis ar breuely contayned
That vnremembred longe tyme remayned;

[Sidenote: Erudimini qui judicatis terram: Pso.]

The Duke of Yorkis creauncer whan Skelton was,
Now Henry the viij. Kyng of Englonde,[1795]
A tratyse he deuysid and browght it to pas,
Callid _Speculum Principis_, to bere in his honde,
Therin to rede, and to vnderstande 1230
All the demenour of princely astate,
To be our Kyng, of God preordinate;

[Sidenote: Quis stabit mecum adversus operantes iniquitatem? Pso. Arrident melius seria picta jocis: In fabulis Æsopi.]

Also the Tunnynge of Elinour Rummyng,
With Colyn Clowt, Iohnn Iue, with Ioforth Iack;
To make suche trifels it asketh sum konnyng,
In honest myrth parde requyreth no lack;
The whyte apperyth the better for the black,
And after conueyauns as the world goos,
It is no foly to vse the Walshemannys hoos;

[Sidenote: Implentur veteris Bacchi pinguisque ferinæ: Virgilius. Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetæ: Horace.]

The vmblis of venyson, the botell[1796] of wyne, 1240
To fayre maistres Anne that shuld haue be sent,
He wrate[1797] therof many a praty lyne,
Where it became, and whether it went,
And how that it was wantonly spent;
The Balade also of the Mustarde Tarte;
Suche problemis to paynt it longyth to his arte;

[Sidenote: Adam, Adam, ubi es? Genesis. Resp. Ubi nulla requies, ubi nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat: Job.]

Of one Adame all a knaue, late dede and gone,—
_Dormiat in pace_, lyke a dormows!—
He wrate[1798] an Epitaph for his graue stone,
With wordes deuoute and sentence agerdows,[1799] 1250
For he was euer ageynst Goddis hows,
All his delight was to braule and to barke
Ageynst holy chyrche,[1800] the preste, and the clarke;

[Sidenote: Etenim passer invenit sibi donum: Psalmo.]

Of Phillip Sparow the lamentable fate,
The dolefull desteny, and the carefull chaunce,
Dyuysed by Skelton after the funerall rate;
Yet sum there be therewith that take greuaunce,
And grudge[1801] therat with frownyng countenaunce;

But what of that? hard it is to please all men;
Who list amende it, let hym set to his penne; 1260
For the gyse now adays
Of sum iangelyng iays[1802]
Is to discommende
That they can not[1803] amende,
Though they wolde spende
All the wittis they haue.
What ayle them to depraue
Phillippe Sparows graue?
His _Dirige_, her Commendacioun
Can be no derogacyoun, 1270
But myrth and consolacyoun,
Made by protestacyoun,
No man to myscontent
With Phillippis enteremente.
Alas, that goodly mayd,
Why shulde she be afrayd?
Why shulde she take shame
That her goodly name,
Honorably reportid,
Shulde be set and sortyd, 1280
To be matriculate
With ladyes of astate?
I coniure thé, Phillip Sparow,
By Hercules that hell did harow,
And with a venomows arow
Slew of the Epidawris
One of the Centawris,
Or Onocentauris,[1804]
Or Hippocentauris;[1805]
By whos myght and maine 1290
An hart was slayne
With hornnis twayne
Of glitteryng golde;
And the apples of golde
Of Hesperides withholde,
And with a dragon kepte
That neuer more slepte,
By merciall strength
He wan at length;
And slew Gerione 1300
With thre bodys in one;
With myghty corrage
Adauntid the rage
Of a lyon sauage;
Of Diomedis stabyll
He brought out a rabyll
Of coursers and rounsis
With[1806] lepes and bounsis;
And with myghty luggyng,
Wrastelynge and tuggyng, 1310
He pluckid the bull
By the hornid scull,
And offred to Cornucopia;
And so forthe _per cetera_:
Also by Hecates bowre[1807]
In Plutos gastly towre;
By the vgly Eumenides,
That neuer haue rest nor ease;
By the venemows serpent
That in hell is neuer brente, 1320
In Lerna the Grekis fen
That was engendred then;
By Chemeras flamys,
And all the dedely namys
Of infernall posty,
Where soulis fry and rosty;
By the Stigiall flode,
And the stremes wode
Of Cochitos bottumles well;
By the feryman of hell, 1330
Caron with his berde hore,
That rowyth with a rude ore,
And with his frownsid fortop
Gydith his bote with a prop:
I coniure[1808] Phillippe, and call,
In the name of Kyng Saull;
_Primo Regum_ expres,
He bad the Phitones
To witche craft her to dres,
And by her abusiouns, 1340
And damnable illusiouns
Of meruelous conclusiouns,
And by her supersticiouns
Of[1809] wonderfull condiciouns,
She raysed vp in that stede
Samuell that was dede;
But whether it were so,
He were _idem in numero_,
The selfe same Samuell,
How be it to Saull he did tell 1350
The Philistinis[1810] shulde hym askry,
And the next day he shulde dye,
I wyll my[1811] selfe discharge
To letterd men at large:
But, Phillip, I coniure thé
Now by theys names thre,
Diana in the woddis grene,
Luna that so bryght doth shene,
Proserpina in hell,
That thou shortely tell, 1360
And shew now vnto me
What the cause may be
Of this perplexyte![1812]

[Sidenote: Phillyppe answeryth.]

_Inferias, Philippe, tuas Scroupe pulchra Joanna_
_Instanter petiit: cur nostri carminis illam_
_Nunc pudet? est sero; minor est infamia vero._
Then such that[1813] haue disdaynyd
And of this worke complaynyd,
I pray God they be[1814] paynyd
No wors than[1815] is contaynyd 1370
In verses two or thre
That folowe as ye may se:
_Luride, cur, livor, volucris pia funera damnas?_
_Talia te rapiant rapiunt quæ fata volucrem!_
_Est tamen invidia mors tibi continua:_

[Sidenote: Porcus se ingurgitat cæno, et luto se immergit: Guarinus Veronens. Et sicut opertorium mutabis eos, et mutabuntur: Pso. c. Exaltabuntur cornua justi: Psalmo.]

The Gruntyng and the[1816] groynninge of the[1817] gronnyng swyne;
Also the Murnyng[1818] of the mapely rote;
How the grene couerlet sufferd grete pine,
Whan the flye net was set for to catche a cote,
Strake one with a birdbolt to the hart rote; 1380
Also a deuoute Prayer to Moyses hornis,
Metrifyde merely, medelyd with scornis;[1819]

[Sidenote: Tanquam parieti inclinato et maceriæ depulsæ: Psalmo. Militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido: Ovid.]

Of paiauntis that were played in Ioyows Garde;
He wrate of a muse[1820] throw a mud wall;
How a do cam trippyng in at the rere warde,
But, lorde, how the parker was wroth with all!
And of Castell Aungell the fenestrall,
Glittryng and glistryng and gloryously glasid,
It made sum mens eyn dasild and dasid;

[Sidenote: Introduxit me in cubiculum suum: Cant. Os fatuæ[1821] ebullit stultitiam. Cant.]

The Repete of the recule of Rosamundis bowre, 1390
Of his pleasaunt paine there and his glad distres
In plantynge and pluckynge a propre ieloffer flowre;
But how it was, sum were to recheles,
Not[1822] withstandynge it is remedeles;
What myght she say? what myght he do therto?
Though Iak sayd nay, yet Mok there loste her sho;

[Sidenote: Audaces fortuna juvat: Virgilius. Nescia mens hominum sortis[1823] fatique futuri: Virgilius.]

How than lyke a man he wan the barbican
With a sawte of solace at the longe last;
The colour dedely, swarte, blo, and wan
Of Exione, her lambis[1824] dede and past, 1400
The cheke and the nek but a shorte cast;
In fortunis fauour euer to endure,
No man lyuyng, he sayth, can be sure;

[Sidenote: Oleæque Minerva inventrix: Georgicorum. Atque agmina cervi pulverulenta [fuga] glomerant: Æneid. iv.]

How dame Minerua[1825] first found the olyue tre, _she red_
And plantid it there where[1826] neuer before was none; _vnshred_
An hynde vnhurt hit[1827] by casuelte, _not[1828] bled_
Recouerd whan the forster was gone; _and sped_
The hertis of the herd began for to grone, _and fled_
The howndes began to yerne and to quest; _and dred_
With litell besynes standith moche rest; _in bed_ 1410

[Sidenote: Duæ molentes in pistrino, una assumetur, altera relinquetur: Isaias.[1829] Foris vastabit eum timor, et intus pavor: Pso.[1830]]

His Epitomis of the myller and his ioly make;
How her ble was bryght as blossom on the spray,
A wanton wenche and wele coude bake a cake;
The myllar was loth to be out of the way,
But yet for all that, be as be may,
Whether he rode to Swaffhamm[1831] or to Some,
The millar durst not[1832] leue his wyfe at home;

[Sidenote: Opera quæ ego facio ipsa perhibent testimonium de me: In Evang. &c.]

With, Wofully[1833] arayd, and shamefully betrayd;
Of his makyng deuoute medytacyons;
_Vexilla regis_ he deuysid to be displayd; 1420
With _Sacris solemniis_, and other contemplacyouns,
That in them comprisid consyderacyons;
Thus passyth he the tyme both nyght and day,
Sumtyme with sadnes, sumtyme with play;

[Sidenote: Honora medicum; propter necessitatem creavit eum altissimus, &c. Superiores constellationes influunt in corpora subjecta et disposita, &c. Nota.]

Though Galiene[1834] and Dioscorides,[1835]
With Ipocras,[1836] and mayster Auycen,
By there phesik doth[1837] many a man ease,
And though Albumasar can thé enforme and ken
What constellacions ar good or bad for men,
Yet whan the rayne rayneth and the gose wynkith, 1430
Lytill wotith the goslyng what the gose thynkith;

[Sidenote: Spectatum admisse,[1838] risus teneatur amor? Horace. Nota.]

He is not[1839] wyse ageyne the streme that stryuith;
Dun is in the myre, dame, reche me my spur;
Nedes[1840] must he rin that the deuyll dryuith;
When the stede[1841] is stolyn, spar the stable dur;
A ientyll hownde shulde neuer play the kur;
It is sone aspyed where the thorne prikkith;
And wele wotith the cat whos berde she likkith;

[Sidenote: Lumen ad revelationem gentium: Pso. clxxv.[1842]]

With Marione clarione, sol, lucerne,
_Graund Juir_, of this Frenshe prouerbe olde, 1440
How men were wonte for to discerne
By candelmes day what wedder shuld holde;
But Marione clarione was caught with a colde colde,[1843]
(_anglice_ a cokwolde,)[1844]
And all ouercast with cloudis vnkynde,
This goodly flowre with stormis was vntwynde;

[Sidenote: Velut rosa vel lilium, O pulcherrima mulierum, &c.: Cantatecclesia.]

This ieloffer ientyll, this rose, this lylly flowre,
This primerose pereles, this propre vyolet,
This columbyne clere[1845] and fresshest of coloure,
This delycate dasy, this strawbery pretely set,
With frowarde frostis, alas, was all to-fret! 1450
But who may haue a[1846] more vngracyous[1847] lyfe
Than a chyldis birde and a knauis wyfe?

[Sidenote: Notate verba, signata mysteria: Gregori.]

Thynke what ye wyll
Of this wanton byll;
By Mary Gipcy,
_Quod scripsi, scripsi:_
_Uxor tua, sicut vitis,_
_Habetis in custodiam,_
_Custodite sicut scitis,_
_Secundum Lucam, &c._ 1460

[Sidenote: Nota penuriam aquæ, nam canes ibi hauriunt ex puteo altissimo.]

Of the Bonehoms of Ashrige besyde Barkamstede,
That goodly place to Skelton moost kynde,
Where the sank[1848] royall is, Crystes blode so rede,
Wherevpon he metrefyde after his mynde;
A pleasaunter place than Ashrige is, harde were[1849] to fynde,
As Skelton rehersith, with wordes few and playne,
In his distichon[1850] made on verses twaine;

_Fraxinus in clivo frondetgue viret sine rivo,[1851]_
_Non est sub divo similis sine flumine vivo;_

[Sidenote: Stultorum infinitus est numerus, &c.: Ecclesia. Factum est cum Apollo esset Corinthi: Actus Apostolorum. Stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo: Virgilius.]

The Nacyoun of Folys he left not[1852] behynde; 1470
Item Apollo that whirllid vp his chare,
That made sum to snurre[1853] and snuf in the wynde;
It made them to skip, to stampe, and to stare,
Whiche, if they be happy, haue cause to beware
In ryming and raylyng with hym for to mell,
For drede that he lerne them there A, B, C, to spell.

_Poeta Skelton._

[Sidenote: Fama repleta malis pernicibus[1854] evolat alis, &c.]

With that I stode vp, halfe sodenly afrayd;
Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace,
And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd,
Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase. 1480
Nay, sir, she sayd, what so in this place
Of our noble courte is ones spoken owte,
It must nedes after rin all the worlde aboute.

[Sidenote: Ego quidem sum Pauli, ego Apollo: Corᵐ.]

God wote, theis wordes made me full sad;
And when that I sawe it wolde no better be,
But that my peticyon wolde not[1855] be had,
What shulde I do but take it in gre?
For, by Juppiter and his high mageste,
I did what I cowde to scrape[1856] out the scrollis,
Apollo to rase out of her ragman rollis. 1490

[Sidenote: Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella: Virgilius. Nec, si muneribus certes, concedet Iollas: 2. Bucol.]

Now hereof it erkith me lenger to wryte;
To Occupacyon I wyll agayne resorte,
Whiche redde[1857] on still, as it cam to her syght,
Rendrynge my deuisis I made in disporte
Of the Mayden of Kent callid Counforte,[1858]
Of Louers testamentis and of there wanton wyllis,
And how Iollas louyd goodly Phillis;

[Sidenote: Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus: Horace.[1859]]

Diodorus Siculus of my translacyon
Out of fresshe Latine into owre Englysshe playne,
Recountyng commoditis of many a straunge nacyon; 1500
Who redyth it ones wolde rede it agayne;
Sex volumis engrosid together it doth containe:
But when of the laurell she made rehersall,
All orators and poetis, with other grete and smale,

[Sidenote: Millia millium et decies millies centena millia, &c.: Apocalipsis. Virtute[1860] senatum laureati possident: Ecclesiastica. Cauiť.]

A thowsande thowsande. I trow, to my dome,
_Triumpha, triumpha!_ they cryid all aboute;
Of trumpettis and clariouns the noyse went to Rome;
The starry heuyn, me thought, shoke with the showte;
The grownde gronid and tremblid, the noyse was so stowte:
The Quene of Fame commaundid shett fast the boke; 1510
And therwith sodenly out of my dreme[1861] I woke.

My mynde of the grete din was somdele amasid,
I wypid myne eyne for to make them clere;
Then to the heuyn sperycall vpwarde I gasid,
Where I saw Ianus, with his double chere,
Makynge his almanak for the new yere;
He turnyd his tirikkis, his voluell ran fast:
Good luk this new yere! the olde yere is past.

[Sidenote: Vates.]

_Mens tibi sit consulta, petis? sic consuls menti;_
_Æmula sit[1862] Jani, retro speculetur et ante._ 1520

_Skeltonis alloquitur[1863] librum suum._

_Ite, Britannorum lux O radiosa, Britannum_
_Carmina nostra pium vestrum celebrate Catullum!_
_Dicite, Skeltonis vester Adonis erat;_
_Dicite, Skeltonis vester Homerus erat._
_Barbara cum Latio pariter jam currite versu;_
_Et licet est verbo pars maxima texta Britanno,_
_Non magis incompta nostra Thalia patet,_
_Est magis inculta nec mea Calliope._
_Nec vos pœniteat livoris tela subire,_
_Nec vos pœniteat rabiem tolerare caninam,_ 1530
_Nam Maro dissimiles non tulit ille minas,_
_Immunis nec enim Musa Nasonis erat._

_Lenuoy._

Go, litill quaire,
Demene you faire;
Take no dispare,
Though I you wrate
After this rate
In Englysshe letter;
So moche the better
Welcome shall ye 1540
To sum men be:
For Latin warkis
Be good for clerkis;
Yet now and then
Sum Latin men
May happely loke
Vpon your boke,
And so procede
In you to rede,
That so indede 1550
Your fame may sprede
In length and brede.
But then[1864] I drede
Ye[1865] shall haue nede
You for to spede
To harnnes bryght,
By force of myght,
Ageyne[1866] enuy
And obloquy:
And wote ye why? 1560
Not[1867] for to fyght
Ageyne dispyght,
Nor to derayne
Batayle agayne
Scornfull disdayne,
Nor for to chyde,
Nor for to hyde
You cowardly;
But curteisly
That I haue pende 1570
For to deffend,
Vnder the banner
Of all good manner,
Vnder proteccyon
Of sad correccyon,
With toleracyon
And supportacyon
Of reformacyon,
If they[1868] can spy
Circumspectly 1580
Any worde defacid
That myght be rasid,
Els ye shall pray
Them that ye may
Contynew still
With there good wyll.

_Ad serenissimam Majestatem Regiam,[1869] pariter cum Domino Cardinali, Legato a latere honorificatissimo, &c._

_Lautre Enuoy._

_Perge, liber, celebrem pronus regem venerare_
_Henricum octavum, resonans sua præmia laudis._
_Cardineum dominum pariter venerando salutes,_
_Legatum a latere, et fiat memor ipse precare_ 1590
_Prebendæ, quam promisit mihi credere quondam,_
_Meque suum referas pignus sperare salutis_
_Inter spemque metum._

Twene hope and drede
My lyfe I lede,
But of my spede
Small sekernes;
Howe be it I rede
Both worde and dede
Should be agrede 1600
In noblenes:
Or els, &c.

[1458] _A ryght delectable tratyse vpon a goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, &c._] From Faukes’s ed. 1523, collated with Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568, (in which it is entitled _The Crowne of Lawrell_), and with fragments of the poem among the Cottonian MSS. _Vit._ E.X. fol. 200. The prefatory Latin lines are from Faukes’s ed., where they are given on the back of the title-page, and below a woodcut portrait headed “_Skelton Poeta_,” (see _List of Editions_, in Appendix to _Account of Skelton_, &c.): they are not in Marshe’s ed. nor in MS.

[1459] _retrogradant_] Marshe’s ed. “retrograunt.”

[1460] _orbicular_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “orbucular.”

[1461] _plenarly_] So MS. Eds. “plenary.”

[1462] _On_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “One.”

[1463] _sylt_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “fylt.”

[1464] _now_] So MS. Not in eds.

[1465] _forster_] MS. “foster.”

[1466] _well_] Not in MS.

[1467] _purpose_] MS. “proces.”

[1468] _fell_] MS. “fille.”

[1469] _not wele tell_] So MS. Eds. “_not tell_” and “nat _tell_.”

[1470] _aduysed_] MS. “auysid.”

[1471] _wondersly_] MS. “wonderly.”

[1472] _it_] So MS. Eds. “that.”

[1473] _inmortall_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “immortall:” but here and elsewhere Faukes’s ed. has the former spelling.

[1474] _Quene of Fame_] Opposite this line MS. has a marginal note, partly illegible, and partly cut off, “_Egida concussit p ... dea pectore porta ..._”

[1475] _Renownyd_] MS. “Renowmmyd.”

[1476] _scyence_] Marshe’s ed. “sciences.”

[1477] _lenen_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. and MS. “lene.”

[1478] _beseche_] MS. “beseke.”

[1479] _Not_] Marshe’s ed. “Nat.”

[1480] _you gaue me a ryall_] Marshe’s ed. “ye,” &c. MS. “ye yave _me_ in roiall.”

[1481] _his tyme he_] So MS. Eds. “he his tyme.”

[1482] _embesy_] MS. “enbissy.”

[1483] _they were the_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “_the were they_.”

[1484] _grete lake_] Marshe’s ed. “a _lacke_” (having in the preceding line “slacke”).

[1485] _the sugred_] MS. “thensugerd.”

[1486] _Elyconis_] Faukes’s ed. “Elycoms.” Marshe’s ed. “Heliconis.”

[1487] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1488] _aduysid_] MS. “auysid.”

[1489] _that_] MS. “for _that_.”

[1490] _rin not_] Marshe’s ed. “ren nat.”

[1491] _Better_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “Bete.”

[1492] _pullishe_] So MS. Eds. (with various spelling) “publisshe.”

[1493] _so_] Not in MS.

[1494] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1495] _accorde_] MS. “corde.”

[1496] _not an hundreth_] Marshe’s ed. “nat _an_ hundred.”

[1497] _For certayne enuectyfys_] MS. “_For_ that he enveiyd.”

[1498] _wrote_] MS. “wrate.”

[1499] _vpon_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. and MS. “on.”

[1500] _not_] Marshe’s ed. here and in the next line “nat.”

[1501] _abyde_] MS. “byde.”

[1502] _parablis_] Faukes’s ed. “paroblis.” Marshe’s ed. “parables.”

[1503] _ageyne_] Marshe’s ed. “agaynst.”

[1504] _ther_] MS. “that.”

[1505] _coniecture_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “conuecture.”

[1506] _that_] So MS. Eds. “the.”

[1507] _inmortall_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “immortall:” see _ante_, p. 363, note 3.

[1508] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1509] _for that he_] MS. “_for he_.”

[1510] _Demostenes_] So Faukes’s ed. at vv. 152, 155, 167; here it has “Dymostenes.”

[1511] _That gaue_] MS. “Whiche yave.”

[1512] _by_] Marshe’s ed. “through.”

[1513] _Ageyne_] Marshe’s ed. “Agaynst.”

[1514] _my good syster_] MS. “_goode my sister_.”

[1515] _pawse_] Marshe’s ed. “pauses.”

[1516] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1517] _slaundred_] Marshe’s ed. “sklaundred.” The editor of 1736 gave “thus blamed.”

[1518] _apposelle_] MS. “opposelle.”

[1519] _auauntage_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “auanuntage.”

[1520] _debarrid_] So MS. Eds. “barrid” and “barred.”

[1521] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1522] _sittyng_] MS. “is _syttynge_.”

[1523] _onour_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “honour.”

[1524] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1525] _For though_] MS. “Sithe thowthe.”

[1526] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1527] _Ierome_] Marshe’s ed. “Hierome.”

[1528] _Wherein_] MS. “Where.”

[1529] _But a grete parte yet_] MS. “_Bot yit a grete parte._”

[1530] _not_] Marshe’s ed. here and in the next line “nat.”

[1531] _wyll_] MS. “wold.”

[1532] _ye do_] MS. “tyme _ye_.”

[1533] _For_] Not in MS.

[1534] _pyke_] MS. “kit.”

[1535] _their_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “the.”

[1536] _lidderons_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “lidderous.” MS. “liddurns.”

[1537] _some_] MS. “and _sum_.”

[1538] _they ryde and rinne_] MS. “_ryde they and ryn_ they.”

[1539] _ye shall_] MS. “_shall ye_.”

[1540] _a_] So MS. Not in eds.

[1541] _be set out_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “_be out_.”

[1542] _wyll_] MS. “shall.”

[1543] _well fynde_] MS. “_fynde wele_.”

[1544] _Twyshe_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “Twyse.”

[1545] _stole_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “stol.”

[1546] _hym_] Not in MS.

[1547] _not_] Marshe’s ed. here and in the next line but one “nat.”

[1548] _beseche_] MS. “beseke.”

[1549] _good_] Not in MS.

[1550] _be not_] Faukes’s ed. “be _be not_.” Marshe’s ed. “_be_ nat.”

[1551] _iurydiccyon_] Marshe’s ed. “iurisdiction.”

[1552] _that_] MS. “whiche.”

[1553] _a_] MS. “the.”

[1554] _wyll_] MS. “dare.”

[1555] _you_] Not in MS.

[1556] _bararag_] MS. “_bararag_ brag.”

[1557] _hundrethe_] Marshe’s ed. “hundred.”

[1558] _come_] Marshe’s ed. “came.”

[1559] _encrisped_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “enscrisped.”

[1560] _yalowe_] Marshe’s ed. “yolowe.”

[1561] _maidenhode_] Marshe’s ed. “maydenheed.”

[1562] _murnynge_] Faukes’s ed. “murmynge.” Marshe’s ed. “murning.”

[1563] _this_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed “his.”

[1564] _inmortall_] Marshe’s ed. “immortall:” see _ante_, p. 363, note 3.

[1565] _gresse_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “gras.”

[1566] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1567] _Declamacyons_] Faukes’s ed. “declynacyons” Marshe’s ed. “Declamations.”

[1568] _iconomicar_] Eds. “Icononucar.” See notes.

[1569] _Salusty_] Marshe’s ed. “Salust;” but the former reading is meant for the Latin genitive.

[1570] _flotis_] Faukes’s ed. “droppes.” Marshe’s ed. “flotes” (having “throtes” in the next line).

[1571] _Lucan, &c._] This stanza from Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed. MS. defective here.

[1572] _mengith_] Marshe’s ed. “mengleth.”

[1573] _wrate_] Marshe’s ed. “wrote.”

[1574] _flotis_] Eds. “droppes” and “dropes.” But see note 2 above.

[1575] _comicar_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “conucar.”

[1576] _full_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

[1577] _flotis_] Eds. “dropis” and “dropes.”

[1578] _with_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “wit.”

[1579] _recounfortyd_] Marshe’s ed. “recomforted.”

[1580] _flotis_] Eds. “dropis” and “dropes.”

[1581] _Cursius_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “cursus.”

[1582] _flotis_] Eds. “dropis” and “dropes.”

[1583] _frownyd_] Faukes’s ed. “frowmyd.” Marshe’s ed. “frowned.”

[1584] _flotis_] Eds. “dropis” and “dropes.”

[1585] _flotis_] Eds. “dropis” and “dropes.”

[1586] _auysid_] Marshe’s ed. “aduysed.”

[1587] _ennewed_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “a meude.”

[1588] _tabers_] Marshe’s ed. “taberdes.”

[1589] _ye_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1590] _welny_] Marshe’s ed. “welnere.”

[1591] _Poeta Skelton, &c._] This speech of Skelton to Gower is from Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed. MS defective here.

[1592] _Mayster Chaucer to Skelton_] Marshe’s ed. “_Maister Chaucher_ Lawreat poete _to Skelton_,” which contradicts what our author has just told us: see v. 397.

[1593] _welny_] Marshe’s ed. “welnere.”

[1594] _prothonatory_] Marshe’s ed. “protonotory.”

[1595] _tofore_] Marshe’s ed. “before.”

[1596] _so_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1597] _wyl to hym_] Marshe’s ed. “_to hym will_.”

[1598] _wandrynge_] Faukes’s ed. “wadrynge.” Marshe’s ed. “wandring.”

[1599] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1600] _Engolerid_] Marshe’s ed. “Engalared.”

[1601] _worlde_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “worde.”

[1602] _rokky_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1603] _worldly_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “wordly.”

[1604] _hundreth_] Marshe’s ed. “hundred.”

[1605] _a_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

[1606] _Portyngale_] Marshe’s ed. “Portugale.”

[1607] _salfecundight_] Marshe’s ed. “safeconduct.”

[1608] _charter_] Marshe’s ed. “chart.”

[1609] _quarter_] Marshe’s ed. “quart.”

[1610] _came_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “come.”

[1611] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1612] _I then_] Marshe’s ed. “than I.”

[1613] _kest_] Marshe’s ed. “cast.”

[1614] _Ye_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “The.”

[1615] _that_] Marshe’s ed. “so.”

[1616] _Caspian_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Gaspian.”

[1617] _not stonde_] Marshe’s ed. “nat stande,” and in the next line “hande.”

[1618] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1619] _thos_] Marshe’s ed. “these.”

[1620] _yate_] Marshe’s ed. “gate.”

[1621] _Anglia_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Anglea.”

[1622] _Cacosinthicon_] Properly “_Cacosyntheton_.”

[1623] _haskardis_] Faukes’s ed. “hastardis.” Marshe’s ed. “haskardes.”

[1624] _kownnage_] Marshe’s ed. “coynnage.”

[1625] _wyll_] Marshe’s ed. “well.”

[1626] _to-iaggid_] Marshe’s ed. “_to_ lagged.”

[1627] _byrnston_] Marshe’s ed. “brymston.”

[1628] _that_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “tha.”

[1629] _titiuyllis_] Faukes’s ed. “titinyllis.” Marshe’s ed. “titiuils.”

[1630] _gan_] Marshe’s ed. “gon.”

[1631] _an herber_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “a _an herber_.”

[1632] _coundight_] Marshe’s ed. “cundite.”

[1633] _coryously_] Marshe’s ed. “curiously.” See notes.

[1634] _Whose skales, &c._] This line, not in Faukes’s ed., is from Marshe’s ed. MS. defective here.

[1635] _leuis_] Marshe’s ed. “leaue.”

[1636] _Nota_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. has a contraction which I cannot decipher. MS. deficient here.

[1637] _cancour_] Marshe’s ed. “rancour.”

[1638] _and_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1639] _With_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Wit.”

[1640] _Testalis_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “testalus.”

[1641] _Trions_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “troons.”

[1642] _doth_] Marshe’s ed. “done.”

[1643] _and_] Marshe’s ed. “_and_ in.”

[1644] _it_] Marshe’s ed. “in.”

[1645] _conuenable_] Marshe’s ed. “couenably.”

[1646] _contryuyd_] Faukes’s ed. “contyruyd.” Marshe’s ed. “contryued.”

[1647] _worldly_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “wordly.”

[1648] _my_] MS. “myne.”

[1649] _losyd_] MS. “losond.”

[1650] _scrupulus_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “scupulus.”

[1651] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1652] _though_] MS. “thowthe.”

[1653] _not_] Marshe’s ed. here and in the next line “nat.”

[1654] _Gog_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “God.”

[1655] _be_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “by.”

[1656] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1657] _theffect_] MS. “the effecte.”

[1658] _yone_] MS. “yonder.”

[1659] _fals mesuris out_] MS. “_owght fals mesuris_.”

[1660] _Interpolata, &c._] This heading not in MS., which has on the margin “Wryght truly theys verses.”

[1661] _postulat_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_postulāt_.”

[1662] _appetit_] Eds. “_opetit_.” MS. “_oppetit_.”

[1663] _stimulans_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “_stimulas_.”

[1664] _and_] Marshe’s ed. “if.”

[1665] _were to stande in his lyght_] MS. “is _to_ stop vp _his_ sight.”

[1666] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1667] _thowgh_] Marshe’s ed. “thought.” MS. “thowthe.”

[1668] _reame_] Marshe’s ed. “realme.”

[1669] _set men a feightynge_] MS. “stir _men_ to brawlyng.”

[1670] _syt_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “set.”

[1671] _at_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “os.”

[1672] _He_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “Ie.”

[1673] _forth_] Not in MS.

[1674] _Turnyng_] MS. “Turnnyd.”

[1675] _a_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1676] _to_] MS. “into.”

[1677] _a beue_] Faukes’s ed. “aboue.” Marshe’s ed. and MS. “a beuy.”

[1678] _scruteny_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “scuteny.”

[1679] _geue_] MS. “yeve.”

[1680] _warke_] MS. “worke.”

[1681] _ther_] MS. “the.”

[1682] _whyte_] Marshe’s ed. “as _white_.”

[1683] _an_] MS. “a.”

[1684] _blak_] So MS. Not in eds.

[1685] _warkis_] MS. “workis.”

[1686] _rowth_] Marshe’s ed. “rowgh.”

[1687] _surffillyng_] MS. “surfullinge.” See notes.

[1688] _byrdis in bowris_] MS. “bothe _birddis_ and _bowres_.”

[1689] _aduysemente_] MS. “auysemente.”

[1690] _warke_] MS. “worke.”

[1691] _vmanyte_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. “humanite.”

[1692] _Poeta Skelton_] So MS. Eds. “_Poeta Skelton_ answeryth.”

[1693] _thanke_] MS. “thonk.”

[1694] _tremlyng_] Marshe’s ed. “trembling.”

[1695] _amasid_] MS. “masid.”

[1696] _and_] Not in MS.

[1697] _tempestuows_] So MS. Faukes’s ed. “tempeous.” Marshe’s ed. “tempestous.”

[1698] _trust_] MS. “troste.”

[1699] _comforte_] MS. “counforte.”

[1700] _kuttytth_] MS. “kyttithe.”

[1701] _beseke_] Marshe’s ed. “beseche.”

[1702] _lowly_] MS. “lawly.”

[1703] _reconusaunce_] So MS. Faukes’s ed. (by a misprint) “recounsaunce.” Marshe’s ed. “reconisaunce.”

[1704] _Pamphila_] Marshe’s ed. “Pamphilia.”

[1705] _londe_] Marshe’s ed. “land” (and in the next line “hande”); and so MS.

[1706] _perfight_] So MS. Faukes’s ed. “profight.” Marshe’s ed. “parfite.”

[1707] _remembrauncer_] Marshe’s ed. “remembraunce.”

[1708] _and_] Not in MS.

[1709] _Creisseid ... Polexene_] MS. “Creisseyda ... Polycene.”

[1710] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1711] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1712] _do her_] So MS. Eds. “to _do_ you.”

[1713] _The enbuddid blossoms of_] MS. “_Enbuddid_ blossome withe.”

[1714] _With lillis_] MS. “The lylly.”

[1715] _how_] Not in MS.

[1716] _Zeuxes_] Marshe’s ed. “zeusis.”

[1717] _comforte_] MS. “counfort.”

[1718] _surmountynge_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “surmewntynge.”

[1719] _comforte_] MS. “conforte.”

[1720] _goodlyhede_] MS. “goodlihode” here and in the repetition, having “maydenhode” always as its rhyme.

[1721] _maydenhede_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. here (but not in the repetition) “maydenhode.”

[1722] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1723] _iwus_] So MS. Eds. “iwys.”

[1724] _Lede sterre_] Marshe’s ed. “Lode _sterre_.” MS. “Lode star.”

[1725] _vertues_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “vertuows.” MS. “vertuys.”

[1726] _Blenner-Haiset_] MS. “Hasset.”

[1727] _though_] MS. “thowthe.”

[1728] _Trust_] MS. “Trost.”

[1729] _Inmortall fame_] Marshe’s ed. “Immortall _fame_:” but see _ante_, p. 363, note 3. MS. “The courte of _fame_.”

[1730] _mistres_] Marshe’s ed. “maistres.” MS. “mastres.”

[1731] _Haiset_] MS. “Hasset.”

[1732] _Laodomi_] Marshe’s ed. “Leodomie.”

[1733] _your_] MS. “her.”

[1734] _Sterre_] MS. “Star.”

[1735] _womanhode_] Marshe’s ed. “_woman_ hede.”

[1736] _I make you sure_] MS. “_I yow_ assure.”

[1737] _fayre_] MS. “the _fayre_.”

[1738] _that_] MS. “than.”

[1739] _Margarete_] MS. here, but not before, “Marget.”

[1740] _This_] MS. “The.”

[1741] _Though_] MS. “Thowthe.”

[1742] _Maistres_] MS. here and in the repetition “Mastres.”

[1743] _womanhode_] Marshe’s ed. here and in the repetition “_woman_ hede.”

[1744] _maystres Isabell_] MS. “Mastres Isbell;” and so the name in the repetition.

[1745] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1746] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1747] _womanly_] MS. “maydenly.”

[1748] _menes_] MS. “mene.”

[1749] _you_] Not in MS.

[1750] _passis_] Marshe’s ed. and MS. (with various spelling) “passeth.”

[1751] _you_] MS. “ye.”

[1752] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1753] _dore_] MS. “durre.”

[1754] _of_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “with.”

[1755] _me curteisly_] MS. “_kurteisly me_.”

[1756] _wrought_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “whought.”

[1757] _All other besyde were counterfete_] MS. “_All_ thos that they ware _were_ counterfettis.”

[1758] _warke_] MS. “worke.”

[1759] _thought_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “thouhht.”

[1760] _gaue_] MS. “yave.”

[1761] _amonge them no worde_] MS. “not a _worde amonge them_.”

[1762] _wolde to me_] MS. “_to me wold_.”

[1763] _vs_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “hus.”

[1764] _you_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

[1765] _hy_] MS. “higthe.”

[1766] _thorow_] So MS. Eds. “by the.”

[1767] _triumphe_] MS. “promocioun.”

[1768] _high_] MS. “higthe.”

[1769] _accustomable_] Marshe’s ed. “customable.”

[1770] _entendyng_] Marshe’s ed. “attendyng.”

[1771] _To all that to_] So Marshe’s ed. and MS. Faukes’s ed. “_To all_ tho _that_.”

[1772] _hastyue_] Marshe’s ed. “hasty.”

[1773] _for to_] MS. “_for_ me _to_.”

[1774] _trust_] MS. “troste.”

[1775] _ageinst_] MS. “ageyne.”

[1776] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1777] _boke_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “bokes”—but compare the preceding line and the first line of the following stanza. MS. defective here.

[1778] _ony_] Marshe’s ed. “any.”

[1779] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1780] _inmediatly_] Marshe’s ed. “immediately:” but see _ante_ p. 363, note 3. MS. defective here.

[1781] _all_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

[1782] _workis_] Marshe’s ed. “warkes”.

[1783] _wynne_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “wyne.”

[1784] _to_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “do.”

[1785] _volet_] Faukes’s ed. (which alone has these notes) “vacet.”

[1786] _Antomedon_] Qy. “Automedon?”

[1787] _Bowche_] Marshe’s ed. “Bouge.”

[1788] _maistres Margery_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “margery maystres.” MS. defective here.

[1789] _I_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “ye.”

[1790] _Lor_] Marshe’s ed. “Lorde.”

[1791] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1792] _hic_] Marshe’s ed. “hinc.”

[1793] _fro_] Marshe’s ed. “from.”

[1794] _reliqua omelia_] Marshe’s ed. seems to have “_reliquā_,” &c. Qy. “_reliquæ omeliæ_?”

[1795] _Englonde_] Marshe’s ed. “Englande;” and in the next line but one “hande.” MS. defective here.

[1796] _botell_] Marshe’s ed. “botels.”

[1797] _wrate_] Marshe’s ed. “wrote.”

[1798] _wrate_] Marshe’s ed. “wrote.”

[1799] _agerdows_] Marshe’s ed. “egerdous.”

[1800] _Ageynst holy chyrche_] Marshe’s ed. “Agayne _holy_ churche.”

[1801] _grudge_] Marshe’s ed. “grugge.”

[1802] _iays_] Marshe’s ed. “da _Iayes_.”

[1803] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1804] _Onocentauris_] Marshe’s ed. “Onocentaurus.”

[1805] _Hippocentauris_] Both eds. “Hippocentaurus.” MS. defective here.

[1806] _With_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Wit.”

[1807] _bowre_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “powre.”

[1808] _coniure_] Qy. “_coniure_ thé?” as before and after.

[1809] _Of_] Marshe’s ed. “And.”

[1810] _Philistinis_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Phillistimis.”

[1811] _my_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “me.”

[1812] _perplexyte_] Faukes’s ed. “proplexyte.” Marshe’s ed. “perplexite.”

[1813] _that_] Marshe’s ed. “as.”

[1814] _be_] Marshe’s ed. “by.”

[1815] _than_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “and.”

[1816] _and the_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed., instead of these words, only “a.”

[1817] _of the_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

[1818] _Murnyng_] Faukes’s ed. “murmyng.” Marshe’s ed. “Mournyng.”

[1819] _scornis_] Faukes’s ed. “stormis.” Marshe’s ed. “scornes.”

[1820] _muse_] Marshe’s ed. “mows.”

[1821] _fatuæ_] Altered purposely by Skelton from “_fatuorum_” of the Vulgate, _Prov._ xv. 2. (not _Cant._)

[1822] _Not_] Marshe’s ed. “Nat.”

[1823] _sortis, &c._] “_fati sortisque futuræ_.” _Æn._ x. 501.

[1824] _lambis_] Marshe’s ed. “lambe is,”—which may be the right reading. MS. defective here.

[1825] _How dame Minerua, &c._] The words which I have printed in Italics destroy both sense and metre. But they are found in both eds. MS. defective here.

[1826] _it there where_] Marshe’s ed. “yet _wher_.”

[1827] _hit_] Marshe’s ed. “it.”

[1828] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1829] _Isaias_] _Matt._ xxiv. 41.

[1830] _Pso._] _Deut._ xxxii. 25, where “Foris vastabit _eos gladius_, et, &c.”

[1831] _Swaffhamm_] Eds. “Swasshamm.”

[1832] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1833] _Wofully_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “wofuflly.”

[1834] _Galiene_] Marshe’s ed. “Galene.” See notes.

[1835] _Dioscorides_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Diascorides.”

[1836] _Ipocras_] Marshe’s ed. “Hipocrias.”

[1837] _doth_] Marshe’s ed. “done.”

[1838] _Spectatum admisse, &c._] “_Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?_” A. P. 5. Qy. Is the barbarous alteration of this line only a mistake of the printer?

[1839] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1840] _Nedes_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “Nededes.”

[1841] _When the stede, &c._] I have placed this line according to Marshe’s ed. In Faukes’s ed. it stands third in the stanza.

[1842] _Pso. clxxv._] _Luc._ ii. 32.

[1843] _a colde colde_] Marshe’s ed. “_a colde_.”

[1844] _anglice a cokwolde_] These words, which I have placed according to Faukes’s ed., are not in that of Marshe. MS. defective here.

[1845] _This columbyne clere, &c._] This line and the next are transposed in eds.

[1846] _a_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

[1847] _vngracyous_] Faukes’s ed. “vngraryous.” Marshe’s ed. “vngracious.”

[1848] _sank_] Marshe’s ed. “sange.”

[1849] _were_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “where.”

[1850] _distichon_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “distincyon.”

[1851] _rivo_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_viro_.”

[1852] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1853] _snurre_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “surt.”

[1854] _pernicibus_] Faukes’s ed. (which alone has these marginal notes) “ꝑ _virilis_.”

[1855] _not_] Marshe’s ed. “nat.”

[1856] _scrape_] Marshe’s ed. “scarpe.”

[1857] _redde_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “rede.”

[1858] _Counforte_] Marshe’s ed. “comforte.”

[1859] _Horace_] Persius, V. 52.

[1860] _Virtute_] Faukes’s ed. (which alone has these marginal notes) “_Vite_.” The reference “Cauiť” I do not understand.

[1861] _dreme_] Marshe’s ed. “slepe.”

[1862] _sit_] Marshe’s ed. “_sis_.”

[1863] _alloquitur_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_alloquiū_.”

[1864] _then_] Marshe’s ed. “that.”

[1865] _Ye_] Marshe’s ed. “You.”

[1866] _Ageyne_] Marshe’s ed. “Agaynst”—and so, too, in the next line but three.

[1867] _Not_] Marshe’s ed. “Nat.”

[1868] _they_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “thy.”

[1869] _Ad serenissimam Majestatem Regiam &c.... Twene hope and drede, &c._ These Latin and English lines are from Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed. MS. defective here.]

ADMONET SKELTONIS OMNES ARBORES[1870] DARE LOCUM VIRIDI LAURO JUXTA GENUS SUUM.

_Fraxinus in silvis, altis in montibus ornus,[1871]_
_Populus in fluviis, abies, patulissima fagus,_
_Lenta salix, platanus, pinguis ficulnea ficus,_
_Glandifera et quercus, pirus, esculus, ardua pinus,_
_Balsamus exudans, oleaster, oliva Minervæ,_
_Juniperus, buxus, lentiscus cuspide lenta,_
_Botrigera et domino vitis gratissima Baccho,_
_Ilex et sterilis labrusca perosa colonis,_
_Mollibus exudans fragrantia thura Sabæis_
_Thus, redolens Arabis pariter[1872] notissima myrrha,_ 10
_Et vos, O coryli fragiles, humilesque myricæ,_
_Et vos, O cedri redolentes, vos quoque myrti,_
_Arboris omne genus viridi concedite lauro!_

_Prennees en gre_ _The Laurelle._[1873]

[1870] _Admonet Skeltonis omnes arbores, &c._] These Latin lines, with the copy of French verses which follow them and the translations of it into Latin and English, are from Faukes’s ed.—where, though they have really no connexion with _The Garlande of Laurell_, they are considered as a portion of that poem, see the colophon, p. 427; collated with Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568,—where they occur towards the end of the vol., the three last placed together, and the first a few pages after.—Marshe’s ed. “Admonitio _Skeltonis_ ut _omnes Arbores viridi Laureo_ concedant.”

[1871] _ornus_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_orni_.”

[1872] _pariter_] Marshe’s ed. “_panter_.”

[1873] _The Laurelle_] So Marshe’s ed. Not in Faukes’s ed.

EN PARLAMENT A PARIS.

_Iustice est morte,_
_Et Veryte sommielle;_
_Droit et Raison_
_Sont alez aux pardons:_
_Lez deux premiers_
_Nul ne les resuelle;_
_Et lez derniers_
_Sount corrumpus par dons._

OUT OF FRENSHE INTO LATYN.

_Abstulit atra dies Astræam; cana Fides sed_
_Somno pressa jacet; Jus iter arripuit,_
_Et secum Ratio proficiscens[1874] limite longo:_
_Nemo duas primas evigilare parat;_
_Atque duo postrema absunt,[1875] et munera[1876] tantum_
_Impediunt, nequeunt quod remeare domum._

[1874] _proficiscens_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_proficistens_.”

[1875] _absunt_] So Marshe’s ed. Faukes’s ed. “_abiunt_.”

[1876] _munera_] Eds. “_numera_.”

OWT OF LATYNE INTO ENGLYSSHE.

Justyce now is dede;
Trowth with a drowsy hede,
As heuy as the lede,
Is layd down to slepe,
And takith[1877] no kepe;
And Ryght is ouer the fallows[1878]
Gone to seke hallows,
With Reason together,[1879]
No man can tell whether:
No man wyll[1880] vndertake 10
The first twayne to wake;[1881]
And the twayne last
Be withholde so fast
With mony, as men sayne,
They can not come agayne.

_A grant tort,_
_Foy dort.[1882]_

Here endith a ryght delectable tratyse vpon a goodly Garlonde or Chapelet of Laurell, dyuysed by mayster Skelton, Poete Laureat.

[1877] _takith_] Marshe’s ed. “bidythe.”

[1878] _ouer the fallows_] Marshe’s ed. “euer _fallows_.”

[1879] _together_] Marshe’s ed. “togidder.”

[1880] _wyll_] Marshe’s ed. “woll.”

[1881] _wake_] Marshe’s ed. “awake.”

[1882] _A grant tort, Foy dort_] Not in Marshe’s ed.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN.
46 St. Martin’s Lane.