A garden saw I, ful of blosmy bowes,
Upon a river, in a grene mede,

Ther as that swetnesse evermore y-now is, With floures whyte, blewe, yelowe, and rede;

And colde welle-stremes, no-thing dede, That swommen ful of smale fisshes lighte, With finnes rede and scales silver-brighte.

On every bough the briddes herde I singe,
With voys of aungel in hir armonye,
Som besyed hem hir briddes forth to
bringe.14

The litel conyes to hir pley gunne hye;
And further al aboute I gan espye

The dredful 15 roo, the buk, the hert and hinde,

Squerels, and bestes smale of gentil kinde.

Of instruments of strenges in acord
Herde I so pleye a ravisshing swetnesse,
That God, that maker is of al and lord,
Ne herde never better, as I gesse;
Therwith a wind, unnethe 16 hit might be
lesse,

Made in the leves grene a noise softe
Acordant to the foules songe on-lofte.

was

200

The air of that place so attempre 17
That never was grevaunce of hoot ne cold;
Ther wex eek every holsom spyce and gras,
Ne no man may ther wexe seek ne old;
Yet was ther joye more a thousand fold
Then man can telle; ne never wolde it
nighte,

But ay cleer day to any mannes sighte.

210

Semyramus, Candace,11 and Ercules,
Biblis, 12 Dido, Tisbe and Piramus,
Tristram, Isoude,18 Paris, and Achilles, 290
Eleyne,14 Cleopatre, and Troilus,
Silla,15 and eek the moder of Romulus-
Alle these were peynted on that other syde,
And al hir love, and in what plyte they
dyde.

Whan I was come ayen into the place
That I of spak, that was so swote and
grene,

Forth welk I tho, my-selven to solace.
Tho was I war wher that ther sat a quene
That, as of light the somer-sonne shene
Passeth the sterre, right so over mesure 300
She fairer was than any creature.

Of every kinde, that men thenke may;
And that so huge a noyse gan they make,
That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake
So ful was, that unnethe was ther space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.

And right as Aleyn, in the Pleynt of Kinde,
Devyseth Nature of aray and face,
In swich aray men mighte[n] hir ther finde.
This noble emperesse, ful of grace,
Bad every foul to take his owne place, 320
As they were wont alwey fro yeer to yere,
Seynt Valentynes day, to stonden there.

The crane the geaunt, with his trompes

soune;

The theef, the chogh; 10 and eek the jangling 11 pye;

The scorning jay; the eles foo, the heroune; The false lapwing, ful of trecherye; 12

The stare,13 that the counseyl can be wrye; 14 The tame ruddok; 15 and the coward kyte; The cok, that orloge is of thorpes lyte; 16 350

The sparow, Venus sone; the nightingale, That clepeth forth 17 the fresshe leves newe; The swalow, mordrer of the foules 18 smale That maken hony of floures fresshe of hewe; The wedded turtel, with hir herte trewe; The pecok, with his aungels fethres brighte; The fesaunt, scorner of the cok by nighte;

The waker 19 goos; the cukkow ever unkinde; 20

21

The popinjay, ful of delicasye;
The drake, stroyer of his owne kinde; 360
The stork, the wreker of avouterye; 22
The hote cormeraunt of glotonye;
The raven wys, the crow with vois of care;
The throstel olde; the frosty 23 feldefare.

What shulde I seyn? Of foules every kinde
That in this worlde han fethres and stature,
Men mighten in that place assembled finde
Before the noble goddesse Nature.
And everich of hem did his besy cure
Benignely to chese or for to take,
By hir acord, his formel 24 or his make.

370

The tercel1 egle, as that ye knowen wel,
The foul royal above yow in degree,
The wyse and worthy, secree, trewe as stel,
The which I formed have, as ye may see,
In every part as hit best lyketh me,
Hit nedeth noght his shap yow to devyse,
He shal first chese and speken in his gyse.2

And after him, by order shul ye chese, 400
After your kinde, everich as yow lyketh,
And, as your hap is, shul ye winne or lese;
But which of yow that love most entryketh,3
God sende him hir that sorest for him syketh.'
And therwith-al the tercel gan she calle,
And seyde, 'My sone, the choys is to thee
falle.

Beseching hir of mercy and of grace,
As she that is my lady sovereyne;
Or let me dye present in this place.
For certes, long may I not live in peyne;
For in myn herte is corven every veyne;
Having reward' [al] only to my trouthe,
My dere herte, have on my wo som routhe.

1 the male of a bird of prey-perhaps so called because a third smaller than the female. 2 way.

⚫ pesters. 4 must. 5 mate. 6 cut. 7 regard.

And if that I to hir be founde untrewe, Disobeysaunt, or wilful negligent, Avauntour, or in proces9 love a newe, 430 pray to you this be my jugement,

I

That with these foules I be al to-rent,
That ilke day that ever she me finde
To hir untrewe, or in my gilte unkinde.

And sin that noon loveth hir so wel as I,
Al be she never of love me behette,10
Than oghte she be myn thourgh hir mercy,
For other bond can I noon on hir kuette.11
For never, for ne wo, ne shal I lette 12
To serven hir, how fer so that she wende;
Sey what yow list, my tale is at an ende.'

439

The noyse of foules for to ben delivered
So loude rong,' Have doon and let us wende!'
That wel wende 8 I the wode had al to-shiv-
ered.

'Come of!' they cryde, 'allas! ye wil us shende!

When shal your cursed pleding have an ende?

How shulde a juge eyther party leve,5
For yee or nay, with-outen any preve?'

The goos, the cokkow, and the doke also So cryden 'Kek, kek!' 'Kukkow!''Quek, quek!' hye,

That thorgh myn eres the noyse wente tho. The goos seyde, 'Al this nis not worth a flye!

501

But I can shape hereof a remedye,
And I wol sey my verdit faire and swythe
For water-foul, who-so be wrooth or blythe.'

'And I for worm-foul,' seyde the fool cukkow,

For I wol, of myn owne auctoritè, For comune spede, take the charge now, For to delivere us is gret charite.' 'Ye may abyde a whyle yet, parde!' Seide the turtel, 'if hit be your wille 510 A wight may speke, him were as good be stille.6

1 please. 2 about. thought. 4 Hurry up. 5 believe. 8 if a man is to speak after your fashion, he might as well be silent.

I am a seed-foul, oon the unworthieste,
That wot I wel, and litel of kunninge;
But bet is that a wightes tonge reste
Than entremeten him of such doinge
Of which he neyther rede can nor singe.
And who-so doth, ful foule himself acloyeth,8
For office uncommitted ofte anoyeth.'9

520

Nature, which that alway had an ere
To murmour of the lewednes behinde,
With facound 10 voys seide, Hold your
tonges there!

And I shal sone, I hope, a counseyl finde
You to delivere, and fro this noyse unbinde;
I juge, of every folk men shal oon calle
To seyn the verdit for you foules alle.'

Assented were to this conclusioun
The briddes alle; and foules of ravyne
Han chosen first, by pleyn eleccioun,
The tercelet of the faucon, to diffyne
Al hir sentence,11 and as him list, termyne; 12
And to Nature him
13
gonnen to presente,
And she accepteth him with glad entente.

529