That wol maynteyne that he first bigan!
That lord hath litel of discrecioun,
That in swich cas can no divisioun,
But weyeth pryde and humblesse after oon.'
And shortly, whan his ire is thus agoon,
He gan to loken up with eyen lighte,
And spak thise same wordes al on highte:-
'The god of love, a! benedicite,
How mighty and how greet a lord is he!
Ayeins his might ther gayneth none obstacles,
He may be cleped a god for his 1 miracles;
For he can maken at his owne2 gyse
Of everich herte, as that him list devyse3.
Lo heer, this Arcite and this Palamoun,
That quitly weren out of my prisoun,
And mighte han lived in Thebes roially,
And witen I am hir mortal enemy,
And that hir deth lyth in my might also,
And yet hath love, maugree hir eyen two,
Y-broght hem hider bothe for to dye!
Now loketh, is nat that an heigh folye?
Who may nat ben a fool, if that he love?
Bihold, for Goddes sake that sit above,
Se how they blede! be they noght wel arrayed?
Thus hath hir lord, the god of love, y-payed
Hir wages and hir fees for hir servyse!
And yet they wenen for to been ful wyse
That serven love, for aught that may bifalle !
But this is yet the beste game of alle,
That she, for whom they han this Iolitee,
Can hem ther-for as moche thank as me;
She woot namore of al this hote fare,
By God, than woot a cokkow or1 an hare!
But al moot ben assayed, hoot and cold;
A man moot ben a fool, or yong or old;
I woot it by my-self ful yore agoon:
For in my tyme a servant was I oon.
And therfore, sin I knowe of loves peyne,
And woot how sore it can a man distreyne,
As he that hath ben caught ofte in his las 2,
I yow foryeve al hoolly this trespas3,
At requeste of the quene that kneleth here,
And eek of Emelye, my suster dere.
And ye shul bothe anon un-to me swere,
That nevere-mo ye shul my contree* dere,
Ne make werre up-on me night ne day,
But been my frendes in al that ye may;
I yow foryeve this trespas every del 5.'
And they him swore his axing fayre and wel5,
And him of lordshipe and of mercy preyde,
And he hem graunteth grace, and thus he seyde: 970 'To speke of roial lynage and richesse,
Though that she were a quene or a princesse, (1830)
Ech of yow bothe is worthy, doutelees,
To wedden when tyme is, but nathelees?
I speke as for my suster Emelye,
For whom ye have this stryf and Ielousye,
Ye woot your-self she may not wedden two
At ones, though ye fighten evere-mo:
1 E. Hn. Cp. of; rest or.
2 E. Hn. Cp. Pt. laas; Cm. las; Hl. Ln. lace.
* E. deel, weel; Hn. Cm. Cp. del, wel.
6 Hl. Pt. swore; rest sworen, sworne, sworyn. 7E. wrongly repeats doutelees.
That ech of yow shal have his destinee
That oon of yow, al be him looth or leef,
He moot go1 pypen in an ivy-leef;
This is to seyn, she may nat now han bothe,
Al be ye nevere so Ielous 2, ne so wrothe.
And for-thy I yow putte in this degree,
As him is shape; and herkneth in what wyse;
Lo, heer your ende of that I shal devyse.
My wil is this, for plat conclusioun,
With-outen any replicacioun,
If that yow lyketh, tak it for the beste,
That everich of yow shal goon wher him leste
Frely, with-outen raunsoun or daunger;
And this day fifty wykes, fer ne ner,
Everich of yow shal bringe an hundred knightes,
Armed for listes up at alle rightes,
Al redy to darreyne hir by bataille.
And this bihote I yow with-outen faille
Up-on my trouthe, and as I am a knight,
That whether of yow bothe that hath might,
This is to seyn, that whether he or thou
May with his hundred, as I spak of now,
Sleen his contrarie, or out of listes dryve,
Him shal I yeve Emelya to wyve,
To whom that fortune yeveth so fair a grace.
The listes shal I maken in this place,
And God so wisly on my soule rewe,
As I shal even Iuge been and trewe.
Ye shul non other ende with me maken,
That oon of yow ne shal be deed or taken.
Hl. Him; Cp. Ln. That; E. Hn. Thanne; Cm. Pt. Than.
So E. Cp. Ln.; Hl. Hn. Emelye.
And if yow thinketh this is wel y-sayd,
Seyeth your avys, and holdeth yow apayd.
This is your ende and your conclusioun.'
Who loketh lightly now but Palamoun?
Who springeth up for Ioye but Arcite?
Who couthe telle, or who couthe it1 endyte,
The Ioye that is maked in the place
Whan Theseus hath doon so fair a grace?
But doun on knees wente every maner wight,
And thanked him with al hir herte and might,
And namely the Thebans ofte3 sythe.
And thus with good hope and with herte blythe 1020 They take hir leve, and hom-ward gonne they ryde To Thebes, with his olde walles wyde.
Explicit secunda pars. Sequitur pars tercia.
I trowe men wolde deme it necligence,
If I foryete to tellen the dispence
Of Theseus, that goth so busily
To maken up the listes roially;
That swich a noble theatre as it was,
I dar wel seyn that in this world ther nas.
The circuit a myle was aboute,
Walled of stoon, and diched al with-oute.
Round was the shap, in manere of compas 5,
Ful of degrees, the heighte of sixty pas,
That, whan a man was set on o degree,
He lette nat his felawe for to see.
Est-ward ther stood a gate of marbel whyt,, 1035
2 Hl. thanked; Cm. thankede; Cp. Pt. Ln. thonked; E. Hn. thonken. 3 E. often; Ln. oft; Pt. mony; rest ofte.
West-ward, right swich another in the opposit.
And shortly to concluden, swich a place
Was noon in erthe, as in so litel space;
For in the lond ther nas no crafty man,
That geometrie or ars-metrik can,
Ne portreyour', ne kervere of images,
That Theseus ne yaf him 2 mete and wages
The theatre for to maken and devyse.
And for to doon his ryte and sacrifyse,
He est-ward hath up-on the gate above,
In worship of Venus, goddesse of love,
Doon make an auter and an oratorie;
And west-ward, in the mynde and in memorie 3
Of Mars, he maked hath right swich another,
That coste largely of gold a fother.
And north-ward, in a touret on the wal,
Of alabastre whyt and reed coral
An oratorie riche for to see,
In worship of Dyane of chastitee,
Hath Theseus doon wroght in noble wyse.
But yet hadde I foryeten to devyse
The noble kerving, and the portreitures,
The shap, the contenaunce, and the figures,
That weren in thise oratories thre.
First in the temple of Venus maystow se
Wroght on the wal, ful pitous to biholde,
The broken slepes, and the sykes colde;
The sacred teres, and the waymenting;
The fyry strokes of the desiring,
That loves servaunts in this lyf enduren;
1 Hl. portreyour; Hn. purtreyour; E. portreitour. 2 Cp. Pt. Cm. him; HI. hem; rest om.
3 So Hl.; E. (wrongly) And on the westward, in memorie. E. and; rest of.
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