The cõforte of louers | Page 2

afolde

Lyke a place of pleasure moste solacyous
The wyndowes glased /
with crystall precyous
The golden fanes / with wynde and melody

By dulcet sounde / and meruaylous armony
The knottes flagraunt / with aromatyke odoure
With goodly sprynges
/ of meruaylous mountaynes
I dyde than tast / the redolent lycoure

Moost clere and swete / of the goodly vaynes
Whiche dyde me ease /
somwhat of my paynes
Tyll to me came / a lady of goodly age

Apareyled sadly / and demure of vysage
To me she sayd / me thynke ye are not well
ye haue caught colde /
and do lyue in care
Tell me your mynde / now shortly euerydele
To
layne the trouthe / I charge you to beware
I shall for you / a remedy
prepare
Dyspeyre you not / for no thynge that is past
Tell me your
mynde / and be nought agast
Alas madame / vnto her than I sayd
It is no wonder / of myne inwarde
payne
yf that my herte be meruayllously dysmayde
My trouthe and
loue / therof is cause certayne
Dyuers yeres ago / I dyde in mynde
retayne
A lady yonge / a lady fayre of syght
Good // wyse / and
goodly / an holsome sterre of lyght

I durst not speke vnto her of my loue
Yet vnder coloure I dyuers
bokes dyde make
Full pryuely / to come to my aboue
Thus many
nyghtes / I watched for her sake
To her and to hers / my trouthe well
to take
Without ony spotte / of ony maner yll
God knoweth all myn
herte / my mynde & my wyll
The hygh dame nature / by her grete myght & power
Man / beest /
and foule / in euery degre
Fro whens they came at euery maner houre

Dooth trye the trouthe / without duplycyte
For euery thynge must
shewe the properte
Gentyll vngentyll / dame nature so well tryet

That all persones it openly espyeth
The lorde and knyght / delyteth for to here
Cronycles and storyes / of
noble chyualry
The gentyll man gentylnes / for his passe tyme dere

The man of lawe / to here lawe truely
The yeman delyteth to talke of
yomanry
The ploman his londe for to ere and sowe
Thus nature
werketh / in hye degre and lowe
For yf there were one of the gentyll blode
Conuayde to yomanry for
nourysshement
Dyscrecyon comen he sholde chaunge his mode

Though he knewe not / his parentes verament
Yet nature wolde werke
/ so by entendyment
That he sholde folowe / the condycyons doubtles

Of his true blode / by outwarde gentylnes
In all this worlde / ben but thynges twayne
As loue and hate / the
trouth for to tell
And yf I sholde hate my lady certayne
Than
worthy I were / to dye of deth cruell
Seynge all ladyes / that she doth
excell
In beaute / grace / prudence and mekenes
What man on lyue /
can more in one expres
yf she with me sholde take dyspleasure
Whiche loueth her by
honoures desyre
What sholde she do / with suceh a creature
That
hateth her / by inwarde fraude and yre
I yet a louer / do not so atyre

My fayth and hope / I put in her grace
Releace to graunt me / by good

tyme and space
Thretened with sorowe / of may paynes grete
Thre yeres ago my
ryght hande I dyde bynde
Fro my browes for fere / [the] dropes doune
dyde sweet
God knoweth all it was nothynge my mynde
Vnto no
persone / I durst my her to vntwynde
yet the trouthe knowynge / the
good gretest P
Maye me release / of all my /p/p/p/ thre
Now ryght fayre lady / so sadde and demure
My mynde ye knowe / in
euery maner thynge
I trust for trouthe / ye wyll not me dyscure

Sythes I haue shewed you without lesynge
At your request / the cause
of my mournynge
Whiche abyde in sorowe / in my remembraunce

Without good conforte / saufe of esperaunce
Fayre sone sayd she / sythens I knowe your thought
your worde and
dede / and here to be one
Dyspayre you not / for it auayleth nought

Ioye cometh after / whan the payne is gone
Conforte yourselfe / and
muse not so alone
Doubt ye no thynge / but god wyll so agre
That
at the last / ye shall your lady se
Be alwaye meke / let wysdome be your guyde
Aduenture for honoure
/ and put your selfe in preace
Clymbe not to fast / lest sodenly ye
slyde
Lete god werke styll / he wyll your mynde encrece
Begynne
no warre / be gladde to kepe the peace
Prepence no thynge / agaynst
the honoure
Of ony lady / by fraudolent fauoure
Alas madame / vnto her than sayd I
Aboue .xx. woulues / dyde me
touse and rent
Not longe agone / delynge moost shamefully
That by
theyr tuggynge / my lyfe was nere spent
I dyde perceyue / somwhat
of theyr entente
As the trouthe is knowen / vnto god aboue
My
ladyes fader they dyde lytell loue
Seynge theyr falshode / and theyr subtylte
For fere of