And over all the north countrè And I thyrtene pencet a day, said the quene, 164 By God, and by my fay; Wyllyam, I make the a gentleman And thy two brethren, yemen of my chambre, 165 Your sonne, for he is tendre of age, 766 Of my wyne-seller he shall be; And when he cometh to mans estate, Better avaunced shall he be. And, Wyllyam, bringe me your wife, said the quene, Me longeth her sore to se: She shall be my chefe gentlewoman, To governe my nurserye. The yemen thanked them all curteously. To some byshop wyl we wend +, Of all the synnes, that we have done, 168 To be assoyld at his hand. * " And I geve the xvij pence." PC. + "And sayd to some Bishopp wee will wend." MS. 169 170 So forth be gone these good yemen, As fast as they might 'he*;' Thus endeth the lives of these good yemen"; * i. e. hie, hasten. See the Glossary. II. THE AGED LOVER RENOUNCETH LOVE. The grave-digger's song in Hamlet, act v. is taken from three stanzas of the following poem, though greatly altered and disguised, as the same were corrupted by the ballad-singers of Shakspeare's time; or perhaps so designed by the poet himself, the better to suit the character of an illiterate clown. The original is preserved among Surrey's Poems, and is attributed to Lord Vaux, by George Gascoigne, who tells us, it " was thought by some to be made on his death-bed;" a popular error which he laughs at. (See his Epist. to Yong Gent. prefixed to his Posies, 1575, 4to.) It is also ascribed to Lord Vaux in a manuscript copy preserved in the British Museum*. This lord was remarkable for his skill in drawing feigned manners, &c. for so I understand an ancient writer. "The Lord Vaux his commendation lyeth chiefly in the facilitie of his meetre, and the aptnesse of his descriptions such as he taketh upon him to make, namely in sundry of his songs, wherein he showeth the counterfait action very lively and pleasantly." Arte of Eng. Poesie, 1589, p. 51. See another song by this poet in Series II. Book i. No. 8. * Harl. MSS. Num. 1703, § 25. The readings gathered from that copy are distinguished here by inverted commas. The text is printed from the Songs, &c. of the Earl of Surrey and others, 1557, 4to. I LOTH that I did love, In youth that I thought swete, My lustes they do me leave, My fansies all are * fled; For Age with steling steps Hath clawde me with his crowcht, My muse doth not delight Me, as she did before : My hand and pen are not in plight, For Reason me denies, 'All§' youthly idle rime; And day by day to me she cries, Leave off these toyes in tyme. * "Be." PC. [printed copy in 1557.] + "Crowch" perhaps should be "clouch," clutch, grasp. "Life away she." PC. This." PC. The wrinkles in my brow, The furrowes in my face, Say, Limping age will 1 lodge*' him now, Where youth must geve him place. The harbenger of death, To me I se him ride, The cough, the cold, the gasping breath, A pikeax and a spade, And eke a shrowding shetet, For such a guest most mete. Me thinkes I heare the clarke, That knoles the carefull knell‡; My kepers || knit the knot, That youth doth I laugh to scorne, Thus must I youth geve up, * So ed. 1583: it is "hedge" in ed. 1557. "Hath caught him." MS. + "Wyndynge-sheete." MS. § "Wofull." PC. I "Did." PC. ++ "Not." PC. + "Bell." MS. || Alluding perhaps to Eccles. xii. 3. **" Clene shal be." PC. |