And him he thanked many a sythe.24

370

And some that had been brought thereto, 375
They seemed dead yet were not so,
And there among them lay his wife,
That he loved as his own life;

There was great joy amongst them all.

380

I will well that it be so,

I will that thou of her be blithe."

He took her by the hand anon,

With right good will they out are gone,
And fast they hied from that paláce,
And went their way through Goddės grace;
Into the wilds they both are gone,
O'er holt and heath they journey on.
And so they take their way full fast,
And to Crasséns they come at last,
That sometime was her own citie,
But no man wist that it was he.
With beggar poor of humblest life
A space he tarried with his wife.
He asked tidings of the land,

When he had looked on all this thing,

He kneeled down before the King,

And asked him if his will it were

And who the kingdom had in hand. The humble beggar in his cote, Answering, told him every grote;

How that the Queen was fetched away

Then said the King: "And what art thou,

To the land of faerie on a day,

Who come into my presence now?

And how the King did after go,

Myself nor none that is with me,

But to what place no man can know.

Have ever yet sent after thee.
Since I this kingdom first began
I have not found so brave a man
Who hither dared to come or wend,
Save that I after him should send.'
"Sir," he said, "I trow full weel,
I hold it sooth, sir, every deal,

The Steward, he says, the land doth hold;

395

So, many tidings he them told.

The morrow at the noone tide

It is the custom of us all

To come to every lordės hall,

Many a man him came to see,

Men and wives and maidens fair,

And though we may not welcome be,
Proffer we must our game or glee."
Before the King he sat him down,
And took his harp of merry soun,
And straightway as full well he can,
Many blithe notes he then began.
The King looked up and sat full still,
To hear his harping he had good will.
When he had ceased from his harping,
Then said to him that riche King:
"Minstrel, me liketh well thy glee;
Whatever thing thou ask of me,
Freely now I will thee pay,
Therefore, ask now, and assay."
"Lord," he said, "I beg of thee,
If that it shall your pleasure be,
Give me that lady bright of ble, 23
That lies beneath yon ympė tree."
Nay," he said, "that may I ne'er,
For ye would be a sorry pair;
Thou art all shaggy, rough, and black,
And she is made withouten lack.

Gathered fast to see him there;

405

And marvelled much as him they view, How thick the moss upon him grew;

410

"His beard is grown right to his knee,
His body is withered as a tree."
Then his own Steward did he meet,
Passing in state adown the street,
And Orpheo fell upon his knee
And said: "Lord help, for charitíe,
A minstrel I of Heathenesse,

Fair lilies blow.

Their mates the wild drakes find,

Each creature seeks his kind.

As stream that trickles slow,

We plain when life is drear,
For cruel love the tear

Unchecked must flow.

The moon sends forth her light,
The goodly sun shines bright,

And birds sing well.

Dews drench the soft young grass, And whispering lovers pass,

Their tale to tell;

Snakes woo beneath the clod,

Women grow wondrous proud
On field and fell.
If one shall say me no
Spring joy I will forgo
And banished dwell.

A happy lot to me is sent, etc.

With love I'm worn and watchings late,
Weary as water in a weir,

Lest any rob me of my mate.
I have heard it said of yore,

Better to bear awhile a sore
Than mourn forevermore.
Fairest earth e'er bore,

Hearken to my rune:

A happy lot to me is sent,

I know from heaven 'tis to me lent,
From women all my love is bent
And fixed on Alysoun.

BLOW, NORTHERN WIND
(c. 1300)

I know a maid in bower bright,
That full seemly is to sight,
Maid of majesty and might,
Of loyal heart and hand.
'Midst many a nobler one
A maid of blood and bore,

I know not ever none

So fair in all the land.
Blow, Northern Wind,

Blow, Northern Wind, blow, blow, blow.

35

4C

10

Send thou me my sweeting

For one most fair of everything.

To me she bliss may bring:

To serve her is my boon.

Blow, Northern Wind,

Send thou me my sweeting

Blow, Northern Wind, blow, blow, blow.

20

A happy lot to me is sent,

Her face is full of light,

I know from heaven 'tis to me lent,

As a lantern in the night

From women all my love is bent

She sheds a radiance bright,

26

And fixed on Alysoun.

So fair is she and fine.

In hue her hair is fair to see,

Her neck is slender to enfold,

Her brows are brown, her eyes are black,

With loving laugh she looked at me!

Her loving arms bring joy untold, Her little hands are soft to hold,

Her waist is small, of slender make,

Unless as hers she will me take

To be her mate, my life I'll break,

My life itself I will forsake

1 A spring flower; the woodruff.

1 April.

Would God that she were mine.

Blow, Northern Wind,

Send thou me my sweeting

80

Blow, Northern Wind, blow, blow, blow.

2 Distracted, mad.

1 Bower.

25

She is popinjay abaiting my torment and bale,
True dove in a tower, I tell thee my tale;
She is throstle so gentle that singeth in hall,
She is the wild laverock and the witwall;
She is falcon in forest, dearest in dale:
With every man gladdest in song and in tale:
She is wisest of all from Wye to Wyrhale; 1
The nightingale's note tells her name to the
vale;

In his note is her name, nameth it none?
Whoso reads it aright,―let him whisper to
Joan.

30

1 The Wirral, the land between the rivers Dee and Mersey, in Cheshire.

1 This ballad is found in an old Chronicle, The Brut of Engelonde, (c. 1350) where we are told that "the maidens made a songe therefore in that cuntre of Kynge Edwarde of Engelonde and in this manner thei songe.' Then follows the song.

2 These phrases "probably indicate the occurrence of a dance movement emphasized by special gestures, or the beating of musical instruments."

With sorrow shalt wend away.

35

40

45

55

And queen of all mercy! All that are to greets

Without deadly sin,

Forty dayes of pardoún
God granteth them.

20

A DESCRIPTION OF WILLIAM THE

CONQUEROR

(From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, translated by J. A. GILES)

If any would know what manner of man King William was, the glory that he obtained, and of how many lands he was lord; then will we describe him as we have known him, we, 5 who have looked upon him, and who once lived in his court. This King William, of whom we are speaking, was a very wise and a great man, and more honored and more powerful than any of his predecessors. He was mild to those good 10 men who loved God, but severe beyond measure towards those who withstood his will. He founded a noble monastery on the spot where God permitted him to conquer England, and he established monks in it, and he made it very In his days the great monastery at

15 rich.

1 Hail star of the sea. Yet ever a virgin.

2 Dear Mother of God.
4 Blessed gate of heaven.

To supplicate, to greet Mary with an Ave.

1 The portion of the Chronicle given here is included in the entry for 1087: the year of the death of William the Conqueror. The passage is presumably the work of a contemporary who writes (as he declares) from personal knowledge.

50

Look thou well beforn.