Stephen Hawes

“ You for to love and serve prudently.
Abyde, quod he, I wyll speke with the kynge;
Tell me your name and habitation,
And the chefe cause now of your coming,
That I to him may make relacion,
To knowe his minde without variacion.
La Graund Amour my name is, sayd I;
The cause of my coming, intentifly,
Is for bicause that I have enterprised,
Now for the sake of fayre La Bell Pucell,
To passe the passage that I her promised
That is so daungerous with serpentes cruell;
And for as much as I know never a dell
The festes of armes to attayne honoure,
I am come to lerne with diligent labour. ”

“ HOWE ETERNYTE CAME INTO THE TEMPLE, AND OF HER VERTUOUS EXHORTACYON.
And thus, as Tyme made his conclusion,
Eternitie, in a fayre white vesture
To the temple came, with whole affection,
And on her head a diademe ryght pure,
With thre crownes of precious treasure;
Eternitie, she sayde, I am nowe doubtles,
Of heaven quene and of hell empresse.
First God made heaven his propre habitacle,
Though that his power be in every place,
In eterne heaven is his tabernacle;
Time is there in no maner of case ”

“ Thinke well, quod she, that in the worlde is none
Whiche can have pleasure without wo and care;
Joye cometh after, when the payne is gone:
Was never man that was devoyde or bare
Alway of joye after his wofull snare;
Who knoweth payne and hath bene in trouble,
After his wo his joye is to him double.
It may so fortune that La Bell Pucell
Hath divers frendes, that be not content
That her favoure ye should attayne so well;
For you of them she may often be shent,
But what for that? she shall not her repent,
And if her frendes be with you angry,
Suffer their wordes and take it paciently. ”

“ And also Straungenes, and to love the fo;
And let no covetous your true herte subdue,
But that in joye you may your youth ensue.
For of I love the goddes dame Venus,
Right well to know that in the world is none
That unto you shall be more joyous
Than Graund Amour, that loveth you alone;
Sith he so did, it is many dayes agone.
Who ever saw a fayre yong hart so harde,
Which for her sake wolde se her true love mard? ”

“ My rightes I toke, and than incontinent
Nature avayled in so lowe degre
That deth was come, and all my lyfe was spent.
Out of my body my soule than it wente
To Purgatory, for to be purifyed,
That after that it might be glorified.
205 CAP. XLII.
HOWE REMEMBRAUNCE MADE HIS EPYTAPHY ON HIS GRAVE.
The good dame Mercy, with dame Charite,
My body buried full right humbly,
In a fayre temple of olde antiquite:
There was for me a dirige devoutly,
And with many a masse full right solemynely;
And over my grave to be in memory
Remembraunce made this lytle epetaphy:
O erth! ”

“ What you avayleth your beaute so fayre,
Your lusty youth and your gentill countenaunce,
Without that you in your minde will repayre
It for to spend in joye and plesaunce?
To folow the trace of dame Natures daunce;
And thus in doing you shall your servaunt hele,
Of his disease and hurte you never a dele.
One must you love, it can not be denied,
For harde it is to voyde you of the chaunce
Than to love him best that you have so arayed
Wyth fyry chaynes fettered in penaunce ”

“ Beholdyng well the ryght faire portrayture
Made of fyne copper, shydyng faire and gaye,
Full well truely accordyng to measure,
And, as I thought, nyne fote of stature,
Yet in the brest with letters fayre and blewe
Was wrytten a sentence olde and true:
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This is the waye and the sytuacion
Unto the toure of famous doctrine:
Who that wil learne must be ruled by reason
And with all his diligence he must enclyne
Slouthe to eschue and for to determine,
And set his hert to be intelligible;
To a willyng harte is nought impossible. ”

“ It happened so that in a temple olde,
By the toure of Musyke at great solemnyte,
La Bell Pucell I dyd ryght well beholde,
Whose beaute clere and great humilite
To my heart dyd cast the darte of amyte;
After whyche stroke so harde and farvent,
To her excellence I came incontinent.
Beholdyng her chere and lovely countenaunce,
Her garmentes ryche and her propre stature,
I regestered well in my remembraunce
That I never sawe so fayre a creature,
So well favoured create by nature;
That harde it is for to wryte wyth yncke
All the beaute, or any hert to thynke. ”

“ That is longing to fayre dame Nature;
Yet more over her countenaunce so pure,
So swete, so lovely, wold my hert inspyre,
Wyth fervent love to attayne his desyre.
But what for her maners passeth all,
She is both gentyll, good, and vertuous;
Alas! what fortune did me to her call
Without that she be to me piteous?
With her so fettered in paynes dolorous,
Alas! shall pite be from her exyled,
Which all vertues hath so undefiled?
Thus in my mynde whan I had engraved
Her goodly countenaunce and fayre figure,
It was no wonder that I was amased,
My herte and minde she had so tane in cure. ”

“ There was a stremer ryght white, large and long,
Wheron was written with vyse of the best,
My name is Variaunce, that ever among
The mynde of love doth chaunge with great wrong,
That a true lover can not be certayne
Love for his mede right stedfast to retayne.
And yet aloft on the fift helmet
In a blacke banner was written Envy,
Whose hart ever inwardly is fret
When Graund Amour should attayne his lady. ”

“ Of La Belle Pucell so fayre and beauteous,
La Graunde Amoure truely is my name,
Which seke adventures to attayne the same.
A, ha! quod she, I thought as much before,
That you were he, for your great hardines.
La Bell Pucell must love you evermore,
Which for her sake, in your hye nobles,
Doth such actes by chyvalrous exces:
Her gentyl hert may nothing deny
To rewarde your mede with love full fervently. ”

“ HOW WHAN GRAUNDE AMOURE HAD LIVED LONGE WYTH LA BEL PUCELL, HE WAS ARRESTED BY AEGE, THAT BROUGHT UNTO HIM POLYCY AND AVARYCE.
Thus as I lived in such pleasure gladde,
Into the chamber came full prively
A fayre olde man, and in his hand he hadde
A croked staffe; he wente full wekely:
Unto me than he came full softely,
And with his staffe he toke me on the brest,
Obey! he sayd, I must you nedes areste.
My name is Age, which have often sene
The lusty youth perysh unhappely,
Through the desert of the selfe I wene ”

“ Aha! quod he, I trowe well ye be
A true lover: so mote I thrive and the,
Let not thy lady of thy harte be rother;
When thou art gone, she wyll sone have another.
Thus forth we rode tyll we sawe afarre
A royall tower as bryght as any starre,
To whiche we rode as fast as we myght.
When we came there, adowne my stede I lyght,
So dyd this Godfrey Gobilive also;
Into the temple after me gan go.
There sate dame Venus and Cupide her sonne,
Whiche had their parliament ryght newly begone.
To redresse lovers of their payne and wo,
Whiche in the temple did walke to and fro. ”

“ All maner vertues in her clerely shyne:
No vyce of her may ryght longe domine.
And I, dame Fame, in every nacyon
Of her do make the same relacyon.
Her swete reporte so my hert set on fyre
Wyth brennyng love moost hot and fervent,
That her to se I had greate desyre;
Sayenge to Fame; O lady excellent,
I have determyned in my judgement,
For La Bell Pucell the most fayre lady
To passe the waye of so greate jeopardy.
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You shall, quod Fame, obtayne the vyctory,
If you wyl do as I shall you saye,
And all my lesson retayne in memory.
To the toure of Doctryne ye shall take your waye. ”

“ There is no love can cause your herte to breke.
82 Amoure.
I wolde, madame, ye hadde prerogatyve
To knowe the prevyte of my perfyte mynde,
How all in payne I lede my wofull lyfe;
Than, as I trowe, ye wolde not be unkynde,
But that some grace I myght in you fynde,
To cause myne herte, whyche you fetred sure
Wyth brenninge cheynes, suche wo to endure.
Pucell.
By veraye reason I may give judgement,
That it is guyse of you everychone
To fayne you sicke wyth subtyll argument,
Whan to your lady ye list to make your mone:
But of you true is there fewe or none. ”

“ The power, estate, and royall dignitie
Of dame Fame in every region
Is for to spreade by hye aucthoritie
The noble dedes of many a champion,
As they are worthy in mine opinion;
For thoughe his body be dead and mortall,
His fame shall endure and be memoriall.
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Did not Graunde Amoure with his royall dedes
Winne La Bell Pucell the most fayre lady? ”

“ Thoughe ye thynke longe, yet ye shall be plesed.
I wolde, quod I, that it were as ye say.
Fye, fye, quod he, dryve suche dyspayre away,
And lyve in hope, whych shall do you good.
Joy cometh after, whan the payne is past.
Be ye pacyent and sobre in mode;
To wepe and wayle all is for you in wast:
Was never payne, but it had joye at last.
In the fayre morrow, ryse and make you redy,
At ix. at the clocke, the time is necessary
For us to walke unto your lady gent ”

“ What shoulde I wryte more in thys matter hye,
In my maternall tonge opprest wyth ignoraunce?
For who that lyst to lerne astronomye,
He shall fynde all fruytfull pleasaunce
In the Latyn tonge by goodly ordenaunce;
Wherfore of it I wyll no lenger tary,
For fere from trouthe that I happen to vary.
Of dame Astronomy I dyd take my lycence
For to travayle to the toure of Chyvalry;
For al my minde, wyth percyng influence,
Was sette upon the most fayre lady
La Bell Pucell, so muche ententyfly,
That every daye I dyd thinke fyftene,
Tyl I agayne had her swete person sene. ”

“ For men do love, as I am right sure,
Nowe one, now other, after theyr pleasure.
85 Amoure.
All that, madame, I knew ryght perfetly,
Some men there be of that condicyon;
That them delyte often in novelty,
And many also love perfeccyon.
I cast all suche noveltes in objection;
My love is set upon a perfet grounde,
No falshed in me truly shal be founde.
Pucell.
Ye saye full well, yf ye meane the same;
But I in you can have no confydence;
I thinke right well that it is no game
To love unloved wyth percynge influence. ”

“ And whan a knyght with noble chyvalry
Of La Bell Pucell should attayne the grace,
Wyth my great falshed I werke so subtylly
That in her herte he hath no place:
Thus of his purpose I do let the cace.
This is I my power and my condicion,
Love to remove by great illusion.
And of the second head, in a silken tassell,
There I saw wrytten: Ymaginacion;
My crafty wytte is withouten fayle
Love for to bring in perturbacion;
Where La Bell Pucell wold have affeccion
To Graund Amour, I shall a tale devyse
To make her hate him and him to dispyse. ”

“ I se you ryght often when I am aslepe,
And whan I wake do sygh with teres depe.
Pucell.
So great deceyt amonge men there is,
That harde it is to finde one full stable;
Ye are so subtil and so false, ywis:
Your great deceyte is nothing commendable.
In storyes olde it is well provable
How many ladyes hath bene right falsely
Wyth men deceyved yll and subtylly.
Amoure.
O goodd madame! though that they abused
Them to theyr ladyes in theyr great deceyte,
Yet am I true; let me not be refused:
Ye have me taken wyth so fayre a bayte,
That ye shall never out of my conceyte. ”

“ Whyche unto hys hath sette you most nere.
Pucell.
The minde of men chaungeth as the mone.
If you mete one whyche is fayre and bryght,
Ye love her best tyll ye se, right soone,
An other fayrer unto your owne syght.
Unto her than your minde is tourned ryght,
Truely your love, though ye make it straunge,
I knowe full well ye wyl often chaunge.
Amoure.
Alas! madame, nowe the bright lodes sterre
Of my true herte, where ever I go or ryde,
Thoughe that my body be from you aferre,
Yet my herte onely shall wyth you abyde,
Whan than you lyst ye may for me provyde. ”

“ Sayeng that we dyde ryght well agre,
For all our foes were added and gone.
Ryght gladde I was that joyfull day to se;
And than anone, with grete humylytie,
La Bell Pucell to a fayre chambre bryght,
Dyde me than brynge for to rest all nyght.
And she toke her leve, I kyst her lovely.
I wente to bedde, but I coude not slepe,
For I thought so moche upon her inwardly,
Her moost swete lokes in to my herte dyde crepe,
Percynge it through with a wounde so depe;
For Nature thought every houre a daye
Tyll to my lady I sholde my dette well paye. ”

“ Through the worlde my whele doth extende,
As reason doth ryght well comprehende;
Of my great chaunces whiche are unsure,
As dayly doth appere well in ure.
If I should worke with perfite stedfastnes,
And to exalte some to be honourable,
And that they knewe by perfyte sykernes,
That it should dure and not be variable,
It were a thyng unto me culpable;
For great orguell pryde should them so blynde,
To knowe them selfe they should lose their mynde. ”

“ On Graund Amour for to release his smarte.
In a russet banner on the sixt heade
There was wrytten this worde, Detraction,
That can open in a covert stede
His subtile male replete with treason,
To cause a lady to have suspection
Unto her true lover wyth his bytter tale,
That she her love from him than dyd hale.
On the vii. hede, in a baner of ryches,
Was wrytten, with letters all of Grewe,
My name truly is called Doublenes,
Whyche I do owe unto all ladyes true,
At a tyme unware my dette shal be dewe,
To Graunde Amoure for to make him repente,
That he his love on La Bell Pucell spente. ”

“ To the, yong knight, for thou maist go to schole,
In tyme commyng of true love to learne.
Beware of that for thou canst not decerne
Thy ladies mynde: though that she speake the fayre,
Her harte is false, she wyll no truthe repayre. ”

“ And musike selfe is melodious
To rejoyce the yeres and comfort the brayne,
Sharping the wittes with sounde solacious,
Devoydyng bad thoughtes whiche dyd remayne,
It gladdeth the herte also well certayne;
Lengthe the lyfe with dulcet armony,
As is good recreacion after study.
She commaunded her mynstrelles right anone to play
Mamours the swete and the gentill daunce;
With La Bell Pucell, that was fayre and gaye,
She me recommaunded, with all pleasaunce,
To daunce true mesures without varyaunce.
O Lorde God! how glad than was I,
So for to daunce with my swete lady. ”

“ HOWE HE WAS LET IN BY COUNTENAUNCE THE PORTERES, AND OF THE MARVELOUS BUILDYNG OF THE SAME TOWER.
The toure was great, and of marvelous wydnes,
To whyche there was no way to passe but one,
Into the toure for to have an intres;
A grece there was, y-chesyled all of stone
Out of the rocke, on whiche men dyd gone
Up to the toure; and in lykewise did I,
Wyth bothe the greyhoundes in my company. ”

“ That in this worlde dyd lede all his lyfe
In joye and pleasure, wythout adversyte;
No worldely thyng can be wythout stryfe,
For unto pleasure payne is affyrmatyfe.
Who wyll have pleasure he must fyrst apply
To take the payne wyth hys cure besely.
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To serve the joye whych after death ensue,
Rewardyng payne for the great businesse,
No doubte your lady wyl upon you rue,
Seing you apply all your gentylnes
To do her pleasure and servyce doubtles.
Harde is the heart that no love hath felt. ”