And in this derke cave, yif hire leste,
Or leste noghte, he bad hire for to reste;
Of which hire herte agrose, and seyde thus:-
'Where
ys my suster, brother Tereus?'
And therewithalle she wepte tenderly,
And quok for fere, pale and pitously,
Ryghte as the lambe that of the wolfe ys byten,
Or as the colver that of thegle ys smyten,
And ys out of his clawes forthe escaped,
Yet hyt ys aferde and awhaped
Lest hit be hent eftesones: so sate she.
But utterly hyt may none other be,
By force hath this traytour done a dede,
That he hathe refte hire hire maydenhede
Maugree hire hede, be strengthe and by his myghte.
Loo, here a dede of men, and that aryghte.
She crieth 'Suster!' with ful longe steve,
And 'Fader dere! helpe me God in hevene!'
Al helpeth not. And yet this fals thefe,
Hath doon thys lady yet a more myschefe,
For ferde lest she sholde hys shame crye,
And done hym openly a vilanye,
And with his swerde hire tonge of kerf he,
And in a castel made hire for to be,
Ful prively in prison evermore,
And kept hire to his usage and to hys store,
So that she ne myght never more asterte.
O sely Philomene, woo ys in thyn herte!
Huge ben thy sorwes, and wonder smerte!
God wreke the, and sende the thy boone!
Now ys hyt tyme I make an ende soone.
This Tereus ys to hys wyf ycome,
And in hise armes hath hys wyf ynome,
And pitously he wepe, and shoke hys hede,
And swore hire that he fonde hire suster dede;
For which the sely Proigne hath suche woo,
That nyghe hire sorwful herte brak atwoo.
And thus in teres lat I Proigne dwelle,
And of hire suster forthe I wol yow telle.
This woful lady ylerned had in yowthe,
So that she werken and embrowden kouthe
And weven in stole the radevore,'
As hyt of wymmen hath be woved yore.
And, shortly for to seyne, she hath hire fille
Of mete and drynke, of clothyng at hire wille,
And kouthe eke rede wel ynough and endyte,
But with a penne she kouthe nat write;
But letteres kan she weve to and froo,
So that by the yere was agoo,
She had woven in a stames' large,
How she was broghte from Athenes in a barge,
And in a cave how that she was broghte,
And al the thinge that Tereus hath wroghte,
She wave hyt wel, and wrote the story above,
How she was served for hire suster love.
And to a knave a rynge she yaf anoon,
And prayed hym by signes for to goon
Unto the queene, and beren hire that clothe;
And by sygne swore many an othe,
She shulde hym yeve what she geten myghte.
Thys knave anoon unto the queene hym dyghte, And toke hit hire, and al the maner tolde. And whanne that Proigne hath this thing beholde, No worde she spak for sorwe and eke for rage, But feyned hire to goon on pilgrymage To Bachus temple. And in a lytel stounde Hire dombe suster syttynge hath she founde Wepynge in the castel hire selfe allone. Allas, the woo, constreynte, and the mone
1 This word is usually interpreted tapestry, and it is derived, in Urry's glossary from ras, cloth, and Vaur or Vore, a town of that name, which Tyrwhitt says is in Languedoc. Stole would seem here to mean some kind of stool, or frame, on which the canvas would be stretched.
2 The printed copies read flames, which is nonsense. stamys, as MS. Arch. Seld. reads, means a kind of cloth, the same as stamel, or stamin, which Halliwell explains, ‘A kind of fine worsted.' -See Dict., &c, in voc.
That Proigne upon hire dombe suster maketh!
In armes everych of hem other taketh;
And thus I lat hem in hire sorwe dwelle.
The remnaunt ys no charge for to telle,
For this is al and somme, thus was she served,
That never harme agilte ne deserved
Unto thys cruelle man, that she of wyste.
Ye may bewar of men yif that yow lyste.
For al be that he wol not for the shame
Doon as Tereus, to lese hys name,
Ne serve yow as a morderere or a knave,
Ful lytel while shul ye trewe hym have.
That wol I seyne, al were he nowe my brother,
But hit so be that he may have another.
EXPLICIT LEGENDA PHILOMENE.
INCIPIT LEGENDA PHILLIS.'
BY preve, as wel as by auctorite,
That wikked fruite cometh of wikked tree,
That may ye fynde. yf that hyt liketh yow.
But for thys ende I speke thys as now,
To telle yow of fals Demophoon.
In love a falser herde I never noon,
But hit were hys fader Theseus;
God for hys grace fro suche oon kepe us!
Thus these wymmen prayen that hit here;
Now to theffect turne I of my matere.
Distroyed is of Troye the citee;
This Demophoon come saylyng in the see
Towarde Athenes to hys paleys large.
With hym come many a shippe, and many a barge
Ful of folke, of whiche full many oon
Ys wounded sore, and seke, and woo begoon,
And they han at the sege longe ylayne.
Behynde him come a wynde and eke a rayne,
That shofe so sore, hys sayle myghte not stonde.
Hym were lever than al the world a-londe,
So hunteth hym the tempest to and fro!
So derke hyt was, he kouthe no wher go,
And with a wawe brosten was hys stere.
His shippe was rent so lowe, in suche manere,
That carpenter koude hit not amende.
The see by nyghte as any torche brende
For wode, and posseth hym up and doune;
Til Neptune hath of hym compassyoune,
And Thetis, Chorus, Triton,' and they alle,
And maden him upon a londe to falle,
Wherof that Phillis lady was and queene,
Lycurgus doghter, fayrer on to seene,
Thanne is the floure ageyn the bryghte sonne.
Unneth ys Demophoon to londe ywonne,
Wayke and eke wery, and his folke forpyned
Of werynesse, and also enfamyned,
And to the dethe he was almoste ydreven,
Hys wyse folke conseyle han hym yeven,
To seken helpe and socour of the queene,
And loken what hys grace myghte bene,
And make in that londe somme chevissaunce,
And kepen hym fro woo and fro myschaunce.
For seke he was, and almoste at the dethe;
Unneth myghte he speke, or drawe brethe;
And lyeth in Rhodopeya3 hym for to reste. [beste
Whanne he may walke, hym thoghte hit was the
Unto the countree to seken for socoure.
Men knewe hym wele and dide hym honoure;
For at Athenes duke and lorde was he,
As Theseus hys fader hath ybe,
1 Triton is omitted in MS. Fairfax 16.
2 Instead of Lycurgus the Fairfax MS. reads Bygurgus, and MS. Arch. Seld. B. 24, Lugurgus.
That in hys tyme was grete of renoun,
No man so grete in al hys regioun ;
And lyke hys fader of face and of stature,
And fals of love; hyt come hym of nature,
As dothe the fox Renarde, the foxes sone;
Of kynde he koude hys olde fadres wone
Withoute lore, as kan a drake swymme
Whanne hit ys kaught and caried to the brymme.
Thys honourable queene doth him chere,
And lyketh wel hys porte and hys manere.
But I am agroted here beforne,
To write of hem that in love ben forsworne,
And eke to haste me in my legende,
Which to performe, God me grace sende!
Therfore I passe shortly in thys wyse.
Ye have wel herde of Theseus the gyse,
In the betraysyng of faire Adriane,
That of hire pitee kepte hym fro hys bane;
At shorte wordes, ryghte so Demophoon,
The same way, the same path hath goon,
That did his fals fader Theseus.
For unto Phillis hath he sworne thus,
To wedden hire, and hire his trouthe plyghte,
And piked of hire al the good he myghte,
Whanne he was hole and sounde, and had hys reste,
And doth with Phillis what so that him leste,
As wel kouthe I, yf that me leste soo,
Tellen al hys doynge, to and fro.
He sayede to hys countree moste hym sayle,
For ther he wolde hire weddyng apparaylle
As fille to hire honour and hys also,
And openly he toke his leve tho,
And to hire swore he wolde not sojourne,
But in a moneth ageyn he wolde retourne.
And in that londe let make hys ordynaunce,
As verray lorde, and toke the obeisaunce,
Wel and humbly, and his shippes dyghte,
And home he gooth the next wey he myghte.
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