me tell Councell quod he the whiche solucion In my wofull minde I liked right well And priuely I did his lesson spell Saiyng to him my chaunce and destiny Of all other is the most vnhappy Why so quod he thoughe fortune be straunge To you a while turnyng of her face Her louryng chere she may right sone chaung And you accept and call vnto her grace Dispayre you not for in good time and space Nothing there is but wisdome may it wâ—â— To tell your mynde I praye you to begyn Unto you quod I with all my whole assent I will tell you trouthe and you will not bewraye Unto none other my matter and entent Nay nay quod he you shall not se that daye Your whole affiaunce and trust well ye may Into me put for I shall not vary But kepe your councell as a secretary And then to him in the maner folowyng I did complayne with sighyng teares depe Alas quod I you shall haue knowlegyng Of my heauy chaunce that causeth me to wepe So wo I am that I can neuer slepe But wallowe and tumble in the trappe of care My hart was caughte or that I was ware It happened so that in a temple olde By the tower of musike at great solemnitie La bell pucell I did right well beholde Whose beauty cleare and great humilitie To my hart did cast the darte of amitie After whiche stroke so harde and feruent To her excellence I came incontinent Beholdyng her chere and louely countenaunce Her garmentes riche and her propre stature I regestered well in my remembraunce That I neuer sawe so fayre a creature So well fauouredly create by nature That harde it is for to wryght with ynke All her beautie or any harte to thinke Fayrer she was then was quene Helene Proserpyne Cresyde or yet Ypolyte Medea Dydo or yong Polexyne Alcumena or quene Menelape Or yet dame Rosamonde in certaintie None of all these can haue the preeminence To be compared to her highe excellence Duryng the feast I stode her neare by But then her beauty encreased my paine I coulde nothing resist the contrary She wrapt my hart in a brennyng chayne To the musicall tower she went then againe I went after I coulde not be behinde The chaine she haled whiche my hart did binde Till that we came into a chamber gaye Where that musike with all her minstrelsy Diuers base daunces most swetely did playe That them to here it was great melody And dame musike commaunded curteously La bell pucell with me then to daunce Whom that I toke with all my pleasaunce By her swete hande beginnyng the trace And long did daunce till that I might not hide The painefull loue whiche did my hart embrace Bicause wherof I toke my leaue that tide And to this temple where I do abide Forth then I went alone to bewaile My mortall sorowe without any faile Nowe haue I tolde you all the very trouth Of my wofull chaunce and great vnhappines I pray you nothing with me to be wrothe Whiche am drowned in careful wretchednes By fortune plunged full of doublenes A a said councell doubt ye neuer a deale But your disease I shall by wisedome heale Remember you that neuer yet was he That in this worlde did leade all his life In ioye and pleasure without aduersitie No worldly thing can not be without strife For vnto pleasure paine is affirmatife Who will haue pleasure he must first apply To take the payne with his cure busely To deserue the ioye which after doth ensue Rewardyng paine for the great busines No doubt your Lady wil vpon you rue Seyng you apply all your gentlenes To do her pleasure and seruice doubtles Harde is the harte that no loue hath felt Nor for to loue will then encline and melt Remember ye that in olde antiquitie Howe worthy Troylus that mighty champion What paine he suffered by great extremitie Offeruent loue by a great long season For his lady Cresyde by great tribulation After his sorowe had not he great ioye Of his lady the fayrest of all Troy And the famous knight yclipped Ponthus Whiche loued Sydoyne so moche entirely What paine had he and what care dolorous For his lady with loue so marueylously Was not her hart wounded right wofully After his paine his ladie did her cure To do him ioye honoure and pleasure Who was with loue more wofully arayed Then were these twaine and many other mo The power of loue had them so asayed That and I liste I coulde rehearse also To whom true loue hath wrought mykle wo And at the ende haue had their desire Of all their sorowe for to quenche the fire Languishe no more but plucke vp thy hart Exile dispayre and liue a while in hope And kepe your loue all close and couert It may so fortune that your lady wil grope Somewhat of loue for to drynke a sope Thoughe outwardely she dare not let you knowe But at the last as I beleue and trowe She can not kepe it so priuye and close But that somewhat it shall to you appeare By countenaunce howe that her loue arose If that she loue you the loue it is so deare When you come to her she wil make you chere With countenaunce according vnto loue Full priuely for to come to her aboue Sending of loue the messenger before Whiche is her eyes with louelye lokes swete For to beholde you then euer more and more After the time that you together mete With louing wordes she wil you then grete Sorowe no more for I thinke in my minde That at the last she will be good and kinde Alas quod I she is of hye degre Borne to great lande treasure and substaunce I feare to sore I shal disdayned be The whiche will trouble all my greuannce Her beautie is the cause of my penaunce I haue no great lande treasure and riches To winne the fauoure of her noblenes What thoughe quod he drawe you not backe For she hath inough in her possession For you bothe for you shall neuer lacke If that ye order it by good reason And so in perfect consideration She will with loue her grene flouryng age Passe forthe in ioye pleasure and courage Youthe is alway of the course right light Hote and moyst and full of lustines Moste of the ayre it is ruled by ryght And her complexion hath chiefe intresse Upon sanguine the ayres holesomenes She is not yet in all aboue xviii yere Of tender age to pleasure most deare Golde or siluer in any maner of wise For sanguyne youth it is all contrary So for to couet for it dothe arise Onely engendred vpon the malencoly Which is drye colde and also earthly In whiche the golde is truely nutrified Farre from the ayre so clearely purified Thus couetise shall nothing surmount Your yong ladies hart but onely nature Shall in her minde make her to account The great losse of youthe her speciall treasure She knoweth she is a right faire creature No
Rethoryke And depaynt my tonge w t thy royall flowers Of delicate odours that I may ensue In my purpose to glad my auditours And with thy power that thou me endue To morallise thy litterall censes true And clense away the mist of ignoraunce With depured beames of goodly ordinannce With humble eares of perfite audience To my request she did then encline Saiyng she woulde in her goodly science In short space me so well indoctrine That my dull mynde it shoulde enlumyne With golden beames for euer to oppresse My rude language and all my symplenes I thanked her of her great gentlenes And axed her after this question Madame I saied I woulde knowe doubtles What Rethorike is wythout abusyon Rethorike she saied was founde by reason Man for to gouerne well and prudently His wordes to order his speache to purifye Fyue partes hath Rethorike for to worke true Without whiche fyue there can be no sentence For these fyue do well euermore renue The matter perfite with good intelligence Who that wyll se them wyth all hys diligence Here folowyng I shall them specifye Accordyng well all vnto myne ordinary Of the first called Inuention And a commendation of Poetes Capit. viii THe first of them is called Inuention Which surdeth of the most noble warke Of. v. inwarde wittes w t whole affection As wryteth ryght many a noble clarke Wyth misty coloure of clowdes darke Howe commen wytte dothe full well elect What it shoulde take and what it shall abiecte And secondlye by imagination To drawe a matter ful facundious Full marueylous is the operation To make of nought reason sentencious Clokyng a trouthe wyth coloure tenebrous For often vnder a fayre fayned fable A trouthe appeareth greatly profitable It was the guyse in olde antiquitye Of famous poetes ryght ymaginatife Fables to fayne by good aucthoritye They were so wyse and so inuentyfe Theyr obscure reason fayre and sugratyfe Pronounced trouthe vnder clowdy fygures By the inuention of theyr fatall scriptures And thirdly they had suche a fansy In thys hye art to be intelligible Their fame encreasyng euermore truely To slouthe euer they were inuyncible To their wofull hartes was nought impossible Wyth brennyng loue of insaciate fyre Newe thynges to fynde they set their desyre For thoughe a man of hys propre mynde Be inuentyfe and he do not applye His fantasye vnto the busye kynde Ofhys cunnynge it may not ratifye For fantasye must nedes exemplifye His new inuention cause hym to entende Wyth whole desyre to bryng it to an ende And fourthly by good estimation He must number all the whole circumstaunce Of this matter with breuiacion That he walke not by long continuaunce The perambulat way full of all variaunce By estimacion is made annunciate Whether the matter be long or breuiate For to Inuention it is equipolent The matter founde right well to comprehende In suche a space as is conuenient For properlye it dothe euer pretende Of all the purpose the length to extende So estimation may ryght well conclude The perfite number of euery similitude And yet then the retentife memory Whiche is the fift must euer agregate All matters thought to retayne inwardlye Tyll reason therof hath made aprobate And by scripture will make demonstrate Outwardly accordyng to the thought To proue a reason vpon a thyng of nought Thus whē the fourth hath wrought ful wōderly Then must the mynde worke vpon them all By cours ingenious to runne directly After their thoughtes then in generall The mynde must cause them to be memorial As after this shall appeare more openlye All whole exprest by dame Philosophye O trust of vertue and of royall pleasure Of famous Poetes many yeres ago O insaciate couetise of the special treasure Of newe inuencion of idlenes the fo We may you laude and often praise also And specially for worthy causes thre Whiche to this daye we may bothe here and see As to the first your whole desire was set Fable to fayne to eschue idlenes With ampliation more cunnyng to get By the laboure of iuuentife busines Touchyng the trouthe by couert likenes To disnull vice and the vycious to blame Your dedes therto exemplified the same And secondly right well you did endite Of the worthy actes of many a conqueroure Throughe which labour that you did so write Unto this daye rayneth the honoure Of euery noble and myghty warriour And for your labour and your bnsy paine Your fame yet liueth shal endure certaine And eke to praise you we are greatly bounde Because our cunnyng from you so precedeth For you therof were first originall grounde And vpon your scripture our science ensueth Your splendent verses our lightnes renueth And so we ought to laude and magnifie Your excellent springes of famous poetry Capitu. ix BUt rude people opprest with blindnes Against your fables will often solisgise Suche is their minde such is their folishnes For they beleue in no maner of wyse That vnder a coloure a trouth may aryse For folyshe people blynded in a matter Will often erre when they of it do clatter O all ye cursed and suche euil foles Whose sightes be blynded ouer all with foly Open your eyes in the pleasaunt scholes Of parfect cunnyng or that you replye Against fables for to be contrarye For lacke of cunnyng no maruell though you erre In suche scyence whiche is from you so farre For now the people whiche is dull and rude If that they do reade a fatall scripture And can not moralise the similitude Whiche to their wittes is so harde and obscure Then will they saye that it is sene in vre That nought do poetes but depaynt and lye Deceiuyng them by tongues of flattery But what for that they can not defame The Poetes actes whiche are in effect Unto them selues remayneth the shame To disprayse that which they can not correct And if that they had in it inspect Than they would it praise and often eleuate For it shoulde be to them so delicate Capitulo x. THe seconde part of crafty Rethorike May well be called disposicion That dothe so hye matters aromatike Adowne distyll by consolation As olde Poetes make demonstration That Mercury throughe his preeminence His natiues endueth with famous eloquence By very reason it maye right well appeare That diuers persons in sundry wise delite Their consolations doth contrary so steere That many mindes maye not agre aryght Suche is the planets of their course and myght But what for that be it good or yll Them for to folowe it is at mans frewyll And disposicion the true seconde parte Of Rethorike doth euermore dyrect The matters found of this noble arte Geuyng them place after the aspect And oft tyme it hath the inspect As from a fayre perfite narration Or els by a stedfast argumentation The which was constitute by beginnyng As on the reason and if apparaunce Of the cause then by outward semyng Be harde and difficult in the vttraunce So as the minde haue no
celestine And yet also the perfect phisyke Whiche appertcyneth well to the bodye Dothe well resemble vnto the musyke When the inwarde intrailes turneth contrary That nature can not worke dyrectly Then dothe phisyke the partes interiall In order set to their originall But yet phisyke can not be liberall As the seuen scyences by good aucthoritie Whiche leadeth the soule the way in speciall By good doctrine to dame eternitie Onely of phisike it is the propertie To ayde the body in euery sickenes That is right fraile and full of brittlenes And because phisike is appendant Unto the body by helpe of medicine And to the soule nothing apportenaunt To cause the body for to encline In eternall health so the soule to domine For to the body the sciences seuen Dothe teache to leade the soule to heauen And musyke it selfe is melodious To reioyce the eares and comfort the braine Sharpyng the wittes with sound ' solacious Deuoydyng bad thoughtes whiche did remayne It gladdeth the hart also well certaine Length the lyfe with dulcet armonye As is good recreation after study She cōmaūded her minstrels right anone to play Mamours the swete and the gentle daunce With la bell Pucell that was fayre and gay She me recommended with all pleasaunce To daunce true measure withoute variaunce O lorde God howe glad then was I So for to daunce with my swete ladye By her proper hande soft as any silke With due obeysaunce I did her then take Her skynne was white as whales bone or mylke My thoughtes was rauished I might not aslake My brennyng hart she the fire did make These daunces truely musyke hath me taught To lute or daunce but it auayled nought For the fyre kindled and waxed more and more The dauncyng blewe it with her beauty cleare My hart sickened and began to waxe sore A minute vi houres and. vi houres a yere I thought it was so heauy was my chere But yet for to couer my great loue aryght The outwarde coūtenaunce I made glad light And for feare mine eyes should mine hart bewray I toke my leaue and to a temple went And all alone I to my selfe did saye Alas what fortune hath me hither sent To deuoyde my ioye and my hart torment No man can tell howe great a paine it is But if he will fele it as I do iwysse Alas O lady howe cruell art thou Of piteous doloure for to builde a nest In my true hart as thou doest ryght nowe Yet of all ladyes I must loue the best Thy beauty therto did me surely arest Alas with loue when that it dothe the please Thou maiest cease my care my payne sone ease Alas howe sore may I nowe bewayle The piteous chaunce whiche did me happe My ladyes lokes did me so assayle That sodaynely my harte was in a trappe By Uenus caught and with so sore a clappe That throughe the great stroke did perse Alas for wo I coulde not reuerse Farewell all ioye and all perfect pleasure Fare well my lust and my likyng For wo is comen with me to endure Nowe must I leade my life in mournyng I may not lute or yet daunce or syng O la bell Pucell my lady glorious You are the cause that I am so dolorous Alas faire lady and mine owne swete hart With my seruyce I yelde me to your will You haue me fettred I may not astart At your pleasure you maye me saue or kyll Because I loue you wyll you me spyll Alas it were a piteous case in dede That you with death shoulde rewarde my mede A a that I am right wo begone For I of loue dare not to you speake For feare of nay that may encrease my mone Anay of you might cause my hart to breake Alas I wretche and yet vnhappy peke Into suche trouble misery and thought With sight of you I am into it brought And to my selfe as I made complaint I spied a man right nere me beforue Whiche right anone did with me acquaynt Me thinke he sayed that ye are neare forlorne With inwarde payne that your hart hath borne Be not to pensyfe call to mynde agayne Howe of one sorowe ye do nowe make twayne Mine inwarde sorowe ye begyn to double Go your way quod I for ye can not me ayde Tell me he sayed the cause of your trouble And of me nowe be nothing afrayed Me thynke that sorowe hath you ouerlayed Driue of no lenger but tell me your mynde It may me happe a remedy to fynde A a quod I it vayleth not your speache I wyll wyth you neuer haue medlyng Let me alone the most vnhappy wretche Of all the wretches that is yet liuyng Suche is the chaunce of my bewaylyng Go on your waye you are nothing the better To me to speake to make my sorowe greater For so the he sayed remember thinges thre The first is that ye may sorowe long Unto your selfe or that you ayded be And secondly in great paynes stronge To muse alone it myght turne you to wrong The thirde is it myght you well ease truely To tell your mynde to a frende ryght trusty It is a iewell of a frende of trust As at your nede to tell your secretenes Of all your payne and feruent lust His councell sone may helpe and redresse Your paynefull wo and mortall heauines Alone is nought for to thinke and muse Therfore good sonne do me not refuse And sythe that you are plunged all in thought Beware the pytte of dolorous dispayre So to complayne it vayleth you right nought It may so fortune ye loue a ladye fayre Whiche to loue you will nothing repayre Or els ye haue lost great lande or substaunce By fatall chaunce of fortunes ordinaunce Tell me the cause thoughe that it be so In case you loue I knowe it by experience It is a payne engendryng great wo And harde it is for to make resistaunce Agaynst suche loue of feruent vyolence The loue is dreadfull but neuertheles There is no sore nor yet no syckenes But there is a salue and remedy therfore So for your payne and your sorowe great Councell is medicine whiche may you restore Unto your desire without any let If ye will tell me where your harte is set In thy chayre of sorowe no great doubt it is To fynde a remedye for your payne I wys A phisition truely can little decerne Ony maner sickenes without sight of vryne No more can I by good counsaile you learne All suche wofull trouble for to determine But if you mekely will to me enclyne To tell the cause of your great greuousnes Of your inwarde trouble and wofull sadnes Then I began with all my diligence To heare him speake so grounded on reason And in my minde did make aduertence Howe it was holesome in tribulation To saue a good and a true companion For to knowe my sorowe and wofull grefe It might me comforte and right well relefe And of him then I asked this question What was his name I prayed him
slept tyll that aurora cleare Began to shine amiddes her golden spere Then vp I rose and my verlet also Whiche made me ready and to my stede did go And dame Correction at this morowe tyde Did me entreate a while to abide And right anone my breakefast was brought To make me cheare there wanted right nought And after this dame Correction Did leade me to a marueylous dongeon And first she ledde me to the vpper warde Where shamefastnes did vs well regarde For he was iaylour and had at his charge Euery rebell not for to go at large In the first warde there went to and fro Bothe men and women that might no furder go But yet they hoped for to haue releue Of their enprison whiche did them so greue These prisoners when true loue was meued They woulde driue of and not release the greued And for this cause by equall iudgement Like as they did here haue they punishment And shamefastnes lower did vs bryng Where we sawe men that were in tormentyng With many ladies that their mouthes gagged And false reporte on me his heade wagged Then right anone a lady gan to scrape His furred tonge that he cried like an ape And vyle Peller in like wise also His tonge was scraped that he suffred wo And yet we went into a deper vale Where I sawe men that were in great bale In hollowe bushes they did hange alofte Their heades downewarde for to fall vnsoft And two ladyes did their bodies bete With knotted whippes in the fleshe to frete That the desire it shoulde sone aswage And specially of the vylayne courage These men with sugred mouthes so eloquent A maydens hart coulde right sone relent And these yong maydens for to take in snare They fayne great wo and for to suffer care The folyshe maydens did beleue they smarted That to their will the men them conuerted Thus when that they had them so begiled And with their fraude these maydens defiled They cast them of they toke no lenger kepe Go where ye list thoughe they crye and wepe Therfore these ladyes wyth their whippes harde Their bodies beate that their bodies hath marde And euery man as he hath deserued A payne there is whiche is for him obserued Thus when I had all the pryson sene With the torment of many a one I wene And forthe we went agayne to the hall My stede was ready and brought to the wall And of the ladyes cleare in excellence I toke my leue with all due reuerence And thanked Correction with my hart entire Of my repose and of her louyng chere To me she saied remember you well Of the swete beauty of la bell Pucell When you her hart in fetters haue chayned Let her haue yours in likewise retayned Loke that your hart your worde countenaunce Agree all in one withouten variaunce It the for pitye do release you your payne Consider it and loue her best againe Be true and secrete and make none aduaunt When you of loue haue a perfite graunte And if ye will come vnto your wyll Bothe here and see and then holde you styll Dreadc you nothing but take a good harte For right sone after you from hence depart Right high aduentures vnto you shall fall In time of fyght vnto your minde then call If you preuayle you shall attayne the fame Of hye honoure to certifie the same And therwith I light vpon my stede Madame I saied I praye God do you mede Fare well she saied for you must nowe hence Adue quod I with all my diligence ¶ Howe graunde Amoure discomfited the Gyaunt with three heades and was receiued of three fayre Ladyes Capi. xxxiii WHen golden Phebus in the Capricorne Gan to ascende fast vnto Aquary And Ianus bifrus the croune had worn With his frosty bearde in Ianuary When cleare Dyana ioyned with Mercury The cristall ayre and assured firmament Were all depured without encumbrement Forthe then I rode at mine owne aduenture Ouer the mountaines and the craggy rockes To beholde the countres I had great pleasure Where corall growed by ryght hye stockes And the Popingayes in the tree toppes Then as I rode I sawe me beforne Beside a well hang bothe a shelde and a horne When I came there adowne my stede I light And the faire bugle I right well behelde Blasyng the armes as well as I myght That was so grauen vpon the goodly shelde First all of siluer did appeare the felde With a rampyng Lyon of fine golde so pure And vnder the shelde there was this scripture If any knight that is aduenturous Of his great pride dare the bugle blowe There is a gyaunt bothe fierce and rigorious That with his might shall him sone ouerthrow This is the waye as ye shall nowe knowe To la bell Pucell but withouten faile The sturdy gyaunt will geue you battaile When I the scripture once or twise had reade And knewe therof all the whole effect I blewe the horne without any dreade And toke good hart all feare to abiect Makyng me ready for I did suspect That the great gyaunt vnto me woulde haste When he had hearde me blowe so loude a blast I alite anone vpon my gentle stede About the well then I rode to and fro And thought right well vpon the ioyfull mede That I shoulde haue after my payne and wo And of my lady I did thinke also Tyll at the last my verlet did me tell Take hede quod he here is a fende of hell My greyhoundes leaped and my stede did start My spere I toke and did loke about With hardy courage I did arme my hart At last I sawe a sturdy gyaunt stoute Twelue fote of length to leare a great route Thre heades he had and he armed was Bothe heades and bodye all aboute with brasse Upon his first heade in his helmet crest There stode a fanc of the silke so fine Where was written with letters of the best My name is falshode I shall cause encline My neighbours goodes for to make them myne Alway I get their lande or substaunce With subtile fraude deceypt or variaunce And when a knight with noble chyualry Of la bell Pucell shoulde attayne the grace With my great falshode I worke so subtilly That in her hart he hath no dweilyng place Thus of his purpose I do let the case This is my power and my condicion Loue to remoue by a great illusion And of the seconde heade in a silken tassell There I sawe written ymagination My crafty witte is withouten fayle Loue for to bring in perturbacion Where la bell Pucell woulde haue affection To graunde amoure I shall a tale deuise To make her hate him and him to despise By my false witte so muche ymaginatife The trouthe full oft I bryng in disease Where as was peace I cause to be strife I will suffer no man for to liue in ease For if by fortune he will be displease I shall of hym ymagen suche a tale That out of ioye it
heauen Went retrogarde marueylously to neuen With diuers quartyls and the mone combust In the dragons tayle to let a louers lust These cursed witches disdayne and straungenes Made the monster of a subtile kynde To let my purpose and all my gladnes But that dame Pallas of her gentle minde Of marueylous herbes a remedy did finde And anone a boxe of marueylous oyntment She toke to me to withstande the serpent Thus all esmarueyled we did then awake And in my hand I had the oyntment Closed in a boxe of whiche I shoulde take To anoynt my harneys for the serpent Whiche shall deuoyde his fire so feruent And my swerde also to cause to depart Astrothe the fende so set with Magikes arte THen whē the sunne with his beames mery Began to rise in the fayre morowe gray All about lightyng our emispery Exilyng mistes and darke clowdes away And when we sawe that it was bright daye Nere by the ryuage at the last we spied A goodly shippe whiche vnto vs fast hyed And right anone by the riuage syde She cast an anker and did vs than hayle With a peale of gunnes at the morowe tyde Her bonet she vailed and gan to strike sayle She was right large of thre toppes without faile Her boate she made out and sent to the lande What that we were to knowe and vnderstande That so did walke by the riuer coast And with two ladyes we sodaynely mette So when that they were come to vs almost From their shippe boate curiously counterfaite Hayle knyght they saied nowe from a lady great Called dame Pacience we are hither sent To knowe your name and all the whole entent What you make here and the ladyes all Truely quod I ouer this stormy flowde We woulde haue passage nowe in speciall Tary she sayde it were to you not good There is a serpent euill right fierce and woode On the other side whiche will you deuoure Nay then quod I my name is graunde amoure I haue discomfited the gyauntes terrible For la bell Pucell the most fayre ladye And for her sake shalbe inuincible Of this great monster to haue the victory You haue quod they demeaned you nobly And we anone to our lady Pacience Will geue of you perfite intelligence Thus they departed and to their boate they went And the royall shippe yclipped perfitenes They did aborde and then incontinent Unto dame Pacience they gan to expresse My name mine actes and all my prowes Ha ha quod she howe glad may I nowe be Whiche in this place may him bothe heare and se And in great haste she made them rowe agayne Towarde the lande with all due reuerence For to receyue me and the ladyes certayne And so we then with all our diligence Entred the boate without resistence And did aborde then perfitenes so sure Whiche the great waues might right well endure And Pacience with great solemnitie Did me receiue and the ladyes also Welcome she sayed by hye aucthoritye I am ryght gladde that it hath happened so That la bell Pucell must redresse your wo And on your selfe with your worthy dedes Of Fame and her hath wonne right hie medes And then their anker they weyed in haste And hoyst their sayle when many a clarion Began to blowe the mornyng was past But Afrycus auster made surrection Blowyng his belowes by great occasion So forthe we sayled right playne southwest On the other syde where the Serpent did rest ¶ Howe graunde Amoure discomfited the wonderfull monster of the seuen metalles made by enchauntment Capit. xxxvii ANd at the lande we ariued than With all the ladyes in my company Whiche to praye for me sodaynely began To the God Mars lodestarre of chiualrye I toke my leaue of them full gentilly And right anone to finde out my fo This mortall dragon I went to and fro Tyll at the last beside a craggy roche I sawe the dragon whiche did me espye And nere and nere as I gan to approche I behelde his heade with his great body Whiche was mishaped full right wondersly Of golde so shyne was bothe his heade face Full like a mayde it is a marueylous case His necke siluer and thicke like a bull His brest stele and like an Olyphant His forelegges laten and of feders full Right like a Gripe was euery tallaunt And as of strength he nothing did want His backe afore like bristles of a swyne Of the fyne copper did moste clearely shine His hynder legges was like to a catte All of tynne and like a Scorpion He had a tayle with a heade therat All of leade of pliaunt fashion His hart stele without menission Towarde me he came roaryng like the thunder Spittyng out fyre for to se great wonder In his forheade with letters all of grewe Was written my name is malyce priuy That olde debate can full sone renue Betwene true louers wyth coloure crafty Agaynst graunde amoure I shall so fortifye My euill subtill power and cursed courage To let him truely of his hye passage I toke my boxe as Pallas commaunded And my swerde and shelde with all my armure In euery place I ryght well anoynted To hardines I toke my hart in cure Makyng me ready and when I thought me sure I toke my swerde and with an hardy harte Towarde the dragon I began to starte And as I gan my great stroke to charge He blewe out so muche fyre innumerable That on the grounde I did my might discharge The smoke was darke full greatly domageable And the hote fire was so intollerable About me fliyng that vnneth I myght Throughe my vysure cast abroade my sight But the swete oyntment had suche a vertue That the wilde fire myght nothing endomage Me throughe heate for it did extue The Magikes art with great aduauntage Causyng the fyre right well to asswage And with my swerde as nothing agast Upon the serpent I did strike full fast His body was great as any tunne The deuill about did his bodye beare He was as egre as Grype or Lyon So with his tallantes he did my harneyes teare That oft they put me in a mortall feare Tyll at the last I did his body perce With my good swerde he might it not reuerce Right ther withall the dragon to brast And out there flewe right blacke and tedious A foule Ethiope whiche suche smoke did cast That all the ylande was full tenebrous It thundred loude with clappes tempestious Then all the ladyes were full fore adreade They thought none other but that I was deade The spirite vanished the ayre waxed cleare Then did I loke and beholde about Where was the tower of my lady so deare Tyll at the laste I had espied it out Set on a rocke ryght hye without doubt And all the ladyes with perceueraunce To me did come with ioye and pleasaunce Forsothe quod they you are muche fortunate So to subdue the serpent venemous Whiche by sorcery was surely ordinate You for to slea with fire so vycious Blessed be