them tacke what euer that they did Till that the night with mantle blacke the splendant light had hyd For all that Nox was comming on and Vesper after hyed A little whyle yet did they staye bicause they had espied The bycornd Moone who was at hand to light them on their way The minstrell he was called in some pretty iest to play Then Robin hood was called for and malkin ere they went But Barnard euer to the mayde a louing looke he lent And he would very fayne haue daunst with hir if that he durst As he was offering Galfryd caught hir by the hand at furst Who being in as farre as one he was not to be blamde But this same dorre his fréend abode of which he was ashamde There nought he said but laught as fast as any of them did When they had done he toke the mayd a galliarde he did bid The minstrels play in comely sort he led hir twice about Then hir he capt she cursie made afore the open rout He trips about with sincopace he capers very quicke Full trimly there of seuen aleuen he sheweth a pretty tricke Eche man they did behold him there hir father likes it well Amasina hir mother saide that he should beare the bell These words made glad the yongmās hart the minstrels left to play He gaue to hir the curtesie that dauncers vse to pay They do depart they hye them home they thanke them for their chéere The pretty maide she commeth on to them she draweth néere With cursies two or thrée she doth giue thanks vnto them both But that she should them shortly sée at home she would be loth Now for hir gentle curtesie a hundred thanks they giue Ere two dayes past they saide they would if they so long did liue Now all the way they haue no talke but of these louing twayne Eche one they ioyed that these two were ridden of their payne An olde saide saw it is the which is spoken of euery one The lesser gréefe exiled is a greater comes anone These troubled two they go to bed where they on fansies fed The one he thinks vpon the mayde the other thinks in déed That he was blest when he might by any meanes deuise Once for to see with rouing sight that dame before his eyes They turne and tosse in bed full oft from side to side agayne Now one would vp the other downe but nought would ease their payne At last the Rauens did discry Aurora to be néere Then vp they goe in comely wise eche one puts on his géere They hyed to the wished place where as the virgin lay Galfrydo saw she was not vp he went him selfe away Barnard le vayne he taryed still he saw that did him please He trudged home full merily his feuers did appease Galfrydo whippeth out anone he goeth to hir round Barnard he after hyes apace where that same time he found Galfrydo talking soberly vnto the mayde alone Barnard he thought his part was lost his loue away was blowne Of him he thought no count was made he durst not shew his minde To hir who euer loude him well as by due proofe we finde He doubts she will not graunt to him that which he would desire He durst not shew his inward gréefe which burneth as the fyre But to his chamber straight he goes where vp and downe he walks In torments great in fretting pangs vnto him selfe he talkes O God quoth he what makes my head to be so farre at square My wittes be almost rauished suche is my gréeuous care But to asswage that dolefulnesse that heauinesse of minde He taketh penne in hand to write to hir some ease to finde Trudge little letter thou thinkest none yll Go do thy dutie all things to fulfill Seignor Bernardo to his mystresse Charina MY Lady deare in vvhome my lyfe and death is set Refuse me not I thee desire my greefe do not forget But reade and iudge of this as you shall thinke it best See hovve the fyery flame of loue abridgth my quiet rest Ilyue and yet doe dayly dye I vvyther as the floure I follovv death yea death hym selfe denies to shevve his povvre Fayne vvoulde I speake to thee my loue to shevve my pyning vvo My silly senses disagree eche one I shoulde do so That they myght take theyr rest as they haue done before For that my sorrovves still begins and vexe mee more and more I bathe my breast vvith dolefull teares I neuer ceasse to mone I sigh as dothe a vvounded deare into a place alone VVhere as I do on fansies feede thereby to please my mynde Still fayning that I see thy face some ease at length to fynde Or else that I should so become as one forlorne alas My handes vvould not forbeare a vvhit to lette my soule out passe Turne backe novve good mysteresse myne regarde my sute I say Let not a louer yong so soone bee brought vnto decay Fleshe me therefore novv I do say good lady in this game Denie me not at fyrst I craue vvhiche neuer knevve the same All this is for thy onely loue that my poore harte dothe taste Thou only arte the cause god knovves my piteous partes doo vvaste Let novve deare dame some mercy come consider of my cause That am but lately brought in holde to tast of louers lavves That all the vvorlde may say thou damsell haste the knyfe VVho myght haue slayne me vvofull vvretch and yet didst saue my lyfe Hereby thou vvinst the price then print thys in thy mynde Beholde hovve pitie pleades my cause lette hir some fauoure fynde In hope hereof my deere adevv the treasure of my trust The onely comfort of my care tyll I consume to dust Your loyall and afflicted seruant Seignor Bernardo Reade not in spight but take delight in this vvhiche once vvas prose VVhose vvatered plants scarse sicate vvere till he this same did close But as he hath vvith good vvill vvritte vvhose hearte thou haste in holde So nothing lette to doe the lyke vvherof thou myght be bolde To count him as thyne owne Whose heart with thine shal rest alone Nowe it is made yet dooth hée doubte that this will not preuayle Then starts he vp in furie great and thus begins to rayle O palefaced hellish lumpish sow O grisly ghost I say What ment the hilles they fell not on my corps that present day When first I saw that Tigresse vile that hart of marble stone That traytresse rude with whom I thinke my fréend is now alone O that the heauens might fall on hir which worketh me this wo I hope the earth will swallow hir or Boreas he will blo Away with blasts that Lionesse that no man may hir sée I would the raging foming Seas they had hir for their fée Or that the mightie Iupiter when he is in his yre Might throwe vpon hir thunder boltes or els consume with fire Hir cursed corps which hath in it a poyson cankred hart Or that the foule
bent Such comely persons to behold as they along did go Would make a man as hard as flinte to melt my selfe I know But for to thinke what piteous lookes they shewed as they went Agayne to sée what smiling chéere the one the other lent To sée what wonderous changes was betwéene these troubled thrée Tho that I liude seuen hundred yeres the like I should not see Assoone as they to prison were committed one by one The multitude diminished then were they left alone Among the rustie iangling chaynes where vermin dooth abound In dungeon déepe where light as yet some thinke they haue not found Where Todes do kepe and adders dwell where as with vgly paw And gréedy corps the serpent foule in fetters he dooth gnaw The seely soule which is bewrapt in many tangled snares The simple man whose troubled head is fixt with many cares I thinke the foule infernall féends not halfe so ill do dwell Nor they that dwell in Tartar déepe inhabite suche a hell I thinke not Tantal Pelops sonne so cruelly was paynde As these same three the which my muse already héere hath faynde Nor Titios in iudgement mine did euer feele such payne Nor he that brought to mountaynes top the stone that fell agayne Ne yet the tyred Byllices that hales the buckets twayne In drawing water which returns as Poets they do fayne Tho Prometheus stands so still At cruell pinching racke With hande and foote beset so wide till all his bones do cracke Though these same troubled souls theÌ„selus suche spitefull payne endure Yet may they nought at all compare with these that I am sure For paynefull pangs but Fame she hath nowe sounded farre and néere This miserable cursed chaunce but when that they did heare Which wer their mates the hollow sighes yea euery man did fette The trickling drops of many teares to shead they nothing lette They houle and cry full piteously and euermore they bande That cruell cursed Esterne winde which brought them to the lande They teare their herish mantels gray they pull in péeces fast Their gally bréeches all a rowe they were so sore agast Who so had seene the Marriners their séely flesh to teare Himselfe would thinke but that they had béen voyde of euery care They lost their senses all at once their faces all were pale And wan to see the fortune that these men should come in gayle Not being yet one houre ago since that they came on shore If by their harts they might haue come I thinke they would haue tore In péeces small they were so vext that instant present time That none had thought that euer they the shrowdes agayne would clime Nor yet haue sayled away with barke they were in suche a case Some drew no breath why they wer dead thrée houres in that place They were as wilde as hares that be ybred in bushes thicke Or els the Roe which hedges hye to leape he dooth not sticke Thus are the Sea men troubled to as well as other bée They féele as bitter pangs or worse as any of the thrée Yet reason somewhat taketh place and calleth backe agayne These troubled soules which lately were in miserable payne Their wits to them be now restorde they haue their memorie They do pretend to go and sée this wofull tragidie Where when they came in market place they saw the gallow trée The scaffold where the iudges seat appoynted was to bée The bar wher they shuld plead their cause yf giltie they were found The Sargiants with the yeomens ayde which stoode about them round Should lead them to the trée a crosse the which the hangman made The day afore in hope that he twise double should be payde For this his worke for he doth say that time doth him prouoke That now the pigge is proffered to holde vp straight the poâ—e For what so euer that they be that will not when they may The Prouerbe hath him tolde that when he would he shall haue nay Now euery thing prouided was the iudge him selfe comes in The gayler he commaunded was that he should neuer lin Till that the prisoners were brought their iudgement for to haue Aright which they them selues that time most willingly did craue They came full weakly God doth know the one the other led They lookt as tho that Atrapos had cut their fatall thréed Their faces shewed as tho they had lien in their graue a yeare To loke vpon them stedfastly eache one did stand in feare So vgly was their looke when as they came from dungeon déepe They were so faynt through féeblenesse that they could scarsely créepe But by the stony walles which would not suffer them to fall Lest that perchaunce the stubborne bolts their féeble legs might gall There might you sée thrée women that were quicke with child in sound Two men a boy a mayde there starke dead that time was found Ye might beholde the Marriners how they did tremble fast What feruent fayth they suffered till these same thrée were past Ay me alas quoth one that I should euer sée the day Wo worth the time that I was borne an other he can say The third he saide that he was curst the worser was his lucke When as his nurse she gaue to him hir puffed teat to sucke The fourth he said I was bewitcht when first I handled knife I think my crooked armes wer curst it did not rid my life What wicked fortune had we when we scaped in the night What made vs all to cry aloude now gallows clayme thy right When we wer almost drounde in déepest Sea by Libia What euill chaunce had we to scape the straights of Affrica Ther houls the ragged boy a mayne with open throte a loude His voyce so shrill ascended straight vnto the hyest cloude That placed was in ayre beset with starres on euery side Or wher the glorious Phoebus runs his course so loude he cride With cares he was so nipt at hart that all things there he curst He liude not long incontinent amongst them all he burst Gaulfrydo went before the Iudge all féeble as he might Barnarde le Vayne trudged after fast he was not out of sight The Iayler led the inholder which was in shackle strong The quest did quit him by and by he taried there not long Of which his carefull wife was glad of mirth was all hir song The hangman held his head aside he thought they did him wrong Barnarde le vayne he pleaded harde it did vpon him lye That he was giltlesse of the déede eche one began to crye The iudge himselfe could nothing finde ne could the rest that went Upon that matter harde to skanne but wholly they were bent To sette him frée And as they did who taried for to heare Galfrydos case like to a fréende as héere it dooth appeare Galfrydo he was called out his iudgement for to know His hart was gone he shaketh fast he trembleth as the dow To sée the cruell lookes the which the
infernall féendes of hir might haue a part His host then being néere at hand heard him in raging wise Who it should be he marueyled he could not well deuise But vp he goes where him he founde he asked him the cause He doth not let but telleth all at it he doth not pause Feare not my guest the good man said as yet she is not spead Bar. If that she be the diuell gnaw hir beastly carren head But ere she be I loke to haue a recompense of payne And reason willes it so to be vnlesse she list to fayne But some respect for loue I thinke to haue vnfayned parte And thinke it but a fit rewarde for suche a good desart But I vnhappiest wight of all haue spent my time in vayne In hope of succor at hir hands Whilst other get the gayne As thirsty ground doth gape for thirst and swalloweth in the shoure Even so do I poore Arpalus whom Cupides pangs deuoure I till my soyle with gréeuous payne I lay the séede thereon And others come and reape the sheaues and laugh when I am gon Mine is the troublous winters toyle and theirs the sommers gayne The haruest falleth vnto his share that felt no part of payne I fast whyle he doth féede apace I thirst while he doth drinke I mourne whilst he triumphs for ioy he swimmes whilst I do sinke He gathereth in the hoped gayne whilst I the losse endure He whole at hart whilst I my gréefe by no meanes may recure He shroudes him selfe in pleasant shade I sitte in open sunne He leapes as lammes in lustie lays I lye as one vndone I would but hir enioy at will I craue that is debarde He hath I say who can haue more his seruice is preferde Thus I procure my wo alas in framing him his ioy I séeke for to assalue my sore I bréede my chéefe annoy As shéepe with woll be clad full thicke their masters haue the gayne And birds do buylde their nests in brakes and put them selues to payne Yet others haue the fruite you see when that the birde is hatcht The nest remaynes the birds are gone the chickens be dispatcht But I thinke it ordaynde in déede by gryly goddes aboue That I should gape whilst others gayne the guerdon of hir loue But sith that womans wicked will is forgetfull of my wo And not the mightie goddes ordeinde my destny to be so Then must I néedes complayne apace and curse that cruell kinde That in requite of my good will hath shewde hir selfe vnkinde But what euer be the cause God knows hereafter I intende To faune on them that faune on me to bow when other bend This one abuse shall make with spéede me take the better kéepe On whom I fixe my fansies fast with whom I wake or sléepe Host. If so you do you do but well it will be for your best He sayde no more but went away he lefte alone his guest Bernarde le Vayne who when he sawe that no man coulde discrye The acte whiche he pretended had when no man there was by He drewe a glistering blade at once he sette it to his harte Tilt he had done that rufull déede it dyd not once departe This doone Galfrido he comes home a mery man was hée Charinas smyling smirkyng lookes had made him so to bee Where when he came in chamber foule his ioyes were layde asyde He sawe his frende lye all for deade the bloudy swoorde he spyde Which had bereaued him of breath the letter there he founde He redde it out when hée had doone he layde it on the grounde He tooke the blade he after went in darkenesse for to lye Since that his frende was gone afore he past not for to die When as the host he hearde of this hymselfe he went and hoong An arina shée from window hye hir comely corps she floong Ynd Tibine too when as he he heard his daughter to be dead De stayed not but with a knyfe his hungry throate hée fead His wife the mother to the mayde she ranne to riuer rounde Where as the crue of maryners that instant tyme shée founde Shée tells to them these bloodie broyles whiche she that tyme did sée Howe blood by blood and death by turnes in Greece nowe for to bée These wordes once spoke shée leaped in there shée gaue vp the ghoste The Maryners they hoysed vp theyr sayle and left the coast Not twice two leagues they had not gone as many men did thinke But that the shippe vnluckily there presently did sinke In déepest sea â–ª their graue was made the louers lye in towne Where Tibine hath a place besides Charina hath a roome FINIS ê™ Iohn Grout gent. These will bée had in memorie of all that haue them séene Nowe they be dead let all men say God saue our noble Quéene That she may vanquishe traytors all whiche séeketh hir decay The good and godly so I knowe continually will pray FINIS OMNIA TEMPVS HABENT BE