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Nothing ne knew he that it was Arcite;

God wot he wold have trowed it ful lite.
But foth is faid, gon fithen are many yeres,

That feld hath eyen, and the wood hath eres.
It is ful faire a man to bere him even

1525

For al day meten men at unset steven.
Ful litel wote Arcite of his felaw,

That was fo neigh to herken of his faw,
For in the bufh he fitteth now ful still.

Whan that Arcite had romed all his fill,

1530

And fongen all the roundel luftily,

Into a ftudie he fell fodenly,

As don thefe lovers in hir qucinte geres,

Now in the crop, and now down in the breres,
Now up, now doun, as boket in a well.

1535

Right as the Friday, fothly for to tell,
Now fhineth it, and now it raineth fast;
Right fo can gery Venus overcast
The hertes of hire folk, right as hire day
Is gerfull, right so changeth fhe aray.
Selde is the Friday all the weke ylike.
Whan Arcite hadde yfonge, he gan to fike,

1540

. 1524. feld bath eyen] An old monkish verfe to this effect is quoted in mf. Bod. James, n. 6, p. 161; "Campus habet "lumen, et habet nemus auris acumen."

. 1537. Now shineth it, and now] I have printed this line fo upon the credit of edit. M. which profefies to follow m tho' perhaps we might fafely read with mf. A. Now itte thineth now-ite may have been a diffyllable formerly as well as atte

And fet him doun withouten any more;

Alas! (quod he) the day that I was bore!
How longe, Juno, thurgh thy crueltee
Wilt thou werreien Thebes the citee?
Alas! ybrought is to confufion
The blood real of Cadme and Amphion:
Of Cadmus, which that was the firfte man
That Thebes built, or firfte the toun began,
And of the citee firfte was crouned king,
Of his linage am I, and his ofspring
By veray line, as of the ftok real;
And now I am so caitif and fo thral,
That he that is my mortal enemy
I ferve him as his fquier pourely.
And yet doth Juno me wel more fname,
For I dare not beknowe min owen name,
But ther as I was wont to highte Arcite,

1545

1550

1555

Now highte I Philoftrat not worth a mite.
Alas! thou fell Mars, alas! thou Juno,

1560

Thus hath your ire our linage all fordo,
Save only me and wretched Palamon,
That Thefeus martireth in prifon.
And over all this, to flen me utterly,
Love hath his firy dart fo brenningly
Yftiked thurgh my trewe careful hert,
That fhapen was my deth erst than my
Ye flen me with your eyen Emelie;
Ye ben the caufe wherfore that I die.

fhert.

1565

1570

Of all the remenant of min other care
Ne fet I not the mountance of a tare,
So that I coud don ought to your plefance.

And with that word he fell doun in a trance
A longe time, and afterward up sterte

1575

This Palamon, that thought thurghout his herte
He felt a colde fwerd fodenly glide;

For ire he quoke, no lenger wolde he hide:
And whan that he had herd Arcites tale,
As he were wood, with face ded and pale,
He fterte him up out of the bushes thikke
And fayde; Falfe Arcite, false traitour wicke,
Now art thou hent, that lovest my lady so,
For whom that I have all this peine and wo,

1580

And art my blood, and to my confeil fworn, 1585
As I ful oft have told thee herebeforn,

And haft beiaped here Duk Thefcus,
And falfely changed haft thy name thus;
I wol be ded, or elles thou fhalt die :
Thou shalt not love my lady Emelie,
But I wol love hire only and no mo,
For I am Palamon thy mortal fo.

And though that I no wepen have in this place,
But out of prifon am aftert by grace,

I drede nought that eyther thou shalt die

Or thou ne fhalt nat loven Emelie :

1590

1595

Chefe which thou wolt, for thou shalt not afterte. This Arcite, tho with ful dispitous herte,

Volume II.

H

Whan he him knew, and had his tale herd,
As fers as a leon pulled out a fwerd,
And fayde thus; By God that fitteth above,
N'ere it that thou art fike and wood for love,
And eke that thou no wepen haft in this place,
Thou fhuldeft never out of this grove pace,
That thou ne fhuldeft dien of min hond;
For I defie the furetee and the bond

Which that thou faift that I have made to thee.
What! veray fool, thinke wel that love is free,
And I wol love hire maugre all thy might.
But for thou art a worthy gentil knight,
And wilneft to darraine hire by bataille,

16co

1605

1610

Have here my trouth, to-morwe I will not faille,
Withouten weting of any other wight,

That here I wol be founden as a knight,

And bringen harneis right ynough for thee,

1615

And chefe the beste, and love the werfte for me:
And mete and drinke this night wol I bring
Ynough for thee, and clothes for thy bedding;
And if fo be that thou my lady win,
And fle me in this wode, ther I am in,
Thou maift wel have thy lady as for me.

This Palamon anfwerd, I grant it thee:

And thus they ben departed til a morwe,
Whan eche of hem hath laid his faith to borwe.
O Cupide! out of alle charitee,
O regne! that wolt no fclaw have with thee,

1620

1625

Ful foth is fayde, that love ne lordship
Wol nat his thankes have no felawship.
Wel finden that Arcite and Palamon.

Arcite is ridden anon unto the toun,
And on the morwe, or it were day light,
Ful prively two harneis hath he dight,

1630

Both fuffifant and mete to darreine

The bataille in the feld betwix hem tweine;

And on his hors, alone as he was borne,

1635

He carieth all this harneis him beforne;

And in the grove, at time and place yfette,
This Arcite and this Palamon ben mette.

Tho changen gan the colour in hir face,
Right as the hunter in the regne of Trace

1640

That stondeth at a gappe with a spere,

Whan hunted is the lion or the bere,

And hereth him come rushing in the greves,
And breking bothe the boughes and the leves,

And thinketh here cometh my mortal enemy, 1645
Withouten faile he must be ded or I;

For eyther I mote flain him at the gappe,

Or he mote flen me if that me mishappe.

. 1628. bis thankes] With his good will. See alfo ver. 2109, 5854, and ver. 2116, hir thankes, with their good will. So in the Sax. Chron. p. 243, "fume here thankes, and fume here "unthankes," aliqui libenter et aliqui ingratis.

. 1644. And breking] The mff. all read breketh. But it is more likely, I think, that the first transcriber thould have made a mistake in that word than that Chaucer thould have offended fo unneceffarily againft grammar.

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