So ferden they in changing of hir hewe,
As fer as eyther of hem other knewe.
Ther n'as no good day, ne no faluing,
But ftreit withouten wordes reherfing
Everich of hem halpe to armen other
As frendly as he were his owen brother;
And after thatwith fharpe fperes strong
They foineden eche at other wonder long.
Thou mightest wenen that this Palamon
In his fighting were as a wood leon,
And as a cruel tigre was Arcite:
As wilde bores gan they togeder fmite,
That frothen white as fome for ire wood:
Up to the ancle foughte they in hir blood:
And in this wife I let hem fighting dwelle,
And forth I wol of Thefeus you telle.
The deftinee, miniftre general,
That executeth in the world over al
The purveiance that God hath fen beforne,
So ftrong it is, that though the world had fworne
The contrary of a thing by ya or nay,
Yet fomtime it fhall fallen on a day
. 1658. In his fighting were as] As has been inferted for the fake of the metre, but I am not fatisfied with it. Perhaps we should read fightinge, and pronounce the final e. In the Saxon, verbals of this form are faid to terminate in ange, inge, onze, unge. Hickes, Gr. AS. c. 3, xvii.
. 1670, 1.] So in The Thefeida, \. v.;
Ma come nui vegian venir in hora
Coffa che in mille anni non aviene.
That falleth nat efte in a thoufand yere,
For certainly our appetites here,
Be it of werre, or pees, or hate, or love,
All is this ruled by the fight above.
This mene I now by mighty Thefeus,
That for to hunten is fo defirous,
And namely at the grete hart in May,
That in his bed ther daweth him no day
That he n'is clad, and redy for to ride
With hunte and horne, and houndes him befide; 1680
For in his hunting hath he swiche delite,
That it is all his joye and appetite
To ben himself the grete harts bane;
For after Mars he ferveth now Diane.
Clere was the day, as I have told or this,
And Thefeus, with alle joye and blis,
With his Ipolita, the fayre quene,
And Emelie, yclothed all in grene,
On hunting ben they ridden really:
And to the grove, that stood ther fafte by,
In which ther was an hart as men him told,
Duk Thefeus the ftreite way hath hold,
And to the launde he rideth him ful right,
Ther was the hart ywont to have his flight,
And over a brooke, and fo forth on his wey.
This duk wol have a cours at him or twey
With houndes, fwiche as him luft to commaunde.
And when this duk was comen to the launde,
Under the fonne he loked, and anon
He was ware of Arcite and Palamon,
That foughten breme, as it were bolles two;
The brighte fwerdes wenten to and fro
So hidoufly that with the leste stroke
It femed that it wolde felle an oke,
But what they weren nothing he ne wote:
This duk his courfer with his fporres fmote,
And at a ftert he was betwix hem two,
And pulled out a fwerd and cried, Ho!
No more, up peine of lefing of your hed;
By mighty Mars he fhal anon be ded
That fmiteth any ftroke that I may fen!
But telleth me what miftere men ye ben,
That ben fo hardy for to fighten here
Withouten any juge or other officere,
As though it were in liftes really.
This Palamon answered haftily
And faide; Sire, what nedeth wordes mo?
We have the deth deferved bothe two:
Two woful wretches ben we, two caitives,
That ben accombred of our owen lives,
And as thou art a rightful lord and juge
Ne yeve us neyther mercie ne refuge;
And fle me firft for feinte charitee,
But fle my felaw eke as wel as me;
V. 1715. As though it were] The best mss, read—As it were in a lifes-which perhaps is right. See before, ver. 1014, on
Or fle him firft, for though thou know it lite, 1725
This is thy mortal fo, this is Arcite,
That fro thy lond is banished on his hed,
For which he hath deferved to be ded;
For this is he that came unto thy gate,
And fayde that he highte Philoftrate.'"
Thus hath he japed thee ful many a yere,
And thou haft maked him thy chief fquiere,'
And this is he that loveth Emelie.
For fith the day is come that I fhal die
I make plainly my confeffion,
That I am thilke woful Palamon
That hath thy prifon broken wilfully:
I am thy mortal fo, and it am I
That loveth fo hot Emelie the bright,
That I wold dien prefent in hire fight,
Therfore I axe deth and my iewife;
But fle my felaw in the fame wife,
For both we have deferved to be flain. '
This worthy duk anfwerd anon again,
And fayd, This is a fhort conclufion;
Your owen mouth, by your confeffion,
Hath damned you, and I wol it recorde;
It nedeth not to peine you with the corde:
Ye fhul be ded by mighty Mars the Rede."
The quene anen for veray womanhede
And Froiffart, v. i. c. 153, "en unes liees, qui pour "celle caufe furent faites."In the preceding line other is the old exprcffion for or.
Gan for to wepe, and fo did Emelie,
And all the ladies in the compagnie.
Gret pite was it, as it thought hem alle,
That ever swiche a chance fhulde befalle,
For gentil men they were of gret eftat,
And nothing but for love was this debat;
And fawe hir blody woundes wide and fore,
And alle criden bothe leffe and more,
Have mercie Lord upon us wimmen alle,
And on hir bare knees adoun they falle,
And wold have kist his feet ther as he stood,
Till at the last aflaked was his mood;
(For pitee renneth fone in gentil hertc)
And though he first for ire quoke and fierte,
He hath confidered fhortly in a claufe
The trefpas of hem both, and eke the cause;
And although that his ire hir gilt accufed,
Yet in his refon he hem both excufed;
As thus; he thoughte wel that every man
Wol helpe himself in love if that he can,
And eke deliver himself out of prifon :
And eke his herte had compaffion
Of wimmen, for they wepten ever in on,
And in his gentil herte he thoughte anon,
And foft unto himfelf he fayed; Fie
Upon a lord that wol have no mercie,
V. 1749. Mars the rede] So below, ver. 1971. Boccace has given Mars the fame epithet in the opening of his Thefeida;
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