Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) (29 page)

And with that word Arcita
¹
gan espy
^1
1
began to look forth
¹
Where as this lady roamed to and fro
And with that sight her beauty hurt him so,
That if that Palamon was wounded sore,
Arcite is hurt as much as he, or more.
And with a sigh he saide piteously:
“The freshe beauty slay’th me suddenly
Of her that roameth yonder in the place.
And but
¹
I have her mercy and her grace,
¹
unless
That I may see her at the leaste way,
I am but dead; there is no more to say.”
This Palamon, when he these wordes heard,
Dispiteously
¹
he looked, and answer’d:
¹
angrily
“Whether say’st thou this in earnest or in play?”
“Nay,” quoth Arcite, “in earnest, by my fay
¹
.
¹
faith
God help me so,
¹
me lust full ill to play
¹
.”
¹
I am in no humour
This Palamon gan knit his browes tway. for jesting
¹
“It were,” quoth he, “to thee no great honour
For to be false, nor for to be traitour
To me, that am thy cousin and thy brother
Y-sworn full deep, and each of us to other,
That never for to dien in the pain ,
Till that the death departen shall us twain,
Neither of us in love to hinder other,
Nor in none other case, my leve
¹
brother;
¹
dear
But that thou shouldest truly farther me
In every case, as I should farther thee.
This was thine oath, and mine also certain;
I wot it well, thou dar’st it not withsayn
¹
,
¹
deny
Thus art thou of my counsel out of doubt,
And now thou wouldest falsely be about
To love my lady, whom I love and serve,
And ever shall, until mine hearte sterve
^1
1
die
Now certes, false Arcite, thou shalt not so
I lov’d her first, and tolde thee my woe
As to my counsel, and my brother sworn
To farther me, as I have told beforn.
For which thou art y-bounden as a knight
To helpe me, if it lie in thy might,
Or elles art thou false, I dare well sayn,”

This Arcita full proudly spake again:
“Thou shalt,” quoth he, “be rather
¹
false than I,
¹
sooner
And thou art false, I tell thee utterly;
For par amour I lov’d her first ere thou.
What wilt thou say?
¹
thou wist it not right now
^1
1
even now thou
Whether she be a woman or goddess. knowest not
¹
Thine is affection of holiness,
And mine is love, as to a creature:
For which I tolde thee mine aventure
As to my cousin, and my brother sworn
I pose
¹
, that thou loved’st her beforn:
¹
suppose
Wost
¹
thou not well the olde clerke’s saw,
¹
know’st
That who shall give a lover any law?
Love is a greater lawe, by my pan,
Than may be giv’n to any earthly man:
Therefore positive law, and such decree,
Is broke alway for love in each degree
A man must needes love, maugre his head.
He may not flee it, though he should be dead,
¹
All be she
¹
maid, or widow, or else wife.
¹
whether she be
¹
And eke it is not likely all thy life
To standen in her grace, no more than I
For well thou wost thyselfe verily,
That thou and I be damned to prison
Perpetual, us gaineth no ranson.
We strive, as did the houndes for the bone;
They fought all day, and yet their part was none.
There came a kite, while that they were so wroth,
And bare away the bone betwixt them both.
And therefore at the kinge’s court, my brother,
Each man for himselfe, there is no other.
Love if thee list; for I love and aye shall
And soothly, leve brother, this is all.
Here in this prison musten we endure,
And each of us take his Aventure.”

Great was the strife and long between these tway,
If that I hadde leisure for to say;
But to the effect: it happen’d on a day
(To tell it you as shortly as I may),
A worthy duke that hight Perithous
That fellow was to the Duke Theseus
Since thilke
¹
day that they were children lite
^2
1
that
²
little
Was come to Athens, his fellow to visite,
And for to play, as he was wont to do;
For in this world he loved no man so;
And he lov’d him as tenderly again.
So well they lov’d, as olde bookes sayn,
That when that one was dead, soothly to sayn,
His fellow went and sought him down in hell:
But of that story list me not to write.
Duke Perithous loved well Arcite,
And had him known at Thebes year by year:
And finally at request and prayere
Of Perithous, withoute ranson
Duke Theseus him let out of prison,
Freely to go, where him list over all,
In such a guise, as I you tellen shall
This was the forword
¹
, plainly to indite,
¹
promise
Betwixte Theseus and him Arcite:
That if so were, that Arcite were y-found
Ever in his life, by day or night, one stound
^1
1
moment
In any country of this Theseus,
And he were caught, it was accorded thus,
That with a sword he shoulde lose his head;
There was none other remedy nor rede
¹
.
¹
counsel
But took his leave, and homeward he him sped;
Let him beware, his necke lieth
¹
to wed
¹
.
¹
in pledge
¹

How great a sorrow suff’reth now Arcite!
The death he feeleth through his hearte smite;
He weepeth, waileth, crieth piteously;
To slay himself he waiteth privily.
He said; “Alas the day that I was born!
Now is my prison worse than beforn:
¹
Now is me shape
¹
eternally to dwell
¹
it is fixed for me
¹
Not in purgatory, but right in hell.
Alas! that ever I knew Perithous.
For elles had I dwelt with Theseus
Y-fettered in his prison evermo’.
Then had I been in bliss, and not in woe.
Only the sight of her, whom that I serve,
Though that I never may her grace deserve,
Would have sufficed right enough for me.
O deare cousin Palamon,” quoth he,
“Thine is the vict’ry of this aventure,
Full blissfully in prison to endure:
In prison? nay certes, in paradise.
Well hath fortune y-turned thee the dice,
That hast the sight of her, and I th’ absence.
For possible is, since thou hast her presence,
And art a knight, a worthy and an able,
That by some cas
¹
, since fortune is changeable,
¹
chance
Thou may’st to thy desire sometime attain.
But I that am exiled, and barren
Of alle grace, and in so great despair,
That there n’is earthe, water, fire, nor air,
Nor creature, that of them maked is,
That may me helpe nor comfort in this,
Well ought I
¹
sterve in wanhope
¹
and distress.
¹
die in despair
¹
Farewell my life, my lust
¹
, and my gladness.
¹
pleasure
Alas,
¹
why plainen men so in commune
¹
why do men so often complain
Of purveyance of God
¹
, or of Fortune, of God’s providence?
¹
That giveth them full oft in many a guise
Well better than they can themselves devise?
Some man desireth for to have richess,
That cause is of his murder or great sickness.
And some man would out of his prison fain,
That in his house is of his meinie
¹
slain.
¹
servants
Infinite harmes be in this mattere.
We wot never what thing we pray for here.
We fare as he that drunk is as a mouse.
A drunken man wot well he hath an house,
But he wot not which is the right way thither,
And to a drunken man the way is slither
¹
.
¹
slippery
And certes in this world so fare we.
We seeke fast after felicity,
But we go wrong full often truely.
Thus we may sayen all, and namely
¹
I,
¹
especially
That ween’d
¹
, and had a great opinion,
¹
thought
That if I might escape from prison
Then had I been in joy and perfect heal,
Where now I am exiled from my weal.
Since that I may not see you, Emily,
I am but dead; there is no remedy.”

Upon that other side, Palamon,
When that he wist Arcita was agone,
Much sorrow maketh, that the greate tower
Resounded of his yelling and clamour
The pure
¹
fetters on his shinnes great
¹
very
Were of his bitter salte teares wet.

“Alas!” quoth he, “Arcita, cousin mine,
Of all our strife, God wot, the fruit is thine.
Thou walkest now in Thebes at thy large,
And of my woe thou
¹
givest little charge
¹
.
¹
takest little heed
¹
Thou mayst, since thou hast wisdom and manhead
¹
,
¹
manhood, courage
Assemble all the folk of our kindred,
And make a war so sharp on this country
That by some aventure, or some treaty,
Thou mayst have her to lady and to wife,
For whom that I must needes lose my life.
For as by way of possibility,
Since thou art at thy large, of prison free,
And art a lord, great is thine avantage,
More than is mine, that sterve here in a cage.
For I must weep and wail, while that I live,
With all the woe that prison may me give,
And eke with pain that love me gives also,
That doubles all my torment and my woe.”

Therewith the fire of jealousy upstart
Within his breast, and hent
¹
him by the heart
¹
seized
So woodly
¹
, that he like was to behold
¹
madly
The box-tree, or the ashes dead and cold.
Then said; “O cruel goddess, that govern
This world with binding of your word etern
^1
1
eternal
And writen in the table of adamant
Your parlement
¹
and your eternal grant,
¹
consultation
What is mankind more
¹
unto you y-hold
^1
1
by you esteemed
Than is the sheep, that rouketh
¹
in the fold!
¹
lie huddled together
For slain is man, right as another beast;
And dwelleth eke in prison and arrest,
And hath sickness, and great adversity,
And oftentimes guilteless, pardie
^1
1
by God
What governance is in your prescience,
That guilteless tormenteth innocence?
And yet increaseth this all my penance,
That man is bounden to his observance
For Godde’s sake to
¹
letten of his will
¹
,
¹
restrain his desire
¹
Whereas a beast may all his lust fulfil.
And when a beast is dead, he hath no pain;
But man after his death must weep and plain,
Though in this worlde he have care and woe:
Withoute doubt it maye standen so.
“The answer of this leave I to divines,
But well I wot, that in this world great pine
¹
is;
¹
pain, trouble
Alas! I see a serpent or a thief
That many a true man hath done mischief,
Go at his large, and where him list may turn.
But I must be in prison through Saturn,
And eke through Juno, jealous and eke wood
¹
,
¹
mad
That hath well nigh destroyed all the blood
Of Thebes, with his waste walles wide.
And Venus slay’th me on that other side
For jealousy, and fear of him, Arcite.”

Now will I stent
¹
of Palamon a lite
²
,
¹
pause
²
little
And let him in his prison stille dwell,
And of Arcita forth I will you tell.
The summer passeth, and the nightes long
Increase double-wise the paines strong
Both of the lover and the prisonere.
I n’ot
¹
which hath the wofuller mistere
²
.
¹
know not
²
condition
For, shortly for to say, this Palamon
Perpetually is damned to prison,
In chaines and in fetters to be dead;
And Arcite is exiled
¹
on his head
^1
1
on peril of his head
¹
For evermore as out of that country,
Nor never more he shall his lady see.
You lovers ask I now this question,
Who lieth the worse, Arcite or Palamon?
The one may see his lady day by day,
But in prison he dwelle must alway.
The other where him list may ride or go,
But see his lady shall he never mo’.
Now deem all as you liste, ye that can,
For I will tell you forth as I began.

When that Arcite to Thebes comen was,
Full oft a day he swelt
¹
, and said, “Alas!”
¹
fainted
For see this lady he shall never mo’.
And shortly to concluden all his woe,
So much sorrow had never creature
That is or shall be while the world may dure.
His sleep, his meat, his drink is
¹
him byraft
¹
,
¹
taken away from him
¹
That lean he wex
¹
, and dry as any shaft.
¹
became
His eyen hollow, grisly to behold,
His hue sallow, and pale as ashes cold,
And solitary he was, ever alone,
And wailing all the night, making his moan.
And if he hearde song or instrument,
Then would he weepen, he might not be stent
¹
.
¹
stopped
So feeble were his spirits, and so low,
And changed so, that no man coulde know
His speech, neither his voice, though men it heard.
And in his gear
¹
for all the world he far’d
¹
behaviour
Not only like the lovers’ malady
Of Eros, but rather y-like manie
^1
1
madness
Engender’d of humours melancholic,
Before his head in his cell fantastic.
And shortly turned was all upside down,
Both habit and eke dispositioun,
Of him, this woful lover Dan
¹
Arcite.
¹
Lord
Why should I all day of his woe indite?
When he endured had a year or two
This cruel torment, and this pain and woe,
At Thebes, in his country, as I said,
Upon a night in sleep as he him laid,
Him thought how that the winged god Mercury
Before him stood, and bade him to be merry.
His sleepy yard
¹
in hand he bare upright;
¹
rod
A hat he wore upon his haires bright.
Arrayed was this god (as he took keep
¹
)
¹
notice
As he was when that Argus took his sleep;
And said him thus: “To Athens shalt thou wend
¹
;
¹
go
There is thee shapen
¹
of thy woe an end.”
¹
fixed, prepared
And with that word Arcite woke and start.
“Now truely how sore that e’er me smart,”
Quoth he, “to Athens right now will I fare.
Nor for no dread of death shall I not spare
To see my lady that I love and serve;
In her presence
¹
I recke not to sterve.
¹
”
¹
do not care if I die
¹
And with that word he caught a great mirror,
And saw that changed was all his colour,
And saw his visage all in other kind.
And right anon it ran him ill his mind,
That since his face was so disfigur’d
Of malady the which he had endur’d,
He mighte well, if that he
¹
bare him low,
^1
1
lived in lowly fashion
¹
Live in Athenes evermore unknow,
And see his lady wellnigh day by day.
And right anon he changed his array,
And clad him as a poore labourer.
And all alone, save only a squier,
That knew his privity
¹
and all his cas
²
,
¹
secrets
²
fortune
Which was disguised poorly as he was,
To Athens is he gone the nexte
¹
way.
¹
nearest
And to the court he went upon a day,
And at the gate he proffer’d his service,
To drudge and draw, what so men would devise
¹
.
¹
order
And, shortly of this matter for to sayn,
He fell in office with a chamberlain,
The which that dwelling was with Emily.
For he was wise, and coulde soon espy
Of every servant which that served her.
Well could he hewe wood, and water bear,
For he was young and mighty for the nones
¹
,
¹
occasion
And thereto he was strong and big of bones
To do that any wight can him devise.