hertes of her folk, right as her day
Is fickel, right so chaungeth her aray.
Seldom is Friday like each other
day.
Whan that Arcite hadde songe, he gan to stay,
And sette him doun withouten eny more:
Alas! quoth
he, that day that I was bore!
How longe Juno, thurgh thy crueltee
Wilt thou destroyen Thebes the citee?
Allas!
i-brought is to confusioún
The blood royál of Cadme and Amphioun:
Of Cadmus, which that was the firste
man
That Thebes built, or first the toun bygan,
And of that citee first was crownèd kyng,
Of his lynáge am I,
and his ofspring
By verray lyne, and of his stock royál:
And now I am so caytyf and so thral,
That he that
is my mortal enemy,
I serve him as his squyer poorely.
And yet doth Juno me far more shame,
For I dare
nought byknowe myn owne name,
But ther as I was wont to be Arcite,
Now am I Philostrate, nought worth
a myte.
Allas! thou felle Mars, alas! Juno,
Thus hath youre ire owre lynage all fordo,
Save only me, and
wretched Palomon,
That Theseus hath martyred in prisoún.
And over al this, to slay me utterly,
Love hath
his fyry dart so brennyngly
I-stickèd thrugh my trewe careful herte,
That shapen was my deth before my
shirte.
Ye slay me with youre eyen, Emelye;
Ye be the cause wherfore that I dye.
Of al the remenant of al
myn other care
Ne sette I nought the value of a tare,
So that I coude do ought to youre pleasaúnce.
And
with that word he fel doun in a traunce
A longe tyme; and aftirward upsterte
This Palamon, that thoughte
thurgh his herte
He felt a cold sword suddenly to glyde;
For ire he quaked, he wolde no longer abyde.
And
when that he hath herd Arcites tale,
As he were mad, with face deed and pale,
He sterte him up out of
the busshes thikke,
And seyd: Arcyte, false traitour wikke,
Now art thou caught, that lovest my lady so,
For
whom that I have al this peyne and woe,
And art my blood, and to my counseil sworn,
As I ful ofte have
told thee here byforn,
And has deceivèd here duk Theseus,
And falsly chaungèd hast thy name thus;
I wil be
deed, or else thou shalt dye.
Thou shalt not love my lady Emelye,
But I will love hire only and no mo,
For
I am Palomon thy mortal fo.
And though that I no wepen have in this place,
But out of prisoun am y-stert
by grace,
I drede not that either thou shalt dye,
Or that thou never shalt love Emelye.
Choose which thou
wilt, for thou shalt not departe.
This Arcita, with ful despiteous herte,
Whan he him knew, and had his
tale herde,
As fierce as lyoun pulleth out a swerde,
And seide thus: By God that sitteth above,
Were it not
thou art sike and mad for love,
And eek that thou no wepne hast in this place,
Thou sholdest never out of
this grove pace,
Thou shuldest deyen of myn owen hond.
For I defye the suretee and the bond
Which that
thou seyst that I have maad to thee.
For, very fool, know well that love is free,
And I will love hire yet for
al thy might.
But, for thou art a gentil perfight knight,
And woldest fighten for her by batayle,
Have heere
my trothe, to morrow I wil not fayle,
Withouten wittyng of eny other wight,
That heer I wil be founden as a
knight,
And bryngen harneys right inough for thee;
And choose the best, and leave the worst for me.
And
mete and drynke this night wil I bryng
Inough for thee, and cloth for thy beddynge.
And if so be that thou
my lady wynne,
And sle me in this wood that I am inne,
Thou maist wel have thy lady as for me.
This
Palomon answereth, I graunt it thee.
And thus they be depart til morning light,
Whan ech of them had
pledged his feith to fight.
O Cupide, foe of alle charitee!
O King, that wolt no felaw have with thee,
Ful soth is seyde, that love and
eek lordshipe
Wol not, for aught, have any fellowship.
Wel fynden that Arcite and Palamoun.
Arcite is ridden
anon unto the toun,
And on the morrow, ere it were day light,
Ful prively two armours hath he dight,
Bothe
suffisaunt and mete for to do
The batayl in the feeld betwix them two.
And on his hors, alone as he was
borne,
He caryed al this armour him biforn;
And in the grove, at tyme and place i-sette,
This Arcite and
this Palamon be mette.
Then changen gan their colour in their face.
Right as the hunter in the land of
Trace
That stondeth in the gappe with a spere,
When honted is the lyoun or the bere,
And hereth him
come rushing in the greves,
And breking both the bowes and the leves,
And thenketh, Here cometh my
mortel enemy,
Withoute faile, he must be deed or;
For eyther I must slay him at the gappe,
Or he must
slee me, if it me myshappe:
So ferden they, in changyng of their hew,
As fer as eyther of them other knew.
Ther
was no good day, ne no salutyng;
But streyt withouten word or r/da/ehersyng,
Eche one of them helpeth
to arm the other,
As friendly as he were his owen brother;
And thenne with their sharpe speres stronge
They
thrusten eche at other wonder longe.
And then it semede that this Palomon
In his fightyng were as a mad
lyoun,
And as a cruel tygre was Arcite:
As wilde boores they began to smyte,
That frothen white as fome,
in anger wood.
Up to the ancle they fought in there blood.
And in this wise I lete them fightyng welle;
And
forthere wil I of duk Theseus telle.
The destinee mynistre general,
That executeth truly over all
The events, that God hath seen and seide
byforn;
So strong it is, that though the world had sworn
The contrary of a thing by yea or nay,
Yet som