WOM. Yf ye take hede, yt is noo nede Such wordis to say bee me;

For ofte ye prey'd, and longe affay'd,

255

Alone, a banishyd man.

Is that I to the grene wode goe,

WOM. Whatfoever befalle, I never fhale

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ye

For yf ye, as ye fayde,

Be fo unkynde to leve behynde

Your love, the Nut-brown Mayde,
Truft me truely, that I fhal dey
Sone after ye be gone;

For in my mynde, of al mankynde,

I love but you alone.

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MAN. Yf that

went ye ye

fhulde

repent ;

299

For in the forreft now

I have purveid me of a mayde,
Whom I love more than you.
VOL. II.

S

So wyl I yf I can ;

Another fayrer than e'er ye were,

I dare it well avowe;

And of you bothe eche fhulde be wrothe
Wyth other, as I trowe,

It were myn efe to live in pese,

Wherefore I to the wode wyl goe,

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Alone, a banishyd man.

300

WOм. Tho' in the wode I undirftode

I love but you alone.

MAN. Myne own dere love, I fee the prove,

That ye be kynde and trewe;

Of mayde and wyfe, in al my lyfe,

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The best that ever I knewe

Be merey and glad, be no more fad,

The cafe is chaunged newe;

For it were ruthe, that for your trouth,
Ye fhulde have caufe to rewe.

320

Then were the cafe wurs than it was,

And I more woo begone;

For in my mynde, of al mankynde,

I love but you alone.

335

MAN. Ye fhal not nede further to drede;

To town voice, tho' artlefs be my hand)

HOU, to whofe eyes I bend, at whofe command

I take the fprightly reed, and fing and play,
Careless of what the cens'ring world may say ;
Bright Cloe! object of my conftant vow,
Wilt thou a while unbend thy ferious brow?
Wilt thou with pleasure hear thy lover's ftrains,
And with one heavenly fmile o'erpay his pains?
No longer fhall the Nut-brown Maid be old,
Tho' fince her youth three hundred years have roll'd:
At thy defire the fhall again be rais'd,

And her reviving charms in lafting verfe be prais'd.
No longer man of woman fhall complain,
That he may love and not be lov'd again;

That we in vain the fickle sex pursue,
Who change the conftant lover for the new.
Whatever has been writ, whatever faid
Of female paffion feign'd, or faith decay'd,
Henceforth fhall in my verfe refuted stand,
Be faid to winds, or writ upon the fand :
And while my notes to future times proclaim
Unconquer'd love and ever-during flame,
O, faireft of the fex, be thou my mufe;
Deign on my work thy influence to diffufe:
Let me partake the bleffings I rehearfe,
And grant me love, the juft reward of verfe.

As beauty's potent queen with ev'ry grace
That once was Emma's has adorn'd thy face,
And as her fon has to my bofom dealt
That conftant flame which faithful Henry felt,
O let the story with thy life agree,

Let men once more the bright example see;
What Emma was to him be thou to me :
Nor fend me by thy frowns from her I love,
Diftant and fad, a banish'd man to rove:
But, oh! with pity long entreated crown

My pains and hopes: and when thou fay'st that one
Of all mankind thou lov't, oh! think on me alone.
Where beauteous Ifis and her husband Thame

With mingled waves for ever flow the same,

In times of yore an ancient baron liv'd,

Great gifts beftow'd, and great refpect receiv'd.
When dreadful Edward, with fuccessful care
Led his free Britons to the Gallic war,
This Lord had headed his appointed bands,
In firm allegiance to his king's commands,
And (all due honours faithfully difcharg'd)
Had brought back his paternal coat, enlarg'd
With a new mark, the witness of his toil,
And no inglorious part of foreign fpoil.

From the loud camp retir❜d and noisy court,

In honourable days and rural sport

The remnant of his days he fafely paft,

Nor found they lagg'd too flow nor flew too faft;

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