Ne shetis clene to lye betwene, made of thred and twyne, Noon other house but levys and bowes, to kever your hed

and myn.

Loo! myn herte swete, this ylle dyet shuld make you pale and wan;

Wherfore I to the wood wyl goo, alone, a banysshed man.'

5 "Amonge the wylde dere suche an archier as men say that ye bee

Ne may not fayle of good vitayle,1 where is so grete plente; And watir cleere of the ryvere shalbe ful swete to me,

Wyth whiche in hele2 I shal right wele endure, as ye shal

see;

And, er we goo, a bed or twoo I can provide anoon;

10 For in my mynde of all mankynde I love but you alone."

"Loo! yet before ye must doo more, yf ye wyl goo with me,– As cutte your here3 up by your ere, your kirtel by the knee, Wyth bowe in hande, for to withstonde your enmys, yf nede be,

And this same nyght before daylyght to woodward wyl I flee; 15 And if ye wyl all this fulfylle, doo it shortely as ye can;

Ellis wil I to the grenewode goo, alone, a banysshed man.”

"I shal, as now, do more for you than longeth to womanhede, To short my here, a bowe to bere to shote in time of nede. O my swete moder, before all other, for you have I most

drede;

20 But now adiew! I must ensue," wher fortune doth me leede: All this make ye; now lete us flee, the day cummeth fast

upon;

For in my mynde of all mankynde I love but you alone."

1 victual (now usually in the plural and colloquial), food. 3 hair.

4 skirt. 5 follow.

2 health.

"Myn owne dere love, I see the prove that ye be kynde and

trewe;

Of mayde and wyfe, in all my lyf, the best that ever I knewe!
Be mery and glad, be no more sad, the case is chaungèd newe;
For it were ruthe1 that for your trouth you shuld have cause
to rewe.

Be not dismayed, whatsoever I sayd, to you whan I began,
I wyl not too the grenewode goo, I am noo banysshed man."

"Theis tidingis be more glad to me than to be made a quene, Yf I were sure they shuld endure; but it is often seen, When men wyl breke promyse, they speke the wordis on the splene.2

5

Ye shape some wyle, me to begyle, and stele fro me, I wene. 10 Then were the case wurs than it was, and I more woo-begone; For in my mynde of al mankynde I love but you alone."

"Ye shal not nede further to drede, I wyl not disparage3
You, God defende, sith you descende of so grete a lynage.
Now understonde, to Westmerlande, whiche is my herytage, 15
I wyl you bringe, and wyth a rynge, be wey of maryage,
I wyl you take, and lady make, as shortly as I can;

Thus have ye wone an erles son, and not a banysshed man."

1 cause for regret.

2 impulsively, capriciously.

3 degrade.

4 God forbid.