The Poetical Works of John Skelton principally according to the edition of the Rev. Alexander Dyce. In three volumes |
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| II. |
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Lenuoy.
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 | The Poetical Works of John Skelton |  |
Lenuoy.
Go, litill quaire,
Demene you faire;
Take no dispare,
Though I you wrate
After this rate
In Englysshe letter;
So moche the better
Welcome shall ye
To sum men be:
For Latin warkis
Be good for clerkis;
Yet now and then
Sum Latin men
May happely loke
Vpon your boke,
And so procede
In you to rede,
That so indede
Your fame may sprede
In length and brede.
But then I drede
Ye shall haue nede
You for to spede
To harnnes bryght,
By force of myght,
Ageyne enuy
And obloquy:
And wote ye why?
Not for to fyght
Ageyne dispyght,
Nor to derayne
Batayle agayne
Scornfull disdayne,
Nor for to chyde,
Nor for to hyde
You cowardly;
But curteisly
That I haue pende
For to deffend,
Vnder the banner
Of all good manner,
Vnder proteccyon
Of sad correccyon,
With toleracyon
And supportacyon
Of reformacyon,
If they can spy
Circumspectly
Any worde defacid
That myght be rasid,
Els ye shall pray
Them that ye may
Contynew still
With there good wyll.
Demene you faire;
239
Though I you wrate
After this rate
In Englysshe letter;
So moche the better
Welcome shall ye
To sum men be:
For Latin warkis
Be good for clerkis;
Yet now and then
Sum Latin men
May happely loke
Vpon your boke,
And so procede
In you to rede,
That so indede
Your fame may sprede
In length and brede.
But then I drede
Ye shall haue nede
You for to spede
To harnnes bryght,
By force of myght,
Ageyne enuy
And obloquy:
And wote ye why?
Not for to fyght
Ageyne dispyght,
Nor to derayne
Batayle agayne
240
Nor for to chyde,
Nor for to hyde
You cowardly;
But curteisly
That I haue pende
For to deffend,
Vnder the banner
Of all good manner,
Vnder proteccyon
Of sad correccyon,
With toleracyon
And supportacyon
Of reformacyon,
If they can spy
Circumspectly
Any worde defacid
That myght be rasid,
Els ye shall pray
Them that ye may
Contynew still
With there good wyll.
Ad serenissimam Majestatem Regiam, pariter cum Domino
Cardinali, Legato a latere honorificatissimo, &c.
Cardinali, Legato a latere honorificatissimo, &c.
| The Poetical Works of John Skelton | |