Lydgate's Fall of Princes Edited by Dr. Henry Bergen ... presented to The Early English Text Society by The Carnegie Institution of Washington |
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 | Lydgate's Fall of Princes |  |
894
The wordes of Bochas a-geyne Rome.
Remembre o Roome & calle ageyn to mynde
The daies passid of thi felicite,
Þi marcial conquest, þi triumphes left behynde,
Thi grete victories most of auctorite,
Thi famous laudes songe in ech contre,
Which like a sonne thoruh al þe world did shyne,
Now al attonis is turnid to ruyne!
The daies passid of thi felicite,
Þi marcial conquest, þi triumphes left behynde,
Thi grete victories most of auctorite,
Thi famous laudes songe in ech contre,
Which like a sonne thoruh al þe world did shyne,
Now al attonis is turnid to ruyne!
From est to west thi lordship did atteyne,
Aboue al poweers most excellent & roiall;
But now fro Roome doun into Almayne
Thestat translatid which is imperial;
Name of thi senatours, name in especial,
The golden lettres dirkid & diffacid,
And from remembrance almost out araced.
Aboue al poweers most excellent & roiall;
But now fro Roome doun into Almayne
Thestat translatid which is imperial;
Name of thi senatours, name in especial,
The golden lettres dirkid & diffacid,
And from remembrance almost out araced.
Cite of cites, whilom most glorious,
And most fresshli flouryng in cheualrie,
To which the Alpies & mounteyns most famous
Wer lowli soget of al Lumbardie,
Til that discord, dyuisioun and envie
Among yoursilf hath clipsed the brihtnesse,
Bi a fals serpent brouht in bi doubilnesse.
And most fresshli flouryng in cheualrie,
To which the Alpies & mounteyns most famous
Wer lowli soget of al Lumbardie,
Til that discord, dyuisioun and envie
Among yoursilf hath clipsed the brihtnesse,
Bi a fals serpent brouht in bi doubilnesse.
Kynges, princis wer to the tributarye,
Of al prosperite so fulsum was the flood,
Among yoursilf til ye began to varie,
The world[e] thoruhout soget to you stood,
Til ye gan shewe too facis in o hood:
What folwed aftir, Fortune hath so prouided,
Ye cam to nouht whan ye gan be deuyded.
Of al prosperite so fulsum was the flood,
Among yoursilf til ye began to varie,
The world[e] thoruhout soget to you stood,
Til ye gan shewe too facis in o hood:
What folwed aftir, Fortune hath so prouided,
Ye cam to nouht whan ye gan be deuyded.
Vnpurueied of prudent senatours,
Thi marchaundise turnid to pouerte,
Of knihthod bareyn, nakid of soudiours,
Disconsolat stant al thi comounte,
Tour[e]s, wallis broke of thi cite,
That whilom wer a paradis of deliht,—
Now al the world hath the but in despiht.
Thi marchaundise turnid to pouerte,
Of knihthod bareyn, nakid of soudiours,
Disconsolat stant al thi comounte,
Tour[e]s, wallis broke of thi cite,
895
Now al the world hath the but in despiht.
Cause, to conclude, of al thi wrechidnesse,—
Fals ambicioun, pride and lecherie,
Dyuysioun, malicious doubilnesse,
Rancour, hatreed, couetise [&] envie,
Which set aside al good[e] policie;
In breef rehersed, for short conclusioun,
Haue be cheeff ground of thi destruccioun.
Fals ambicioun, pride and lecherie,
Dyuysioun, malicious doubilnesse,
Rancour, hatreed, couetise [&] envie,
Which set aside al good[e] policie;
In breef rehersed, for short conclusioun,
Haue be cheeff ground of thi destruccioun.
| Lydgate's Fall of Princes | |