The Poetical Works of John Skelton :: :: University of Virginia Library

Beati in ma cu la ti in via,
O gloriosa fœmina!
Now myne hole imaginacion
And studyous medytacion
Is to take this commendacyon
In this consyderacion;
And vnder pacyent tolleracyon
Of that most goodly mayd
That Placebo hath sayd,
And for her sparow prayd
In lamentable wyse,
Now wyll I enterpryse,
Thorow the grace dyuyne
Of the Muses nyne,
Her beautye to commende,
If Arethusa wyll send
Me enfluence to endyte,
And with my pen to wryte;
If Apollo wyll promyse,
Melodyously it to deuyse,
His tunable harpe stryngges
With armony that synges
Of princes and of kynges
And of all pleasaunt thynges,
Of lust and of delyght,
Thorow his godly myght;
To whom be the laude ascrybed
That my pen hath enbybed

With the aureat droppes,
As verely my hope is,
Of Thagus, that golden flod,
That passeth all erthly good;
And as that flode doth pas
Al floodes that euer was
With his golden sandes,
Who so that vnderstandes
Cosmography, and the stremys
And the floodes in straunge remes,
Ryght so she doth excede
All other of whom we rede,
Whose fame by me shall sprede
Into Perce and Mede,
From Brytons Albion
To the Towre of Babilon.

I trust it is no shame,
And no man wyll me blame,
Though I regester her name
In the courte of Fame;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fresshe coulour,
So Jupiter me socour,
She floryssheth new and new
In bewte and vertew;
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Retribue servo tuo, vivifica me!
Labia mea laudabunt te.

But enforsed am I

Openly to askry,
And to make an outcri
Against odyous Enui,
That euermore wil ly,
And say cursedly;
With his ledder ey,
And chekes dry;
With vysage wan,
As swarte as tan;
His bones crake,
Leane as a rake;
His gummes rusty
Are full vnlusty;
Hys herte withall
Bytter as gall;
His lyuer, his longe
With anger is wronge;
His serpentes tonge
That many one hath stonge;
He frowneth euer;
He laugheth neuer,
Euen nor morow,
But other mennes sorow
Causeth him to gryn
And reioyce therin;
No slepe can him catch,
But euer doth watch,
He is so bete
With malyce, and frete
With angre and yre,
His foule desyre

Wyll suffre no slepe
In his hed to crepe;
His foule semblaunt
All displeasaunte;
Whan other ar glad,
Than is he sad;
Frantyke and mad;
His tong neuer styll
For to say yll,
Wrythyng and wringyng,
Bytyng and styngyng;
And thus this elf
Consumeth himself,
Hymself doth slo
Wyth payne and wo.
This fals Enuy
Sayth that I
Vse great folly
For to endyte,
And for to wryte,
And spend my tyme
In prose and ryme,
For to expres
The noblenes
Of my maistres,
That causeth me
Studious to be
To make a relation
Of her commendation;
And there agayne

Enuy doth complayne,
And hath disdayne;
But yet certayne
I wyll be playne,
And my style dres
To this prosses.

Now Phebus me ken
To sharpe my pen,
And lede my fyst
As hym best lyst,
That I may say
Honour alway
Of womankynd!
Trouth doth me bynd
And loyalte
Euer to be
Their true bedell,
To wryte and tell
How women excell
In noblenes;
As my maistres,
Of whom I thynk
With pen and ynk
For to compyle
Some goodly style;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fresh coloure,
So Jupyter me socoure,
She flourissheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:

Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Legem pone mihi, domina, in viam justificationum tuarum!
Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum.

How shall I report
All the goodly sort
Of her fetures clere,
That hath non erthly pere?
Her fauour of her face
Ennewed all with grace,
Confort, pleasure, and solace,
Myne hert doth so enbrace,
And so hath rauyshed me
Her to behold and se,
That in wordes playne
I cannot me refrayne
To loke on her agayne:
Alas, what shuld I fayne?
It wer a plesaunt payne
With her aye to remayne.

Her eyen gray and stepe
Causeth myne hert to lepe;
With her browes bent
She may well represent
Fayre Lucres, as I wene,
Or els fayre Polexene,

Or els Caliope,
Or els Penolope;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fresshe coloure,
So Jupiter me socoure,
She florisheth new end new
In beautye and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo!
Servus tuus sum ego.

The Indy saphyre blew
Her vaynes doth ennew;
The orient perle so clere,
The whytnesse of her lere;
The lusty ruby ruddes
Resemble the rose buddes;
Her lyppes soft and mery
Emblomed lyke the chery,
It were an heuenly blysse
Her sugred mouth to kysse.

Her beautye to augment,
Dame Nature hath her lent
A warte vpon her cheke,
Who so lyst to seke
In her vysage a skar,
That semyth from afar
Lyke to the radyant star,
All with fauour fret,

So properly it is set:
She is the vyolet,
The daysy delectable,
The columbine commendable,
The ielofer amyable;
[For] this most goodly floure,
This blossom of fressh colour,
So Jupiter me succour,
She florysheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Bonitatem fecisti cum servo tuo, domina,
Et ex præcordiis sonant præconia!

And whan I perceyued
Her wart and conceyued,
It cannot be denayd
But it was well conuayd,
And set so womanly,
And nothynge wantonly,
But ryght conuenyently,
And full congruently,
As Nature cold deuyse,
In most goodly wyse;
Who so lyst beholde,
It makethe louers bolde
To her to sewe for grace,
Her fauoure to purchase;

The sker upon her chyn,
Enhached on her fayre skyn,
Whyter than the swan,
It wold make any man
To forget deadly syn
Her fauour to wyn;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossom of fressh coloure,
So Jupiter me socoure,
She flouryssheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Defecit in salutatione tua anima mea;
Quid petis filio, mater dulcissima? babæ!

Soft, and make no dyn,
For now I wyll begyn
To haue in remembraunce
Her goodly dalyaunce,
And her goodly pastaunce:
So sad and so demure,
Behauynge her so sure,
With wordes of pleasure
She wold make to the lure
And any man conuert
To gyue her his hole hert.

She made me sore amased
Vpon her whan I gased,
Me thought min hert was crased,
My eyne were so dased;
For this most goodly flour,
This blossom of fressh colour,
So Jupyter me socour,
She flouryssheth new and new
In beauty and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Quomodo dilexi legem tuam, domina!
Recedant vetera, nova sint omnia.

And to amende her tale,
Whan she lyst to auale,
And with her fyngers smale,
And handes soft as sylke,
Whyter than the mylke,
That are so quyckely vayned,
Wherwyth my hand she strayned,
Lorde, how I was payned!
Vnneth I me refrayned,
How she me had reclaymed,
And me to her retayned,
Enbrasynge therwithall
Her goodly myddell small
With sydes longe and streyte;
To tell you what conceyte
I had than in a tryce,
The matter were to nyse,
And yet there was no vyce,

100

Nor yet no villany,
But only fantasy;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossom of fressh coloure,
So Jupiter me succoure,
She floryssheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Iniquos odio habui!
Non calumnientur me superbi.

But whereto shulde I note
How often dyd I tote
Vpon her prety fote?
It raysed myne hert rote
To se her treade the grounde
With heles short and rounde.
She is playnly expresse
Egeria, the goddesse,
And lyke to her image,
Emportured with corage,
A louers pylgrimage;
Ther is no beest sauage,
Ne no tyger so wood,
But she wolde chaunge his mood,
Such relucent grace
Is formed in her face;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fresshe coloure,
So Jupiter me succour,

101

She flouryssheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Mirabilia testimonia tua!
Sicut novellæ plantationes in juventute sua.

So goodly as she dresses,
So properly she presses
The bryght golden tresses
Of her heer so fyne,
Lyke Phebus beames shyne.
Wherto shuld I disclose
The garterynge of her hose?
It is for to suppose
How that she can were
Gorgiously her gere;
Her fresshe habylementes
With other implementes
To serue for all ententes,
Lyke dame Flora, quene
Of lusty somer grene;
For this most goodly floure,
This blossom of fressh coloure,
So Jupiter me socoure,
She florisheth new and new
In beautye and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Clamavi in toto corde, exaudi me!
Misericordia tua magna est super me.

102

Her kyrtell so goodly lased,
And vnder that is brased
Such plasures that I may
Neyther wryte nor say;
Yet though I wryte not with ynke,
No man can let me thynke,
For thought hath lyberte,
Thought is franke and fre;
To thynke a mery thought
It cost me lytell nor nought.
Wolde God myne homely style
Were pullysshed with the fyle
Of Ciceros eloquence,
To prase her excellence!
For this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fressh coloure,
So Jupiter me succoure,
She flouryssheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina,
Principes persecuti sunt me gratis!
Omnibus consideratis,
Paradisus voluptatis
Hæc virgo est dulcissima.

My pen it is vnable,
My hand it is vnstable,
My reson rude and dull
To prayse her at the full;
Goodly maystres Jane,
Sobre, demure Dyane;

103

Jane this maystres hyght
The lode star of delyght,
Dame Venus of all pleasure,
The well of worldly treasure;
She doth excede and pas
In prudence dame Pallas;
[For] this most goodly floure,
This blossome of fresshe colour,
So Jupiter me socoure,
She floryssheth new and new
In beaute and vertew:
Hac claritate gemina
O gloriosa fœmina!

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine!
With this psalme, Domine, probasti me,
Shall sayle ouer the see,
With Tibi, Domine, commendamus,
On pylgrimage to saynt Jamys,
For shrympes, and for prayns,
And for stalkynge cranys;
And where my pen hath offendyd,
I pray you it may be amendyd
By discrete consyderacyon
Of your wyse reformacyon;
I haue not offended, I trust,
If it be sadly dyscust.
It were no gentle gyse
This treatyse to despyse
Because I haue wrytten and sayd
Honour of this fayre mayd;

104

Wherefore shulde I be blamed,
That I Jane haue named,
And famously proclamed?
She is worthy to be enrolde
With letters of golde.

Car elle vault.
Per me laurigerum Britonum Skeltonida vatem
Laudibus eximiis merito hæc redimita puella est:
Formosam cecini, qua non formosior ulla est;
Formosam potius quam commendaret Homerus.
Sic juvat interdum rigidos recreare labores,
Nec minus hoc titulo tersa Minerva mea est.
Rien que playsere.