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 |  |
Go kis the steppis of them that wer forthring,
Laureat poetes, which hadde souereynte
Of elloquence to supporte thy makyng,
And pray all tho that shal this processe see,
In thyn excus[e], that thei list to bee
Fauourable to lakke or to comende;
Set thi ground upon humylite,
Vnto ther grace that thou maist up ascende.
Laureat poetes, which hadde souereynte
Of elloquence to supporte thy makyng,
And pray all tho that shal this processe see,
In thyn excus[e], that thei list to bee
Fauourable to lakke or to comende;
Set thi ground upon humylite,
Vnto ther grace that thou maist up ascende.
In a short clause thi content rehersing,
As oon up clymbeth to gret prosperite,
So another, bi expert knowleching,
Fro gret richesse is brouht to pouerte.
Alas, O book, what shal I seyn of the?
Thi tragedies thoruh al the world to sende,
Go foorth, I pray; excuse thi-silf & me;
Who loueth most vertu hiest shal ascende.
As oon up clymbeth to gret prosperite,
So another, bi expert knowleching,
Fro gret richesse is brouht to pouerte.
Alas, O book, what shal I seyn of the?
Thi tragedies thoruh al the world to sende,
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Who loueth most vertu hiest shal ascende.
Blak be thi weede of compleynt & moornyng,
Callid Fall of Princis from ther felicite,
Lik chaunteplure, now singyng now weeping,
Wo afftir merthe, next ioie aduersite,
So entermedlid ther is no seurete,
Lik as this book doth preise and reprehende,—
Now on the wheel, now set in louh degre;
Who wil encrece bi vertu must ascende.
Callid Fall of Princis from ther felicite,
Lik chaunteplure, now singyng now weeping,
Wo afftir merthe, next ioie aduersite,
So entermedlid ther is no seurete,
Lik as this book doth preise and reprehende,—
Now on the wheel, now set in louh degre;
Who wil encrece bi vertu must ascende.
| Lydgate's Fall of Princes | |