Lydgate's Troy Book A.D. 1412-1420. Edited from the best manuscripts with introduction, notes, and glossary by Henry Bergen |
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PROLOGUE. |
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 | Lydgate's Troy Book |  |
1
PROLOGUE.
O myghty Mars, that wyth thy sterne lyghtIn armys hast the power & þe myȝt,
And named art from est til occident
The myghty lorde, the god armypotent,
That, wyth schynyng of thy stremes rede,
By influence dost the brydel lede
Of cheualry, as souereyn and patrown,
Ful hoot and drye of complexioun,
Irows and wood and malencolyk,
And of nature brent and coleryk,
Of colour schewyng lyche the fyry glede,
Whos feerce lokes ben as ful of drede
As the levene that alyȝteth lowe
Down by the skye from Iubiteris bowe!
Thy stremes ben so passyng despitous,
To loke vp-on, inly furious,
And causer art wyth thy fery bemys
Of werre and stryf in many sondry rewmys;
Whos lordschype is most in Caprycorn,
But in the bole is thy power lorn;
And causer art of contek and of strif,
Now, for the loue of Wlcanus wyf,
Wyth whom whylom þou wer at meschef take,
So helpe me now, only for hyr sake,
And for the loue of thy Bellona,
That wyth the dwellyth by-ȝownd Cirrea
In Lebye-londe vp-on the sondes rede;
So be myn helpe in this grete nede
2
And of my penne the tracys to correcte,
Whyche bareyn is of aureat lycour,
But in thi grace I fynde som fauour
For to conveye it wyth thyn influence,
That stumbleth ay for faute of eloquence
For to reherse or writen any word;
Now help, o Mars, þat art of knyȝthod lord,
And hast of manhod the magnificence!
And Othea, goddesse of prudence,
This wirke texsplyte that ȝe nat refuse,
But maketh Clyo for to ben my muse,
Wyth hir sustren that on Pernaso dwelle
In Cirrea by Elicon the welle,
Rennyng ful clere wyth st[r]emys cristallyn,
And callyd is the welle Caballyn
That sprang by touche of the Pegasee.
And helpe also, O thou Calliope,
That were moder vn-to Orpheus,
Whos dites wern so mellodyus,
That the werbles of his resownyng harpe
Appese dyde the bitter wyrdys scharpe,
Bothe of parchas and furies infernal,
And Cerberus so cruel founde at al;
He coyede also best[e], foule, and tree.
Now of thy grace be helpyng vn-to me,
And of thy golde dewe lat the lycour wete
My dulled brest, that wyth thyn hony swete
Sugrest tongis of rethoricyens,
And maistresse art to Musicyens:
Now be myn help tenlumyne with þis wirk,
Whyche am beset with cloudis dym and dirk
Of ygnoraunce, in makyng to procede,
To be lusty to hem that schal it rede.
Also in hert I am so ful of drede,
Whan prudent lysters her-to schal take hede,
That in makyng more skylle can than I,
To whom I preie, ful benignely
3
Wher as I erre in my translacioun.
For God I take hyȝly to wyttenesse
That I this wirk of hertly lowe humblesse
Toke vp-on me of entencioun,
Devoyde of pride and presumpcioun,
For to obeie with-oute variaunce
My lordes byddyng fully and plesaunce,
Whiche hath desire, sothly for to seyn,
Of verray knyȝthod to remembre ageyn
The worthynes, ȝif I schal nat lye,
And the prowesse of olde chiualrie,
By-cause he hath Ioye and gret deynte
To rede in bokys of antiquite,
To fyn only, vertu for to swe
Be example of hem, and also for to eschewe
The cursyd vice of slouthe and ydelnesse.
So he enioyeth in vertuous besynesse,
In al that longeth to manhood, dar I seyn,
He besyeth euere, and ther-to is so fayn
To hawnte his body in pleies marcyal,
Thoruȝ excersice texclude slouthe at al,
After the doctrine of Vygecius.
Thus is he bothe manful and vertuous,
More passyngly þan I can of hym write:
I wante connyng his hiȝe renoun tendite,
So moche of manhood men may in hym sen.
And for to witen whom I wolde mene,
The eldest sone of the noble kyng,
Henri the firþe, of knyȝthood welle & spryng,
In whom is schewed of what stok he grewe;
The rotys vertu þus can the frute renewe—
In euery part the tarage is the same,
Lyche his fader of maneris and of name,
In sothefastnesse, this no tale is,
Callid Henry ek, the worthy prynce of Walys,
4
For to gouerne Brutys Albyoun—
Whyche me comaunded the drery pitus fate
Of hem of Troye in englysche to translate,
The sege also and the destruccioun,
Lyche as the latyn maketh mencioun,
For to compyle, and after Guydo make,
So as I coude, and write it for his sake,
By-cause he wolde that to hyȝe and lowe
The noble story openly wer knowe
In oure tonge, aboute in euery age,
And y-writen as wel in oure langage
As in latyn and in frensche it is;
That of the story þe trouth[e] we nat mys
No more than doth eche other nacioun:
This was the fyn of his entencioun.
The whyche emprise anoon I gynne schal
In his worschip for a memorial.
And of the tyme to make mencioun,
Whan I be-gan of this translacioun,
It was the ȝere, sothely for to seyne,
Fourtene complete of his fadris regne,
The tyme of ȝere, schortly to conclude,
Whan twenty grees was Phebus altitude,
The hour whan he made his stedis drawe
His rosen chariet lowe vnder the wawe
To bathe his bemys in the wawy see,
Tressed lyche gold, as men myȝt[e] see,
Passyng the bordure of oure occian;
And Lucyna, of colour pale and wan,
Hir cold arysyng in Octobre gan to dyȝt,
Tenchace the dirknesse of the frosty nyȝt,
In the myddes of the scorpion;
And Esperus gan to wester dovn,
To haste hir cours ageyn þe morwe graye;
And Lucifer, the nyȝt to voyde a-waye,
Is callyd than, messanger of day,
Our emysperye to put out of affraye
5
Out of the boundis Proserpina the quene,
Wher Pluto dwelleth, the dirk[e] regioun,
And the furies haue her mansioun;
Til after sone Appollo lyst nat tarie
To take soiour in the Sagittarie.
Whyche tyme I gan the prolog to beholde
Of Troye Boke, I-made be dayes olde,
Wher was remembrid, of auctours vs be-forn,
Of the dede the verreie trewe corn,
So as it fil seuerid from the chaf;
For in her honde they hilde for a staf
The trouthe only, whyche thei han compyled
Vn-to this fyn, that we wer nat begyled
Of necligence thoruȝ forȝetilnesse.
The whiche serpent of age by processe
Engendred is fersly vs tassaille,
Of the trouth to make vs for to faille;
For ner[e] writers, al wer out of mynde,
Nat story only, but of nature and kynde
The trewe knowyng schulde haue gon to wrak,
And from science oure wittes put a-bak,
Ne hadde oure elderis cerched out and souȝt
The sothefast pyth, to ympe it in oure thouȝt,
Of thinges passed, for-dirked of her hewe,
But thoruȝ writyng þei be refresched newe,
Of oure auncetrys left to vs by-hynde;
To make a merour only to oure mynde,
To seen eche thing trewly as it was,
More bryȝt and clere þan in any glas.
For ner her writyng nowe memorial,
Dethe with his swerde schulde haue slay[e]n al,
And y-dymmed with his sodeyn schoures
The gret[e] prowes of thise conquerouris,
And dirk[ed] eke the briȝtnesse of her fame,
That schyneth ȝet by report of her name;
6
With-out[e] feynynge þe weie þat þei went
In her daies, whan thei wer alyue.
Ageyn the trouthe who so euere stryue,
Or counterplete or make any debate,
The sothe is rad of hiȝe or lowe estate,
With-oute fauour, who so list take hede;
For after deth clerkis lityl drede
After desert for to bere witnesse,
Nor of a tyraunt the trouthe to expresse,
As men disserue, with-oute excepcioun;
With lak or prys þei graunt hem her guerdoun.
Wherfore me semeth euery maner man
Schulde be his live in al that euer he can
For vertu only eschewe to don amys;
For after dethe, pleynly as it is,
Clerkis wil write, and excepte noon,
The pleyn[e] trouthe whan a man is goon.
And by olde tyme for her writing trewe
Thei cherisched werne of lordes þat hem knewe,
And honoured gretly in tho dawes;
For they enacted and gilte with her sawes
Her hyȝe renoun, her manhood and prowes,
Her knyȝthood eke and her worthynes,
Her tryvmphes also and victories,
Her famous conquest and her songe glories,
From poynt to poynt rehersyng al þe trouthe,
With-out[e] fraude, necligence, or slowthe
Thei dide her labour and her besynesse.
For elles certeyn the grete worthynesse
Of her dedis hadde ben in veyn;
For-dirked age elles wolde haue slayn
By lenthe of ȝeris þe noble worthi fame
Of conquerours, and pleynly of her name
For-dymmed eke the lettris aureat,
And diffaced the palme laureat,
7
Whos fretyng rust newe and newe assayes
For to eclipse the honour and the glorie
Of hiȝe prowes, whiche clerkis in memorie
Han trewly set thoruȝ diligent labour,
And enlumyned with many corious flour
Of rethorik, to make vs comprehende
The trouthe of al, as it was in kende;
Besied hem and feythfully travaylled
Agayn al that þat age wolde assaylled,
In her bokes euery thyng I-set,
And with the keye of remembraunce it schet,
Whiche lasteth ȝet, and dureth euer in oon.
Recorde of Thebes, þat was so long a-goon,
Of whiche the rueyne and distruccioun
Ȝe may beholde by gode inspeccioun,
Crop and rote, riȝt as it was in dede,
On Stace loketh, and þer ȝe may it rede:
How Polynece and Ethiocles,
The brether two, ne kowde nat lyue in pees
Til Thebes was brouȝt vn-to ruyne,
And al the maner how thei dide fyne;
The deth also of worthi Tydeus,
And how Edippus, with teris ful pytous,
Wepte oute his eyne, and al his drery peyen,
And how the smokys departid wer in tweyen,
At the fest of fires funeral—
In gret[e] Stace ȝe may reden al—
The fyre engendered by brotherly hatrede,
Wher-thoruȝ þat deth was þe cruel mede,
In verray sothe, of many worthi man,
Lyche as myn auctor wel reherse can.
Of Troye also, þat was of latter ȝeres,
By dillygence of cronyc[u]leris
Ȝe may beholde in her wrytyng wel
The stryfe, the werre, þe sege and euerydel,
8
Whos story ȝit age hath nouȝt diffaced,
Nor cruel deth, with his mortal strokys;
For maugre deth, ȝe may beholde in bokys
The story fully rehersed new and newe,
And freschely floure of colour and of hewe
From day to day, quyk & no thyng feynt.
For clerkys han this story so depeynt,
That deth nor age, by no maner weye,
The trouthe may not maken for to deye;
Al-be that somme han the trouth[e] spared
In her writyng, and pleynly not declared
So as it was, nor tolde out feithfully,
But it transformed in her poysy
Thoruȝ veyn[e] fables, whiche of entencioun
They han contreved by false transumpcioun
To hyde trouthe falsely vnder cloude,
And the sothe of malys for to schroude,
As Omer dide, the whiche in his writyng
I-feyned hathe ful many diuers thyng
That neuer was, as Guydo lyst deuise,
And thingys done in a-nother wyse
He hathe transformed than þe trouþe was,
And feyned falsly that goddis in þis caas
The worthi Grekis holpen to werreye
Ageyn Troyens, and howe þat þei wer seye
Lyche lyfly men amonge hem day by day.
And in his dites, þat wer so fresche & gay
With sugred wordes vnder hony soote,
His galle is hidde lowe by the rote,
That it may nouȝt outewarde ben espied.
And al for he with Grekis was allied,
Ther-for he was to hem fauourable
In myche thing, whiche is nouȝt commendable
Of hem þat lyst to demen after ryȝt;
For in makyng, loue hath lost his syȝt,
To ȝeue a pris wher noon is disserued,
Cupide [is] blynde, whos domys ben obseruyd
9
Or after resoun how the trouth[e] be.
For singulerte and false affeccioun
Reyseth ful ofte by veyn[e] lausioun
A man to worschip þat disserueth noon,
By false reporte, and þus ful many oon
With-oute merit hath his fame blowe—
Wher of another þe renoun is vnknowe,
That in armys hath meruelles wrouȝt,
Of whom par-aunter speketh no man nouȝt—
For fauour only is fostered more than ryȝt,
That hyndered hath many [a] worþi knyȝt.
Ovide also poetycally hath closyd
Falshede with trouthe, þat makeþ men ennosed
To whiche parte þat þei schal hem holde—
His mysty speche so hard is to vnfolde,
That it entriketh rederis that it se.
Virgile also, for loue of Enee,
In Eneydos rehersyth moche thyng,
And was in party trewe of his writyng,
Exsepte only that hym lyst som whyle
The tracys folwe of Omeris stile;
And of þis sege wrot eke Lollius,
But to-forn alle, Dares Frigius
Wrot moste trewly after þat he fonde,
And Dytes eke of the Grekys lond.
They were present and seyen euerydel,
And as it fel they write trewe and wel,
Eche in his tonge, by swyche consonaunce,
That in her bokys was no variaunce,
Whiche after wern vn-to Athenes brouȝt,
And by processe serched oute and souȝt
By dillygence of oon Cornelius,
Whyche was nevewe vn-to Salustius,
Of Rome y-born, whiche dide his dever dewe
10
Of thise auctours by good avisement.
But by-cause he sette [al] his entent
For to be brefe, he lefte moche be-hynde
Of the story, as men in bokys fynde,
The firste mevyng and cause original,
What was the gynnyng and rote in special,
Ne how thei come by lond or by navie,
How firste the sparke was kyndeled of envie
A-twyxe Grekis and hem of Troye town,
Of whiche Cornelye maketh no mencioun,
Of her schippes nor of her vitaille,
Nor how þat Grece is called Gret Ytaille,
And the lasse, as bokys verrefye,
Is named now the londe of Romanye,
What noumbre of kynges and of dukes went
Towarde the sege, al of oon assent,
To wynne worschip & for excersise
Of armys only, in ful knyȝtly wyse,
Abydyng there to sen the versioun
Of the cite and noble Yllyoun,
Nor what the maner was of her armure,
Nor at the sege who lengest dide endure,
In what wyse eche other dide assaile,
Nor how often thei metten in bataille,
How mony worthi loste ther his lyf
Thorouȝ olde hatrede wrouȝt vp with newe st[r]if,
Nor of her dethe he dateth nat the ȝere,
For his writyng was particuler;
With-oute frute he was compendious,
This forseyde Romeyne, this Cornelius.
Wherfore but late in comparisoun,
Ther was an auctour of ful hiȝe renoun
That besied hym the tracys for to swe
Of Dite and Dares, & cast hym nat transmwe
11
But folweth hem by swyche convenience,
That in effecte the substaunce is the same;
And of Columpna Guydo was his name,
Whiche had in writyng passyng excellence.
For he enlvmyneth by crafte & cadence
This noble story with many fresche colour
Of rethorik, and many riche flour
Of eloquence to make it sownde bet
He in the story hath ymped in and set,
That in good feythe I trowe he hath no pere,
To rekne alle þat write of this matere,
As in his boke ȝe may beholde and se.
To whom I seie, knelyng on my knee:
Laude and honour & excellence of fame,
O Guydo maister, be vn-to thi name,
That excellest by souereinte of stile
Alle that writen this mater to compile.
Whom I schal folwe as nyȝe as euer I may,
That God me graunt it be vn-to the pay
Of hym for whom I haue vndertake
So as I can this story for to make,
Preynge to alle þat schal it rede or se,
Wher as I erre for to amenden me,
Of humble herte and lowe entencioun
Commyttyng al to her correccioun,
And ther-of thanke; my wille is þat þei wynne,
For thoruȝ her support þus I wil begynne.
[Explicit prologus]
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