Lydgate's Fall of Princes :: :: University of Virginia Library

Afftir these compleyntis & lamentaciouns,
Which [that] Bochas dede in his book compile,
Medlid among with transformaciouns
Set in Ouide be ful souereyn stile,
Whan he on hem hadde musid a long while,
Seyn the maner bothe off ther sorwe & ioie,
He gan remembre on Priamus off Troie.

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First off his berthe and off his kenreede,
How among kynges he was most famous;
And as poetis recorde off hym in deede,
He descendid of worthi Dardanus,
Which, as his lyne declareth onto vs,
From Iubiter was lyneali come doun
Onto his fader callid kyng Lamedoun.

Off olde Troie this Lamedoun was kyng;
Destroied bi Grekis he and his contre.
Afftir whom, [this] Priamus regnyng,
Made there ageyn a myhti strong cite,
Where he ful longe in ful gret rialte,
With wiff and childre, most worthi of renoun,
With sceptre & crowne heeld possessioun.

Gouerned his cite in pes and rihtwisnesse,
And Fortune was to hym fauourable;
For off al Asie the tresour and richesse
He dede assemble, this kyng most honourable.
And in armys he was so comendable,
That thoruh the world as ferr as men may gon,
Off hih noblesse the renoun off hym shon.

This Priamus hadde childre many on,
Worthi pryncis, & off ful gret myht;
But Ector was among hem euerichon
Callid off prowesse the lanterne & the lyht;
For ther was neuer born a bettir knyht.
Troilus in knyhthod so manli eek was founde,
That he was named Ector the secounde.

But yiff I shulde reherse the manheede
Off kyng Priam & off his sonys all,
And how his cite besieged was in deede,
And al the story to remembraunce call,
Tween hym & Grekis how it is befall,
The circumstaunces rehersyng vp & doun,
To sette in ordre the firste occasioun

Off the siege, whi it was first laid
Bi Hercules and also bi Iason,—
The maner hool in Troie Book is said,

168

Reudli endited off my translacioun,
Folwyng vpon the destruccioun
Callid the seconde, which, bi acountis cleer,
Fulli endured the space off ten yeer,—

For, as me semeth, the labour were in veyn.
Treuli also I not to what entent,
That I shold[e] write it newe ageyn;
For I hadde onys in comaundement,
Bi hym that was most noble & excellent
Off kynges all[e], for to vndirtake
It to translate and write it for his sake.

And yiff ye list to wetyn whom I meene,
Henry the Fiffte, most myhti off puissaunce,
Gaff me the charge off entent most cleene,
Thyng off old tyme to putte in remembraunce,
The same Henry, for knyhtli suffisaunce,
Worthi for manhod, reknyd kynges all,
With nyne worthi for to haue a stall.

To hooli chirch he was chieff defensour;
In alle such causes Cristes chosen knyht.
To stroie Lollardis he sette al his labour,
Loued alle vertues, and to sustene riht,
Thoruh his noblesse, his manhod & his myht,
Was dilligent & dede his besi peyne
To ha[ue] set pes atween[e] rewmys tweyne,—

I meene, in sooth, twen Ing[e]land & Fraunce,
His purpos was taue had a pes fynall,
Souhte out menys with many circumstaunce,
As weel be trete as actis marciall,
Theron iupartid goodis, liff and all.
But, o allas, ageyn deth is no boone!
This lond may seyn he deied al to soone.

For a-mong kynges he was oon the beste,
So alle his deedis conueied were with grace.
I pray to God, so yiue his soule good reste,
With hooli seyntis in heuene a duellyng-place.
For heere with vs to litil was the space

169

That he abood; off whom the remembraunce
Shal neuer deie in Ingland nor in Fraunce.

This worthi kyng gaff to me in charge,
In Inglissh tunge make a translacioun
Out off Latyn, withynne a volum large,
How longe the Grekis lay afor the toun,
And how that Paris first at Citheroun
In Venus temple slili dede his peyne
Ther to rauesshe the faire queen Heleyne.

In which[e] book the processe ye may see:
To hym how she was weddid in the toun,
And off the siege leid to the cite
Be Menelay and kyng Agamenoun,
And many another ful worthi off renoun
On outher party, which that in bataile
Fro day to day ech other dede assaile.

What sholde I telle, or wherto sholde I write
The deth off Ector or off Achilles?
Or wherto sholde I now off newe endite
How worthi Troilus was slayn among the pres?—
The eende off Paris or off Pallamydes,
Or the slauhtre off manli Deiphebus,
Or how his brother, callid Helenus,

Told afforn how it was gret folie
That Paris sholde wedde the queen Heleyne;
And how Cassandra in hir prophecie
On this weddyng sore gan compleyne,
And for the constreynt off hir hertly peyne,
How she wex mad and ran aboute the toun
Til she was cauht and shet up in prisoun.

Alle these materis ye may beholde in deede
Set bi and bi withynne Troie Book,
And how Cressaide loued Diomeede,

170

Whan worthi Troilus she wilfulli forsook:
Off hir nature a quarel thus she took,
Tassaie bothe, yiff neede eek wer, to feyne
To take the thridde, & leue hem bothe tweyne.

I [wil] passe ouer and telle off hir no more;
Nor bi what menys Grekis wan the toun—
How Eneas, nor how that Anthenore
Ageyn kyng Priam conspired fals tresoun,
Nor how Vlixes gat Palladioun—
The deth off Priam nor Heccuba the queene,
Nor how that Pirrus slouh yonge Polliceene.

Nor heer to write, it is nat myn entent,
Repair off Grekis hom to ther contre,
Afftir the cite and Ylioun was brent,
Nor off ther myscheuys thei hadde in the se,
Nor how Vlixes fond Penolope
A trewe wiff, thouh he were longe hir fro;—
Thoruhout al Grece I can reede off no mo.

Off these materes thus I make an eende:
What fell off Grekis afftir ther viage,
To Troie Book the folk echon I sende,
Which haue desir to seen the surplusage,
How Grekis first maden ther passage
Towardis Troie, besegyng the cite—
Redith the story;—ye gete no mor off me.