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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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[How Lucynyo that mordred Anchus was aftir mordred.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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[How Lucynyo that mordred Anchus was aftir mordred.]

Thus fro the wheel of Fortune he is fall;
Lucynio in Rome is crownyd kyng,
And the Romayns afftir dede hym call
Tarquyn the olde, be record off writyng.

352

Which hath atteyned, be fraudulent werkyng,
And bi his subtil forged eloquence
Onto thestat off roial excellence.
He first ordeyned in his estat roial
Turneis, iustes in castell[s] and cites,
And other pleies callid marcial,
With many famous gret solempnites,
Sessiouns for statis and degrees.
This Tarquyn eek, was first that dede his peyne
In open stretis tauernys to ordeyne.
Eek to preserue his cite out off doubte,
Yiff ther enmyes list them to assaile,
He was the first that wallid Rome aboute
With myhti tours, onlikli for to faile,
And hadde also many strong bataile
With the Sabynes in ther rebellioun,
And made hem subiect onto Rome toun.
But for he was assentid to depryue
Worthi Anchus from his estat roial,
And afftir that took Tarquyld [on]to wyue,
Which slouh hir lord be tresoun ful mortal,
God wolde off riht that he sholde haue a fal:
The Lord wil nat, which euery thyng may see,
Suffre moordre longe to be secre.
For Lucynio, for his gret offence,
Touchyng the moordre off the kyng Anchus,
Islay[e]n was be sodeyn violence
Off too shepperdis, the stori tellith thus,
Which off entent[e] wer contrarious
Atwen hemsilff[e] be a feyned striff,
To fynde a weie to reue hym off his liff.
For whil the kyng sat in iugement
Upon ther quarel for to do iustise,
Ful sodenli, thei beyng off assent,
Fill vpon hym in ful cruel wise,
And with an ax, the story doth deuise,
Oon off hem, or any man took heed,
On too parties roff the kynges hed.

353

This thyng was doon bi the procuryng
Off too childre, sonys to Anchus,
Which were exilid be fals compassyng
Off Lucinio, ageyn hem most irous,—
To hym ther presence was so odious.
But thei hem shoop, thouh thei were out off siht,
Ther fadres deth tauengen yiff thei myht.
For off nature blood will vengid be,
To recompense the wrong off his kynreede,
In this chapitle, lik as ye may see,
Blood shad for blood: thus bothe dede bleede.
Be which exaumple, lat pryncis taken heede,
How moordre doon for supplantacioun
Requereth vengaunce for his fynal guerdoun.