Merciles Beaute

A

LE

EL   CaptivityI. 1.

Your eyen two wol slee me sodenly,   I may the beaute of hem not sustene,   So woundeth hit throwout my herte kene.   2.

And but your word wol helen hastely   My hertes wounde, whyl that hit is grene,            Your eyen two wol slee me sodenly,    I may the beaute of hem not sustene.   3.

Upon my trouthe I sey yow feithfully,   That ye ben of my lyf and deeth the quene;   For with my deeth the trouthe shal be sene.      Your eyen two wol slee me sodenly,    I may the beaute of hem not sustene,    So woundeth hit thorowout my herte kene.

II. 1.

So hath your beauty fro your herte chaced   Pitee, that me n'availeth not to pleyne;    For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.   2.

Giltles my deeth thus han ye me purchaced;   I sey yow sooth, me nedeth not to feyne;    So hath your beauty fro your herte chaced    Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne.   3.

Allas! that nature hath in yow compassed   So grete beaute, that no man may atteyne   To mercy, though he sterve for the peyne.    So hath your beaute fro your herte chaced    Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;    For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.

II. 1.

Syn I fro Love escaped am so fat,   I nere thenk to ben in his prison lene;   Syn I am free,

I counte him not a bene.    2.

He may answere, and seye this or that;    I do no fors,

I speke ryght as I mene.    Syn I fro Love escaped am so fat,    I never thenk to ben in his prison lene.   3.

Love hath my name y-strike out of his sclat,   And he is strike out of my bokes clene:   For ever-mo; ther is non other mene.    Syn I fro Love escaped am so fat,    I never thenk to ben in his prison lene;    Syn I am free,

I counte him not a bene.

Quoted from Percy's Reliques, 'The versification is of that species which the French call Rondeau, very naturally Englished by our honest countrymen Round O.

Though so early adopted by them, our ancestors had not the honour of inventing it:

Chaucer picked it up, along with other better things, among the neighbouring nations.'