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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=346099" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Flower And The Leaf</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">When that Phebus his chaire of gold so hy<br>Had whirled up the sterry sky aloft,<br>And in the Bole was entred certainly;<br>Whan shoures swete of rain discended soft,<br>Causing the ground, felë tymes and oft,<br>Up for to give many an hoolsom air,<br>And every plain was [eek y-]clothed fair</div><div style="margin:10px 0">With newe grene, and maketh smalë floures<br>To springen here and there in feld and mede;<br>So very good and hoolsom be the shoures<br>That it reneweth, that was old and deede<br>In winter-tyme; and out of every seede<br>Springeth the herbë, so that every wight<br>Of this sesoun wexeth [ful] glad and light.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And I, só glad of the seson swete,<br>Was happed thus upon a certain night;<br>As I lay in my bed, sleep ful unmete<br>Was unto me; but, why that I ne might<br>Rest, I ne wist; for there nas erthly wight,<br>As I suppose, had more hertës ese<br>Than I, for I n'ad siknesse nor disese.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wherfore I mervail gretly of my-selve,<br>That I so long, withouten sleepë lay;<br>And up I roos, three houres after twelve,<br>About the [very] springing of the day,<br>And on I put my gere and myn array;<br>And to a plesaunt grovë I gan passe,<br>Long or the brightë sonne uprisen was,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">In which were okës grete, streight as a lyne,<br>Under the which the gras, so fresh of hew,<br>Was newly spronge; and an eight foot or nyne<br>Every tree wel fro his felawe grew,<br>With braunches brode, laden with leves new,<br>That sprongen out ayein the sonnë shene,<br>Som very rede, and som a glad light grene;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Which, as me thought, was right a plesaunt sight.<br>And eek the briddes song[ës] for to here<br>Would have rejoised any erthly wight.<br>And I, that couth not yet, in no manere,<br>Here the nightingale of al the yere,<br>Ful busily herkned, with herte and ere,<br>If I her voice perceive coud any-where.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And at the last, a path of litel brede<br>I found, that gretly had not used be,<br>For it forgrowen was with gras and weede,<br>That wel unneth a wight [ther] might it see.<br>Thought I, this path som whider goth, pardè,<br>And so I folowèd, til it me brought<br>To right a plesaunt herber, wel y-wrought,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That benched was, and [al] with turves new<br>Freshly turved, wherof the grenë gras<br>So small, so thik, so short, so fresh of hew,<br>That most lyk to grene wol, wot I, it was.<br>The hegge also, that yede [as] in compas<br>And closed in al the grene herbere,<br>With sicamour was set and eglantere,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Writhen in-fere so wel and cunningly<br>That every braunch and leef grew by mesure,<br>Plain as a bord, of on height, by and by,<br>[That] I sy never thing, I you ensure,<br>So wel [y-]don; for he that took the cure<br>It [for] to make, I trow, did al his peyn<br>To make it passe al tho that men have seyn.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And shapen was this herber, roof and al,<br>As [is] a prety parlour, and also<br>The hegge as thik as [is] a castle-wal,<br>That, who that list without to stond or go,<br>Though he wold al-day pryen to and fro,<br>He shuld not see if there were any wight<br>Within or no; but oon within wel might</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Perceive al tho that yeden there-without<br>In the feld, that was on every syde<br>Covered with corn and gras, that, out of dout,<br>Though oon wold seeken al the world wyde,<br>So rich a feld [ne] coud not be espyed<br>[Up]on no cost, as of the quantitee,<br>For of al good thing ther was [greet] plentee.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And I, that al this plesaunt sight [than] sy,<br>Thought sodainly I felt so sweet an air<br>[Come] of the eglantere, that certainly,<br>Ther is no hert, I deme, in such despair,<br>Ne with [no] thoughtës froward and contrair<br>So overlaid, but it shuld soone have bote,<br>If it had onës felt this savour sote.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And as I stood and cast asyde myn y,<br>I was ware of the fairest medle-tree<br>That ever yet in al my lyf I sy,<br>As full of blossomës as it might be.<br>Therin a goldfinch leping pretily<br>Fro bough to bough, and, as him list, he eet<br>Here and there, of buddes and floures sweet.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And to the herber-sydë was joining<br>This fairë tree, of which I have you told;<br>And, at the last, the brid began to sing,<br>Whan he had eten what he etë wold,<br>So passing sweetly, that, by manifold,<br>It was more plesaunt than I coud devyse;<br>And whan his song was ended in this wyse,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The nightingale with so mery a note<br>Answéred him, that al the wodë rong<br>So sodainly, that, as it were a sot,<br>I stood astonied; so was I with the song<br>Through ravishèd, that, [un]til late and long<br>Ne wist I in what place I was, ne where;<br>And ay, me thought, she song even by myn ere.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wherfore about I waited busily<br>On every syde, if I her mightë see;<br>And, at the last, I gan ful wel aspy<br>Wher she sat in a fresh green laurer-tree<br>On the further syde, even right by me,<br>That gave so passing a delicious smel<br>According to the eglantere ful wel.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wherof I had so inly greet plesyr<br>That, as me thought, I surely ravished was<br>Into Paradyse, where my desyr<br>Was for to be, and no ferther [to] passe<br>As for that day, and on the sotë gras<br>I sat me doun; for, as for myn entent,<br>The birdës song was more convenient,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And more plesaunt to me, by many fold,<br>Than mete or drink, or any other thing;<br>Thereto the herber was so fresh and cold,<br>The hoolsom savours eek so comforting<br>That, as I demed, sith the beginning<br>Of the world, was never seen, or than,<br>So plesaunt a ground of non erthly man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And as I sat, the briddës herkning thus,<br>Me thought that I herd voices sodainly,<br>The most sweetest and most delicious<br>That ever any wight, I trow trewly,<br>Herde in his lyf, for [that] the armony<br>And sweet accord was in so good musyk,<br>Thát the voice to angels most was lyk.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At the last, out of a grove even by,<br>That was right goodly and plesaunt to sight,<br>I sy where there cam singing lustily<br>A world of ladies; but to tell aright<br>Their greet beautè, it lyth not in my might,<br>Ne their array; nevertheless, I shal<br>Tell you a part, though I speke not of al.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">In surcotes whyte, of veluet wel sitting,<br>They were [y-]clad; and the semes echoon,<br>As it were a maner garnishing,<br>Was set with emeraudës, oon and oon,<br>By and by; but many a richë stoon<br>Was set [up-]on the purfils, out of dout,<br>Of colors, sleves, and trainës round about;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">As gret[e] perlës, round and orient,<br>Diamondës fyne and rubies rede,<br>And many another stoon, of which I want<br>The namës now; and everich on her hede<br>A richë fret of gold, which, without drede,<br>Was ful of statly richë stonës set;<br>And every lady had a chapëlet</div><div style="margin:10px 0">On her hede, of [leves] fresh and grene,<br>So wel [y-]wrought, and so mervéilously,<br>Thát it was a noble sight to sene;<br>Some of laurer, and some ful plesauntly<br>Had chapëlets of woodbind, and sadly<br>Some of agnus-castus ware also<br>Chápëlets fresh; but there were many tho</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That daunced and eek song ful soberly;<br>But al they yede in maner of compas.<br>But oon ther yede in-mid the company.<br>Sole by her-self; but al folowed the pace<br>[Which] that she kept, whos hevenly-figured face<br>So plesaunt was, and her wel-shape persòn,<br>That of beautè she past hem everichon.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And more richly beseen, by manifold,<br>She was also, in every maner thing;<br>On her heed, ful plesaunt to behold,<br>A crowne of gold, rich for any king;<br>A braunch of agnus-castus eek bering<br>In her hand; and, to my sight, trewly,<br>She lady was of [al] the company.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And she began a roundel lustily,<br>That Sus le foyl de vert moy men call,<br>Seen, et mon joly cuer endormi;<br>And than the company answéred all<br>With voice[s] swete entuned and so small,<br>That me thought it the sweetest melody<br>That ever I herdë in my lyf, soothly.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And thus they came[n], dauncing and singing,<br>Into the middes of the mede echone,<br>Before the herber, where I was sitting,<br>And, god wot, me thought I was wel bigon;<br>For than I might avyse hem, on by on,<br>Who fairest was, who coud best dance or sing,<br>Or who most womanly was in al thing.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They had not daunced but a litel throw<br>When that I herd, not fer of, sodainly<br>So greet a noise of thundring trumpës blow,<br>As though it shuld have départed the sky;<br>And, after that, within a whyle I sy<br>From the same grove, where the ladyes come out,<br>Of men of armës coming such a rout</div><div style="margin:10px 0">As al the men on erth had been assembled<br>In that place, wel horsed for the nones,<br>Stering so fast, that al the erth[ë] trembled;<br>But for to speke of riches and [of] stones,<br>And men and hors, I trow, the largë wones<br>Of Prester John, ne al his tresory<br>Might not unneth have bought the tenth party!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Of their array who-so list herë more,<br>I shal reherse, so as I can, a lyte.<br>Out of the grove, that I spak of before,<br>I sy come first, al in their clokes whyte,<br>A company, that ware, for their delyt,<br>Chapëlets fresh of okës cereal<br>Newly spronge, and trumpets they were al.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">On every trumpe hanging a brood banere<br>Of fyn tartarium, were ful richly bete;<br>Every trumpet his lordës armës bere;<br>About their nekkës, with gret perlës set,<br>Colers brode; for cost they would not lete,<br>As it would seme; for their scochones echoon<br>Were set about with many a precious stoon.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Their hors-harneys was al whyte also;<br>And after hem next, in on company,<br>Cámë kingës of armës, and no mo,<br>In clokës of whyte cloth of gold, richly;<br>Chapelets of greene on their hedes on hy,<br>The crownës that they on their scochones bere<br>Were set with perlë, ruby, and saphere,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And eek gret diamondës many on;<br>But al their hors-harneys and other gere<br>Was in a sute according, everichon,<br>As ye have herd the foresayd trumpets were;<br>And, by seeming, they were nothing to lere;<br>And their gyding they did so manerly.<br>And after hem cam a greet company</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Of heraudës and pursevauntës eke<br>Arrayed in clothës of whyt veluët;<br>And hardily, they were nothing to seke<br>How they [up]on hem shuld the harneys set;<br>And every man had on a chapëlet;<br>Scóchones and eke hors-harneys, indede,<br>They had in sute of hem that before hem yede.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Next after hem, came in armour bright,<br>Al save their hedes, seemely knightës nyne;<br>And every clasp and nail, as to my sight,<br>Of their harneys, were of red gold fyne;<br>With cloth of gold, and furred with ermyne<br>Were the trappurës of their stedës strong,<br>Wyde and large, that to the ground did hong;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And every bosse of brydel and peitrel<br>That they had, was worth, as I would wene,<br>A thousand pound; and on their hedës, wel<br>Dressed, were crownës [al] of laurer grene,<br>The best [y-]mad that ever I had seen;<br>And every knight had after him ryding<br>Three henshmen, [up]on him awaiting;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Of whiche the first, upon a short tronchoun,<br>His lordës helme[t] bar, so richly dight,<br>That the worst was worth[y] the raunsoun<br>Of a[ny] king; the second a sheld bright<br>Bar at his nekke; the thridde bar upright<br>A mighty spere, ful sharpe [y-]ground and kene;<br>And every child ware, of leves grene,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">A fresh chapelet upon his heres bright;<br>And clokes whyte, of fyn veluet they ware;<br>Their stedës trapped and [a]rayed right<br>Without[en] difference, as their lordës were.<br>And after hem, on many a fresh co[u]rsere,<br>There came of armed knightës such a rout<br>That they besprad the largë feld about.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And al they ware[n], after their degrees,<br>Chapëlets new, made of laurer grene,<br>Some of oke, and some of other trees;<br>Some in their handës berë boughës shene,<br>Some of laurer, and some of okës kene,<br>Some of hawthorn, and some of woodbind,<br>And many mo, which I had not in mind.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And so they came, their hors freshly stering<br>With bloody sownës of hir trompës loud;<br>Ther sy I many an uncouth disgysing<br>In the array of these knightës proud;<br>And at the last, as evenly as they coud,<br>They took their places in-middes of the mede,<br>And every knight turned his horse[s] hede</div><div style="margin:10px 0">To his felawe, and lightly laid a spere<br>In the [a]rest, and so justës began<br>On every part about[en], here and there;<br>Som brak his spere, som drew down hors and man;<br>About the feld astray the stedës ran;<br>And, to behold their rule and governaunce,<br>I you ensure, it was a greet plesaunce.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And so the justës last an houre and more;<br>But tho that crowned were in laurer grene<br>Wan the pryse; their dintës were so sore<br>That ther was non ayenst hem might sustene;<br>And [than] the justing al was left of clene;<br>And fro their hors the nine alight anon;<br>And so did al the remnant everichon.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And forth they yede togider, twain and twain,<br>That to behold, it was a worldly sight,<br>Toward the ladies on the grenë plain,<br>That song and daunced, as I sayd now right.<br>The ladies, as soone as they goodly might,<br>They breke[n] of both the song and dance,<br>And yede to mete hem, with ful glad semblance.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And every lady took, ful womanly,<br>Bý the hond a knight, and forth they yede<br>Unto a fair laurer that stood fast by,<br>With levës lade, the boughës of gret brede;<br>And to my dome, there never was, indede,<br>[A] man that had seen half so fair a tree;<br>For underneth it there might wel have be</div><div style="margin:10px 0">An hundred persons, at their own plesaunce,<br>Shadowed fro the hete of Phebus bright<br>So that they shuld have felt no [greet] grevaunce<br>Of rain, ne hail, that hem hurt[ë] might.<br>The savour eek rejoice would any wight<br>That had be sick or melancolious,<br>It was so very good and vertuous.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And with gret reverence they enclyned low<br>[Un]to the tree, so sote and fair of hew;<br>And after that, within a litel throw,<br>Bigonne they to sing and daunce of-new;<br>Some song of love, some playning of untrew,<br>Environing the tree that stood upright;<br>And ever yede a lady and a knight.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And at the last I cast myn eye asyde,<br>And was ware of a lusty company<br>That came, roming out of the feld wyde,<br>Hond in hond, a knight and a lady;<br>The ladies alle in surcotes, that richly<br>Purfyled were with many a riche stoon;<br>And every knight of greene ware mantles on,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Embrouded wel, so as the surcotes were,<br>And everich had a chapelet on her hede;<br>Which did right wel upon the shyning here,<br>Made of goodly floures, whyte and rede.<br>The knightës eke, that they in hond lede,<br>In sute of hem, ware chapelets everichon;<br>And hem before went minstrels many on,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">As harpës, pypës, lutës, and sautry,<br>Al in greene; and on their hedës bare<br>Of dyvers flourës, mad ful craftily,<br>Al in a sute, goodly chapelets they ware;<br>And so, dauncing, into the mede they fare,<br>In-mid the which they found a tuft that was<br>Al oversprad with flourës in compas.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Where[un]to they enclyned everichon<br>With greet reverence, and that ful humblely;<br>And, at the last[ë], there began anon<br>A lady for to sing right womanly<br>A bargaret in praising the daisy;<br>For, as me thought, among her notës swete,<br>She sayd, 'Si doucë est la Margarete.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thén they al answéred her infere,<br>So passingly wel, and so plesauntly,<br>Thát it was a blisful noise to here.<br>But I not [how], it happed sodainly,<br>As, about noon, the sonne so fervently<br>Wex hoot, that [al] the prety tender floures<br>Had lost the beautè of hir fresh coloures,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For-shronk with hete; the ladies eek to-brent,<br>That they ne wist where they hem might bestow.<br>The knightës swelt, for lak of shade ny shent;<br>And after that, within a litel throw,<br>The wind began so sturdily to blow,<br>That down goth al the flourës everichon<br>So that in al the mede there laft not on,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Save suche as socoured were, among the leves,<br>Fro every storme, that might hem assail,<br>Growing under hegges and thikke greves;<br>And after that, there came a storm of hail<br>And rain in-fere, so that, withouten fail,<br>The ladies ne the knightës n'ade o threed<br>Drye [up]on hem, so dropping was hir weed.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And when the storm was clene passed away,<br>Tho [clad] in whyte, that stood under the tree,<br>They felt[ë] nothing of the grete affray,<br>That they in greene without had in y-be.<br>To hem they yedë for routh and pitè,<br>Hem to comfort after their greet disese;<br>So fain they were the helpless for to ese.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then was I ware how oon of hem in grene<br>Had on a crown[ë], rich and wel sitting;<br>Wherfore I demed wel she was a quene,<br>And tho in greene on her were awaiting.<br>The ladies then in whyte that were coming<br>Toward[ës] hem, and the knightës in-fere<br>Began to comfort hem and make hem chere.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The quene in whyte, that was of grete beautè,<br>Took by the hond the queen that was in grene,<br>And said, 'Suster, I have right greet pitè<br>Of your annoy, and of the troublous tene<br>Wherein ye and your company have been<br>So long, alas! and, if that it you plese<br>To go with me, I shal do you the ese</div><div style="margin:10px 0">In al the pleisir that I can or may.'<br>Wherof the tother, humbly as she might,<br>Thanked her; for in right ill aray<br>She was, with storm and hete, I you behight.<br>And every lady then, anon-right,<br>That were in whyte, oon of hem took in grene<br>By the hond; which when the knightes had seen,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">In lyke wyse, ech of hem took a knight<br>Clad in grene, and forth with hem they fare<br>[Un]to an heggë, where they, anon-right,<br>To make their justës, [lo!] they would not spare<br>Boughës to hew down, and eek treës square,<br>Wherewith they made hem stately fyres grete<br>To dry their clothës that were wringing wete.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And after that, of herbës that there grew,<br>They made, for blisters of the sonne brenning,<br>Very good and hoolsom ointments new,<br>Where that they yede, the sick fast anointing;<br>And after that, they yede about gadring<br>Plesaunt saladës, which they made hem ete,<br>For to refresh their greet unkindly hete.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The lady of the Leef then gan to pray<br>Her of the Flour, (for so to my seeming<br>They should[ë] be, as by their [quaint] array),<br>To soupe with her; and eek, for any thing,<br>That she should with her al her people bring.<br>And she ayein, in right goodly manere,<br>Thanketh her of her most freendly chere,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Saying plainly, that she would obey<br>With al her hert al her commaundëment.<br>And then anon, without lenger delay,<br>The lady of the Leef hath oon y-sent<br>For a palfray, [as] after her intent,<br>Arayed wel and fair in harneys of gold,<br>For nothing lakked, that to him long shold.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And after that, to al her company<br>She made to purvey hors and every thing<br>That they needed; and then, ful lustily,<br>Even by the herber where I was sitting,<br>They passed al, so plesantly singing,<br>That it would have comfórted any wight;<br>But then I sy a passing wonder sight:—</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For then the nightingale, that al the day<br>Had in the laurer sete, and did her might<br>The hool servyse to sing longing to May,<br>Al sodainly [be]gan to take her flight;<br>And to the lady of the Leef forthright<br>She flew, and set her on her hond softly,<br>Which was a thing I marveled of gretly.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The goldfinch eek, that fro the medle-tree<br>Was fled, for hete, into the bushes cold,<br>Unto the lady of the Flour gan flee,<br>And on her hond he set him, as he wold,<br>And plesantly his wingës gan to fold;<br>And for to sing they pained hem both as sore<br>As they had do of al the day before.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And so these ladies rood forth a gret pace,<br>And al the rout of knightës eek in-fere;<br>And I, that had seen al this wonder case,<br>Thought [that] I would assay, in some manere,<br>To know fully the trouth of this matere,<br>And what they were that rood so plesantly.<br>And, when they were the herber passed by,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I drest me forth, and happed to mete anon<br>Right a fair lady, I you ensure;<br>And she cam ryding by herself aloon,<br>Al in whyte, with semblance ful demure.<br>I salued her, and bad good aventure<br>Might her befall, as I coud most humbly;<br>And she answered, 'My doughter, gramercy!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Madam,' quod I, 'if that I durst enquere<br>Of you, I wold fain, of that company,<br>Wit what they be that past by this herbere?'<br>And she ayein answéred right freendly:<br>'My fair daughter, al tho that passed hereby<br>In whyte clothing, be servants everichoon<br>Unto the Leef, and I my-self am oon.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">See ye not her that crowned is,' quod she,<br>'Al in whyte?' 'Madamë,' quod I, 'yis!'<br>'That is Diane, goddesse of chastitè;<br>And, for bicause that she a maiden is,<br>In her hond the braunch she bereth, this<br>That agnus-castus men call properly;<br>And alle the ladies in her company</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Which ye see of that herb[ë] chaplets were,<br>Be such as han kept ay hir maidenhede;<br>And al they that of laurer chaplets bere<br>Be such as hardy were and wan, indede,<br>Victorious name which never may be dede.<br>And al they were so worthy of hir hond,<br>[As] in hir tyme, that non might hem withstond.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And tho that werë chapelets on hir hede<br>Of fresh woodbind, be such as never were<br>To love untrew in word, [ne] thought, ne dede,<br>But ay stedfast; ne for plesaunce, ne fere,<br>Though that they shuld hir hertës al to-tere,<br>Would never flit, but ever were stedfast,<br>Til that their lyves there asunder brast.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Now, fair madam,' quod I, 'yet I would pray<br>Your ladiship, if that it might be,<br>That I might know[ë], by some maner way,<br>Sith that it hath [y-]lyked your beautè,<br>The trouth of these ladies for to tel me;<br>What that these knightës be, in rich armour;<br>And what tho be in grene, and were the flour;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And why that some did reverence to the tree,<br>And some unto the plot of flourës fair?'<br>'With right good wil, my fair doughter,' quod she,<br>'Sith your desyr is good and debonair.<br>Tho nine, crownèd, be very exemplair<br>Of all honour longing to chivalry,<br>And those, certain, be called the Nine Worthy,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Which ye may see [here] ryding al before,<br>That in hir tyme did many a noble dede,<br>And, for their worthines, ful oft have bore<br>The crowne of laurer-leves on their hede,<br>As ye may in your old[ë] bokes rede;<br>And how that he, that was a conquerour,<br>Had by laurer alway his most honour.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And tho that bere boughës in their hond<br>Of the precious laurer so notáble,<br>Be such as were, I wol ye understond,<br>Noble knightës of the Round[ë] Table,<br>And eek the Douseperes honourable;<br>Which they bere in signe of victory,<br>As witness of their dedes mightily.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Eek there be knightës olde of the Garter,<br>That in hir tyme did right worthily;<br>And the honour they did to the laurer<br>Is, for by [it] they have their laud hoolly,<br>Their triumph eek, and martial glory;<br>Which unto hem is more parfyt richesse<br>Than any wight imagine can or gesse.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For oon leef given of that noble tree<br>To any wight that hath don worthily,<br>And it be doon so as it ought to be,<br>Is more honour then any thing erthly.<br>Witnesse of Rome that founder was, truly,<br>Of all knighthood and dedës marvelous;<br>Record I take of Titus Livius.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And as for her that crowned is in greene,<br>It is Flora, of these flourës goddesse;<br>And al that here on her awaiting been,<br>It are such [folk] that loved idlenes,<br>And not delyte [had] of no busines<br>But for to hunt and hauke, and pley in medes,<br>And many other such [lyk] idle dedes.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And for the greet delyt and [the] plesaunce<br>They have [un]to the flour, so reverently<br>They unto it do such [gret] obeisaunce,<br>As ye may see.' 'Now, fair madame,' quod I,<br>'If I durst ask what is the cause and why<br>That knightës have the signe of [al] honour<br>Rather by the Leef than by the Flour?'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Sothly, doughter,' quod she, 'this is the trouth:<br>For knightës ever should be persévering,<br>To seeke honour without feintyse or slouth,<br>Fro wele to better, in al maner thing;<br>In signe of which, with Levës ay lasting<br>They be rewarded after their degree,<br>Whos lusty grene may not appeired be,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">But ay keping hir beautè fresh and greene;<br>For there nis storm [non] that may hem deface,<br>Hail nor snow, wind nor frostës kene;<br>Wherfore they have this propertè and grace.<br>And for the Flour within a litel space<br>Wol be [y-]lost, so simple of nature<br>They be, that they no grevance may endure,</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And every storm wil blow hem sone away,<br>Ne they last not but [as] for a sesoun,<br>That is the cause, the very trouth to say,<br>That they may not, by no way of resoun,<br>Be put to no such occupacioun.'<br>'Madame,' quod I, 'with al my hool servyse<br>I thank you now, in my most humble wyse.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For now I am acértainèd throughly<br>Of every thing I désired to know.'<br>'I am right glad that I have said, sothly,<br>Ought to your pleysir, if ye wil me trow,'<br>Quod she ayein, 'but to whom do ye ow<br>Your servyce? and which wil ye honour,<br>Tel me, I pray, this yeer, the Leef or Flour?'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Madame,' quod I, 'though I [be] leest worthy,<br>Unto the Leef I ow myn observaunce.'<br>'That is,' quod she, 'right wel don, certainly,<br>And I pray god to honour you avaunce,<br>And kepe you fro the wikked rémembraunce<br>Of Male-Bouche, and al his crueltè;<br>And alle that good and wel-condicioned be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For here may I no lenger now abyde,<br>I must folowe the gret[ë] company<br>That ye may see yonder before you ryde.'<br>And forth[right], as I couth, most humblely,<br>I took my leve of her as she gan hy<br>After hem, as fast as ever she might;<br>And I drow hoomward, for it was nigh night;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And put al that I had seen in wryting,<br>Under support of hem that lust it rede.<br>O litel book, thou art so unconning,<br>How darst thou put thy-self in prees for drede?<br>It is wonder that thou wexest not rede,<br>Sith that thou wost ful lyte who shal behold<br>Thy rude langage, ful boistously unfold.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Explicit</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Anonymous+Olde+English">Anonymous Olde English</a><div class=q>
<img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share">
<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=346099" data-title="The Flower And The Leaf de Anonymous Olde English" data-description="When that Phebus his chaire of gold so hy
Had whirled up the sterry sky aloft,
And in the Bole was entred certainly;
Whan shoures swete of rain discended soft,
Causing the ground, felë tymes and oft,
Up for to give many an hoolsom air,
And every ..."></div>
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