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I bidde god, so yeve yow bothe sorwe!' 1470

Therwith ful sore he sighte, and thus he seyde,

`My lady right, and of my wele or wo

The welle and rote, O goodly myn, Criseyde,

And shal I ryse, allas! And shal I go?

Now fele I that myn herte moot a-two! 1475

For how sholde I my lyf an houre save,

Sin that with yow is al the lyf I have?

`What shal I doon, for certes, I not how,

Ne whanne, allas! I shal the tyme see,

That in this plyt I may be eft with yow; 1480

And of my lyf, god woot, how that shal be,

Sin that desyr right now so byteth me,

That I am deed anoon, but I retourne.

How sholde I longe, allas! Fro yow soiourne?

`But nathelees, myn owene lady bright, 1485

Yit were it so that I wiste outrely,

That I, your humble servaunt and your knight,

Were in your herte set so fermely

As ye in myn, the which thing, trewely,

Me lever were than thise worldes tweyne, 1490

Yet sholde I bet enduren al my peyne.'

To that Cryseyde answerde right anoon,

And with a syk she seyde, `O herte dere,

The game, y-wis, so ferforth now is goon,

That first shal Phebus falle fro his spere, 1495

And every egle been the dowves fere,

And every roche out of his place sterte,

Er Troilus out of Criseydes herte!

`Ye he so depe in-with myn herte grave,

That, though I wolde it turne out of my thought, 1500

As wisly verray god my soule save,

To dyen in the peyne, I coude nought!

And, for the love of god that us bath wrought,

Lat in your brayn non other fantasye

So crepe, that it cause me to dye! 1505

`And that ye me wolde han as faste in minde

As I have yow, that wolde I yow bi-seche;

And, if I wiste soothly that to finde,

God mighte not a poynt my Ioyes eche!

But, herte myn, with-oute more speche, 1510

Beth to me trewe, or elles were it routhe;

For I am thyn, by god and by my trouthe!

`Beth glad for-thy, and live in sikernesse;

Thus seyde I never er this, ne shal to mo;

And if to yow it were a gret gladnesse 1515

To turne ayein, soone after that ye go,

As fayn wolde I as ye, it were so,

As wisly god myn herte bringe at reste!'

And him in armes took, and ofte keste.

Agayns his wil, sin it mot nedes be, 1520

This Troilus up roos, and faste him cledde,

And in his armes took his lady free

An hundred tyme, and on his wey him spedde,

And with swich wordes as his herte bledde,

He seyde, `Farewel, mr dere herte swete, 1525

Ther god us graunte sounde and sone to mete!'

To which no word for sorwe she answerde,

So sore gan his parting hir destreyne;

And Troilus un-to his palays ferde,

As woo bigon as she was, sooth to seyne; 1530

So hard him wrong of sharp desyr the peyne

For to ben eft there he was in plesaunce,

That it may never out of his remembraunce.

Retorned to his real palais, sone

He softe in-to his bed gan for to slinke, 1535

To slepe longe, as he was wont to done,

But al for nought; he may wel ligge and winke,

But sleep ne may ther in his herte sinke;

Thenkinge how she, for whom desyr him brende,

A thousand-fold was worth more than he wende. 1540

And in his thought gan up and doun to winde

Hir wordes alle, and every countenaunce,

And fermely impressen in his minde

The leste poynt that to him was plesaunce;

And verrayliche, of thilke remembraunce, 1545

Desyr al newe him brende, and lust to brede

Gan more than erst, and yet took he non hede.

Criseyde also, right in the same wyse,

Of Troilus gan in hir herte shette

His worthinesse, his lust, his dedes wyse, 1550

His gentilesse, and how she with him mette,

Thonkinge love he so wel hir bisette;

Desyring eft to have hir herte dere

In swich a plyt, she dorste make him chere.

Pandare, a-morwe which that comen was 1555

Un-to his nece, and gan hir fayre grete,

Seyde, `Al this night so reyned it, allas!

That al my drede is that ye, nece swete,

Han litel layser had to slepe and mete;

Al night,' quod he, `hath reyn so do me wake, 1560

That som of us, I trowe, hir hedes ake.'

And ner he com, and seyde, `How stont it now

This mery morwe, nece, how can ye fare?'

Criseyde