The Court Of Love Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABBCD AEAEEAA BFBFFGG ECECGGG GFGGHH IEIEEJJ KHKHHHI EAEAEII HIHIII A A AA JEJJAA HIHIIII IAIAAHH HFHFFI HEHE II IHIHHHH HEHEEAA AIAIIHA JIJIIHH AIAIIJJ IAIAAH AAA AAA IIIIIFF HHHHHF AI I AA HKHKKII HKHKKII AEAEEHWith timerous hert and trembling hand of drede | A |
Of cunning naked bare of eloquence | B |
Unto the flour of port in womanhede | A |
I write as he that non intelligence | B |
Of metres hath ne floures of sentence | B |
Sauf that me list my writing to convey | C |
In that I can to please her hygh nobley | D |
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The blosmes fresshe of Tullius garden soote | A |
Present thaim not my mater for to borne | E |
Poemes of Virgil taken here no rote | A |
Ne crafte of Galfrid may not here sojorne | E |
Why nam I cunning O well may I morne | E |
For lak of science that I can not write | A |
Unto the princes of my life a right | A |
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No termes digne unto her excellence | B |
So is she sprong of noble stirpe and high | F |
A world of honour and of reverence | B |
There is in her this wil I testifie | F |
Calliope thou sister wise and sly | F |
And thou Minerva guyde me with thy grace | G |
That langage rude my mater not deface | G |
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Thy suger dropes swete of Elicon | E |
Distill in me thou gentle Muse I pray | C |
And thee Melpomene I calle anon | E |
Of ignoraunce the mist to chace away | C |
And give me grace so for to write and sey | G |
That she my lady of her worthinesse | G |
Accepte in gree this litel short tretesse | G |
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That is entitled thus 'The Court of Love ' | - |
And ye that ben metriciens me excuse | G |
I you besech for Venus sake above | F |
For what I mene in this ye need not muse | G |
And if so be my lady it refuse | G |
For lak of ornat speche I wold be wo | H |
That I presume to her to writen so | H |
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But myn entent and all my besy cure | I |
Is for to write this tretesse as I can | E |
Unto my lady stable true and sure | I |
Feithfull and kind sith first that she began | E |
Me to accept in service as her man | E |
To her be all the plesure of this boke | J |
That whan her like she may it rede and loke | J |
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When I was yong at eighteen yere of age | K |
Lusty and light desirous of pleasaunce | H |
Approching on full sadde and ripe corage | K |
Love arted me to do myn observaunce | H |
To his astate and doon him obeysaunce | H |
Commaunding me the Court of Love to see | H |
A lite beside the mount of Citharee | I |
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There Citherea goddesse was and quene | E |
Honoured highly for her majestee | A |
And eke her sone the mighty god I wene | E |
Cupid the blind that for his dignitee | A |
A thousand lovers worship on their knee | E |
There was I bid on pain of death t'apere | I |
By Mercury the winged messengere | I |
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So than I went by straunge and fer contrees | H |
Enquiring ay what costes to it drew | I |
The Court of Love and thiderward as bees | H |
At last I sey the peple gan pursue | I |
Anon me thought som wight was there that knew | I |
Where that the court was holden ferre or ny | I |
And after thaim ful fast I gan me hy | - |
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Anone as I theim overtook I said | A |
'Hail frendes whider purpose ye to wend ' | - |
'Forsooth ' quod oon that answered lich a maid | A |
'To Loves Court now go we gentill frend ' | - |
'Where is that place ' quod I 'my felowe hend ' | - |
'At Citheron sir ' seid he 'without dowte | A |
The King of Love and all his noble rowte | A |
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Dwelling within a castell ryally ' | - |
So than apace I jorned forth among | J |
And as he seid so fond I there truly | E |
For I beheld the towres high and strong | J |
And high pin cles large of hight and long | J |
With plate of gold bespred on every side | A |
And presious stones the stone werk for to hide | A |
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No saphir ind no rub riche of price | H |
There lakked than nor emeraud so grene | I |
Baleis Turkeis ne thing to my devise | H |
That may the castell maken for to shene | I |
All was as bright as sterres in winter been | I |
And Phebus shoon to make his pees agayn | I |
For trespas doon to high estates tweyn | I |
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Venus and Mars the god and goddesse clere | I |
Whan he theim found in armes cheined fast | A |
Venus was then full sad of herte and chere | I |
But Phebus bemes streight as is the mast | A |
Upon the castell ginneth he to cast | A |
To plese the lady princesse of that place | H |
In signe he loketh aftir Loves grace | H |
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For there nis god in heven or helle y wis | H |
But he hath ben right soget unto Love | F |
Jove Pluto or what so ever he is | H |
Ne creature in erth or yet above | F |
Of thise the r vers may no wight approve | F |
But furthermore the castell to descry | I |
Yet saw I never non so large and high | - |
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For unto heven it streccheth I suppose | H |
Within and out depeynted wonderly | E |
With many a thousand daisy rede as rose | H |
And white also this saw I verily | E |
But what tho daises might do signify | - |
Can I not tell sauf that the quenes flour | I |
Alceste it was that kept there her sojour | I |
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Which under Venus lady was and quene | I |
And Admete king and soverain of that place | H |
To whom obeyed the ladies gode ninetene | I |
With many a thowsand other bright of face | H |
And yong men fele came forth with lusty pace | H |
And aged eke their homage to dispose | H |
But what thay were I could not well disclose | H |
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Yet ner and ner furth in I gan me dresse | H |
Into an halle of noble apparaile | E |
With arras spred and cloth of gold I gesse | H |
And other silk of esier availe | E |
Under the cloth of their estate saunz faile | E |
The king and quene ther sat as I beheld | A |
It passed joye of Helisee the feld | A |
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There saintes have their comming and resort | A |
To seen the king so ryally beseyn | I |
In purple clad and eke the quene in sort | A |
And on their hedes saw I crownes tweyn | I |
With stones fret so that it was no payn | I |
Withouten mete and drink to stand and see | H |
The kinges honour and the ryaltee | A |
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And for to trete of states with the king | J |
That been of councell chief and with the quene | I |
The king had Daunger ner to him standing | J |
The Quene of Love Disdain and that was seen | I |
For by the feith I shall to god I wene | I |
Was never straunger non in her degree | H |
Than was the quene in casting of her ee | H |
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And as I stood perceiving her apart | A |
And eke the bemes shyning of her yen | I |
Me thought thay were shapen lich a dart | A |
Sherp and persing smale and streight as lyne | I |
And all her here it shoon as gold so fyne | I |
Dishevel crisp down hinging at her bak | J |
A yarde in length and soothly than I spak | J |
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'O bright Regina who made thee so fair | I |
Who made thy colour vermelet and white | A |
Where woneth that god how fer above the eyr | I |
Greet was his craft and greet was his delyt | A |
Now marvel I nothing that ye do hight | A |
The Quene of Love and occupy the place | H |
Of Citharee now sweet lady thy grace ' | - |
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In mewet spak I so that nought astert | A |
By no condicion word that might be herd | A |
B ut in myn inward thought I gan advert | A |
And oft I seid 'My wit is dulle and hard ' | - |
For with her bewtee thus god wot I ferd | A |
As doth the man y ravisshed with sight | A |
When I beheld her cristall yen so bright | A |
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No respect having what was best to doon | I |
Till right anon beholding here and there | I |
I spied a frend of myne and that full soon | I |
A gentilwoman was the chamberer | I |
Unto the quene that hote as ye shall here | I |
Philobone that lov d all her life | F |
Whan she me sey she led me furth as blyfe | F |
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And me demaunded how and in what wise | H |
I thider com and what myne erand was | H |
'To seen the court ' quod I 'and all the guyse | H |
And eke to sue for pardon and for grace | H |
And mercy ask for all my greet trespace | H |
That I non erst com to the Court of Love | F |
Foryeve me this ye goddes all above ' | - |
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'That is well seid ' quod Philobone 'in dede | A |
But were ye not assomoned to apere | I |
By Mercury For that is all my drede ' | - |
'Yes gentil fair ' quod I 'now am I here | I |
Ye yit what tho though that be true my dere ' | - |
'Of your free will ye shuld have come unsent | A |
For ye did not I deme ye will be shent | A |
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For ye that reign in youth and lustinesse | H |
Pampired with ese and jolif in your age | K |
Your dewtee is as fer as I can gesse | H |
To Loves Court to dressen your viage | K |
As sone as Nature maketh you so sage | K |
That ye may know a woman from a swan | I |
Or whan your foot is growen half a span | I |
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But sith that ye by wilful necligence | H |
This eighteen yere have kept yourself at large | K |
The gretter is your trespace and offence | H |
And in your nek ye moot bere all the charge | K |
For better were ye ben withouten barge | K |
Amidd see in tempest and in rain | I |
Than byden here receiving woo and pain | I |
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That ordeined is for such as thaim absent | A |
Fro Loves Court by yeres long and fele | E |
I ley my lyf ye shall full soon repent | A |
For Love will reyve your colour lust and hele | E |
Eke ye must bait on many an hevy mele | E |
No force y wis | H |
Anonymous Olde English
(1)
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