Page:Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudeslie (2).pdf/16

 Sore then sighed the fair Alice,

That ever I saw this day,

For now is my dear husband slain,

Alas! and wel-a-way!

Might I have spoken with his brethren,

Or either of them twayne.

To shew them what to him befel,

My heart were out of payne.

Cloudeslie walked a little beside,

Lookt under the green wood lynde,

He saw his wife and children three,

Full wo in heart and mind.

Welcome, dear wife, then said William,

Under this trusty tree;

I had ween’d yesterday, by swete Saint John,

Thou shouldest me never see.

Now well is me that ye be here,

My heart is out of wo;

Dame, he said, be merry and glad,

And thank my brethren two.

Hereof to speak, said Adam Bell,

I wis it is no boot;

The meat that we must sup withall,

It runneth yet on foot.

Then went they down into a launde,

These noble archers three,

Each of them slew a hart of Greece,

The best that they could see.

Have here the best, Alice, my wife,

Said William of Cloudeslie,

Because ye boldly stood by me

When I was slain full nie.