Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.djvu/71

 I would withstand, with bow in hand, To grieve them as I might, And you to save; as women have From death men many one: For, in my mind, of all mankind I love but you alone.

He. Yet take good hede; for ever I drede That ye could not sustain The thorny ways, the deep vallèys, The snow, the frost, the rain, The cold, the heat; for dry or wete, We must lodge on the plain; And, us above, no other roof But a brake bush or twain: Which soon should grieve you, I believe; And ye would gladly than That I had to the green-wood go, Alone, a banished man.

She. Sith I have here been partynere With you of joy and bliss, I must alsò part of your woe Endure, as reason is: Yet I am sure of one pleasùre, And shortly it is this— That where ye be, me seemeth, pardé, I could not fare amiss. Without more speech I you beseech That we were shortly gone; For, in my mind, of all mankind I love but you alone.