Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/83

 ANONYMOUS

He. Nay, nay, not so; ye shall not go,

And I shall tell you why Your appetite is to be light

Of love, I well espy: For, right as ye have said to me,

In likewise hardily Ye would answcre whosoever it were,

In way of company: It is said of old, Soon hot, soon cold;

And so is a woman: Wherefore I to the wood will go,

Alone, a banished man.

She. If ye take heed, it is no need

Such words to say to me ; For oft ye prayed, and long assayed,

Or I loved you, parde And though that 1 of ancestry

A baron 's daughter be, Yet have you proved how I you loved,

A squire of low degree, And ever shall, whatso befall,

To die therefore anone; For, in my mind, of all mankind

I love but you alone.

He. A baron's child to be beguiled,

It were a cursed deed' To be felaw with an outlaw

Almighty God forbcde r Yet better were the poor squyere Alone to forest ycde yedc] should go.

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