Melting in teares, then gan shee thus lament;
"The wretched woman, whom unhappy howre
Hath now made thrall to your commandement,
Before that angry Heavens list to lowre,
And fortune false betraide me to your powre,
Was, (O what now availeth that I was!)
Borne the sole daughter of an emperour;
He that the wide west under his rule has,
And high hath set his throne where Tiberis doth pas.
"He, in the first flowre of my freshest age, Betrothed me unto the onely haire
Of a most mighty king, most rich and sage;
Was never prince so faithfull and so faire,
Was never prince so meeke and debonaire!
But, ere my hoped day of spousall shone,
My dearest lord fell from high honours staire
Into the hands of hys accursed fone,
And cruelly was slaine; that shall I ever mone!
"His blessed body, spoild of lively breath,
Was afterward, I know not how, convaid,
And fro me hid; of whose most innocent death
When tidings came to mee unhappy maid,
O, how great sorrow my sad soule assaid;
Then forth I went his woeful corse to find,
And many years throughout the world I straid,
A virgin widow; whose deepe-wounded mind
With love long time did languish, as the striken hind.
"At last it chaunced this proud Sarazin
To meete me wandring; who perforce me led
With him away; but yet could never win
The fort, that ladies hold in soveraigne dread.
There lies he now with foule dishonor dead,
Who, while he livde, was called proud Sansfoy,
The eldest of three brethren; all three bred
Of one bad sire, whose youngest is Sansioy; [sloy.
And twixt them both was born the bloudy bold San-
"In this sad plight, friendlesse, unfortunate, Now miserable I Fidessa dwell,
Craving of you, in pitty of my state,
To doe none ill, if please ye not doe well."
He in great passion all this while did dwell,
More busying his quicke eies, her face to view,
Then his dull eares, to heare what shee did tell;
And said, "Faire lady, hart of flint would rew
The undeserved woes and sorrowes which ye shew.
"Henceforth in safe assuraunce may ye rest,
Having both found a new friend you to aid,
And lost an old foe that did you molest:
Better new friend then an old foe is said."
With chaunce of chear the seeming-simple maid
Let fal her eien, as shamefast, to the earth,
And yeelding soft, in that shee nought gainsaid.
So forth they rode, he feining seemely merth,
And shee coy lookes: so dainty, they say, maketh
derth.
Long time they thus together traveiled;
Til, weary of their way, they came at last
Where grew too goodly trees, that faire did spred
Their armes abroad, with gray mosse overcast;
And their greene leaves, trembling with every blast,
Made a calme shadow far in compasse round:
The fearefull shepherd, often there aghast,
Under them never sat, ne wont there sound
His merry oaten pipe; but shund th' unlucky ground.
But this good knight, soone as he them can spie,
For the coole shade him thither hastly got:
For golden Phoebus, now ymounted hie,
From fiery wheeles of his faire chariot
Hurled his beame so scorching cruel hot,
That living creature mote it not abide;
And his new lady it endureth not.
There they alight, in hope themselves to hide
From the fierce heat, and rest their weary limbs
Faire-seemely pleasaunce each to other makes,
With goodly purposes, there as they sit;
And in his falsed fancy he her takes
To be the fairest wight that lived yit;
Which to expresse, he bends his gentle wit;
And, thinking of those braunches greene to frame
A girlond, for her dainty forehead fit,
He pluckt a bough; out of whose rifte there came
Smal drops of gory bloud, that trickled down the
Therewith a piteous yelling voice was heard,
Crying, "O spare with guilty hands to teare
My tender sides in this rough rynd embard :
But fly, ah! fly far hence away, for feare
Least to you hap, that happened to me heare,
And to this wretched lady, my deare love;
O too deare love, love bought with death too deare!"
Astond he stood, and up his heare did hove;
And with that suddein horror could no member
At last whenas the dreadfull passion
Was overpast, and manhood well awake;
Yet musing at the straunge occasion,
And doubting much his sence, he thus bespake; "What voice of damned ghost from Limbo lake, Or guilefull spright wandring in empty aire, (Both which fraile men doe oftentimes mistake) Sends to my doubtful eares these speaches rare, And rurful plaints, me bidding guiltlesse blood to spare?"
Then,groning deep; "Nor damned ghost," quoth he, "Nor guileful sprite, to thee these words doth speake, But once a man Fradubio, now a tree;
Wretched man, wretched tree! whose nature weake
A cruell witch, her cursed will to wreake,
Hath thus transformd, and plast in open planes,
Where Boreas doth blow full bitter bleake,
And scorching Sunne does dry my secret vaines;
For though a tree I seeme, yet cold and heat me
paines."
"Say on, Fradubio, then, or man or tree,"
Quoth then the knight; "by whose mischievous arts
Art thou mishaped thus, as now I see?
He oft finds med'cine who his griefe imparts;
But double griefs afflict concealing harts;
As raging flames who striveth to suppresse."
"The author then," said he, " of all my smarts,
Is one Duessa, a false sorceresse,
That many errant knights hath brought to wretched
“In prime of youthly yeares, when corage hott The fire of love and ioy of chevalree
First kindled in my brest, it was my lott
To love this gentle lady, whome ye see
Now not a lady, but a seeming tree;
With whome as once I rode accompanyde,
Me chaunced of a knight encountred bee,
That had a like faire lady by his syde;
Lyke a faire lady, but did fowle Duessa hyde;
"Whose forged beauty he did take in hand
All other dames to have exceded farre;
I in defence of mine did likewise stand,
Mine, that did then shine as the morning starre.
So both to batteill fierce arraunged arre;
In which his harder fortune was to fall
Under my speare; such is the dye of warre.
His lady, left as a prise martiall,
Did yield her comely person to be at my call.
"So doubly lov'd of ladies unlike faire,
Th' one seeming such, the other such indeede,
One day in doubt I cast for to compare
Whether in beauties glorie did exceede :
A rosy girlond was the victors meede.
Both seemde to win, and both seemde won to bee;
So hard the discord was to be agreede.
Frælissa was as faire as faire mote bee,
And ever false Duessa seemde as faire as shee.
"The wicked witch, now seeming all this while
The doubtful ballaunce equally to sway,
What not by right, she cast to win by guile;
And, by her hellish science, raisd streight way
A foggy mist that overcast the day,
And a dull blast that breathing on her face
Dimmed her former beauties shining ray,
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