ELINOURE.
Ah woe bementynge wordes; what wordes can shewe!
Thou limed[22] ryver, on thie linche[23] maie bleede
Champyons, whose bloude wylle wythe thie waterres flowe,
And Rudborne streeme be Rudborne streeme indeede!
Haste, gentle Juga, tryppe ytte oere the meade, 40
To knowe, or wheder we muste waile agayne,
Or wythe oure fallen knyghtes be menged onne the plain.
Soe sayinge, lyke twa levyn-blasted trees,
Or twayne of cloudes that holdeth stormie rayne;
Theie moved gentle oere the dewie mees[24], 45
To where Seyncte Albons holie shrynes remayne.
There dyd theye fynde that bothe their knyghtes were slayne,
Distraughte[25] theie wandered to swollen Rudbornes syde,
Yelled theyre leathalle knelle, sonke ynn the waves, and dyde.
[Footnote 1: Rudborne (in Saxon, red-water), a River near Saint
Albans, famous for the battles there fought between the Houses of
Lancaster and York.]
[Footnote 2: lamenting.]
[Footnote 3: murdering.]
[Footnote 4: faintly.]
[Footnote 5: glistened.]
[Footnote 6: sad complaint.]
[Footnote 7: arrayed, or cased.]