Having thus her mind revealed,
She her letter closed and sealed;
Which, when it came to his hand,
The young man was at a stand.
In her letter she conjured him
For to meet, and well assured him,
Recompence he must afford,
Or dispute it with the sword.
Having read this strange relation,
He was in a consternation;
But, advising with his friend,
He persuades him to attend.
‘Be of courage, and make ready,
Faint heart never won fair lady;
In regard it must be so,
I along with you must go.’
PART III.
SHOWING HOW THEY MET BY APPOINTMENT IN A GROVE, WHERE SHE OBLIGED HIM TO FIGHT OR WED HER.
Early on a summer’s morning,
When bright Phoebus was adorning
Every bower with his beams,
The fair lady came, it seems.
At the bottom of a mountain,
Near a pleasant crystal fountain,
There she left her gilded coach,
While the grove she did approach.
Covered with her mask, and walking,
There she met her lover talking
With a friend that he had brought;
So she asked him whom he sought.
‘I am challenged by a gallant,
Who resolves to try my talent;
Who he is I cannot say,
But I hope to show him play.’