Whych furst made to dystyll and reyne

The gold dew-dropys of speche and eloquence

In-to Englyssh tong, thorow hys excellence.

Explicit.

XXIX. From MS. Trin. R. 3. 19, fol. 25; also in Stowe (ed. 1561). 1. MS. Chausers; Stowe, Chauser. 2. Rethoricion (!). 6. elloquence.

NOTES.

[I. THE TESTAMENT OF LOVE.]

The text is from Thynne's first edition (1532); the later reprints are of inferior value. No MS. of this piece is known. Rejected spellings are given at the bottom of each page. Conjectural emendations are marked by a prefixed obelus (†). In many places, words or letters are supplied, within square brackets, to complete or improve the sense. For further discussion of this piece, see the Introduction.