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, like as ye have said to me,
In likewise hardily
Ye would answere whosoever it were,
In way of company.
It is said of old, Soon hot, soon cold;
And so is a womàn.
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
She. If ye take heed, it is no need
Such words to say by me;
For oft ye prayed, and long assayed,
Or I loved you, pardè:
And though that I 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 beguil'd!
It were a cursèd deed;
To be felàwe with an outlàw!
Almighty God forbid!
Yet better were the poor squyère
Alone to forest yede,
Than ye shall say another day,
That, by my cursèd rede,
Ye were betrayed: Wherefore, good maid,
The best rede that I can,
Is, that I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
She. Whatever befall, I never shall
Of this thing be upbraid:
But if ye go, and leave me so,
Then have ye me betrayed.
Remember you well, how that ye deal;
For, if ye, as ye said,
Be so unkind, to leave behind,
Your love, the Nut-brown Maid,
Trust me truly, that I shall die
Soon after ye be gone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
He. If that ye went, ye should repent;
For in the forest now
I have purvayed me of a maid,
Whom I love more than you;
Another more fair than ever ye were,
I dare it well avow;
And of you both each should be wroth
With other, as I trow:
It were mine ease to live in peace;
So will I, if I can;
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
She. Though in the wood I understood
Ye had a paramour,
All this may nought remove my thought,
But that I will be yours:
And she shall find me soft and kind,
And courteous every hour;
Glad to fulfil all that she will
Command me to my power:
For had ye, lo, an hundred mo,
Yet would I be that one,
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
He. Mine own dear love, I see the prove
That ye be kind and true;
Of maid, and wife, in all my life,
The best that ever I knew.
Be merry and glad, be no more sad,
The case is changèd new;
For it were ruth, that, for your truth,
Ye should have cause to rue.
Be not dismayed; whatsoever I said
To you when I began;
I will not to the green-wood go;
I am no banished man.
She. These tidings be more glad to me,
Than to be made a queen,
If I were sure they should endure;
But it is often seen,
When men will break promise, they speak
The wordis on the spleen.
Ye shape some wile me to beguile,
And steal from me, I ween:
Then were the case worse than it was,
And I more wobegone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
He. Ye shall not need further to dread;
I will not disparàge
You (God defend), sith ye descend
Of so great lineàge.
Now understand; to Westmoreland,
Which is my heritage,
I will you bring; and with a ring,
By way of marriàge
I will you take, and lady make,
As shortly as I can.
Thus have you won an Erle's son,
And not a banished man.
Here may ye see, that woman be
In love, meek, kind, and stable:
Let never man reprove them than,
Or call them variable;
But rather pray God that we may
To them be comfortable;
Which sometimes proveth such, as He loveth,
If they be charitable.
For sith men would that women should
Be meek to them each one;
Much more ought they to God obey,
And serve but Him alone.