This cruel king this tyranny,
This tyranny did put in ure[633];
Between a day and years two
All men-children he did slew,
Of Christ for to be sure.
XIII
Yet Herod miss’d his cruel prey,
His cruel prey as was God’s will;
Joseph with Mary then did flee;
With Christ to Egypt gone was she
From Israel.
XIV
All the while these tyrànts,
These tyrànts would not convert,
But innocents ying[634]
That lay sucking,
They thrust to the heart.
XV
This Herod sought the children ying,
The children ying, with courage fell,
But in doing this vengeànce
His own son was slain by chance
In Israel.
XVI
Alace! I think the mothers were woe,
The mothers were woe, it was great skill[635]:
What motherly pain
To see them slain
In cradles lying still!