|
© Librarius All rights reserved. |
Thus held him ech of other wel apayed, | |
That al the world ne mighte it bet amende; | |
And, on the morwe, whan they were arayed, | |
Ech to his owene nedes gan entende. | |
425 | But Troilus, though as the fyr he brende |
For sharp desyr of hope and of plesaunce, | |
He not forgat his goode governaunce. |
But in him-self with manhod gan restreyne | |
Ech rakel dede and ech unbrydled chere, | |
430 | That alle tho that liven, sooth to seyne, |
Ne sholde han wist, by word or by manere, | |
What that he mente, as touching this matere. | |
From every wight as fer as is the cloude | |
He was, so wel dissimulen he koude. |
435 | And al the whyl which that I yow devyse, |
This was his lyf; with al his fulle might, | |
By day he was in Martes high servyse, | |
This is to seyn, in armes as a knight; | |
And for the moore part, the longe night | |
440 | He lay, and thoughte how that he mighte serve |
His lady best, hir thank for to deserve. |
Nil I nought swere, although he lay softe, | |
That in his thought he nas sumwhat disesed, | |
Ne that he tornede on his pilwes ofte, | |
445 | And wolde of that him missed han ben sesed; |
But in swich cas men is nought alwey plesed, | |
For ought I woot, no more than was he; | |
That kan I deme of possibilitee. |
But certeyn is, to purpos for to go, | |
450 | That in this whyle, as writen is in geste, |
He say his lady somtyme; and also | |
She with him spak, whan that she dorste or leste, | |
And by hir bothe avys, as was the beste, | |
Apoynteden ful warly in this nede, | |
455 | So as they dorste, how they wolde procede. |
But it was spoken in so short a wyse, | |
In swich awayt alwey, and in swich fere, | |
Lest any wight devynen or devyse | |
Wolde of hem two, or to it leye an ere, | |
460 | That al this world so leef to hem ne were |
As that Cupido wolde hem grace sende | |
To maken of hir speche aright an ende. |
But thilke litel that they spake or wroughte, | |
His wyse goost took ay of al swich hede, | |
465 | It semed hir, he wiste what she thoughte |
Withouten word, so that it was no nede | |
To bidde him ought to done, or ought forbede; | |
For which she thought that love, al come it late, | |
Of alle joye hadde opened hir the yate. |
470 | And shortly of this proces for to pace, |
So wel his werk and wordes he bisette, | |
That he so ful stood in his lady grace, | |
That twenty thousand tymes, or she lette, | |
She thonked God she ever with him mette; | |
475 | So koude he him governe in swich servyse, |
That al the world ne might it bet devyse. |
For why she fond him so discreet in al, | |
So secret, and of swich obeisaunce, | |
That wel she felte he was to hir a wal | |
480 | Of steel, and sheld from every displesaunce; |
That, to ben in his gode governaunce, | |
So wys he was, she was no more afered, | |
I mene, as fer as oughte ben requered. |
Next: From Troilus and Criseyde, Book III, lines 484-546: Troilus prays to Apollo |