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| 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 |