Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.djvu/71

       I would withstand, with bow in hand,
         To grieve them as I might,
       And you to save; as women have
         From death men many one:
       For, in my mind, of all mankind
         I love but you alone.

He. Yet take good hede; for ever I drede
         That ye could not sustain
       The thorny ways, the deep vallèys,
         The snow, the frost, the rain,
       The cold, the heat; for dry or wete,
         We must lodge on the plain;
       And, us above, no other roof
         But a brake bush or twain:
       Which soon should grieve you, I believe;
         And ye would gladly than
       That I had to the green-wood go,
         Alone, a banished man.

She. Sith I have here been partynere
         With you of joy and bliss,
       I must alsò part of your woe
         Endure, as reason is:
       Yet I am sure of one pleasùre,
         And shortly it is this—
       That where ye be, me seemeth, pardé,
         I could not fare amiss.
       Without more speech I you beseech
         That we were shortly gone;
       For, in my mind, of all mankind
         I love but you alone.