Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/183

Fair-Welcome, who hath been my friend,
Doomed (for that crime alone) to spend
Long days in durance, there to be
The prisoner of foul Jealousy?4430
Great thanks I owe that generous youth,
By whose kind courtesy forsooth
I passed the hedge and won a kiss
From that fair rose—the crown of bliss.
Ne’er from my mouth one single word
Shall ’gainst the God of Love be heard;
But I unceasingly will bless
And thank Fair-Hope and Idleness
For all the gentle courtesy
And grace their hands have shown to me.4440
But Love has his promise. No! ’tis my duty while I live.
That unto martyrdom I give
My body, but still hope to gain
The comfort Love hath promised; fain
Were I thereof, for ’tis the thing
Would once again make joyance spring
Within me. His sweet tenderness
To me these words did once address:
“Thy service willingly I take,
And will of thee a master make4450
In love, if thou oppose me not,
But long delays must be, God wot,
For fortune cometh not in haste,
And pain and suffering must thou taste
Ere thou attain’st the end;” and so
Thus speaking word for word, did show
The love he bare to me.
And now
My one desire it is to bow