To one hole only, needs must be
In peril when ’tis his to flee.
One lover not enough
And so a damsel fair, ywis,
When mistress of the field she is,
And may at will her suitors fain,
Good right hath she their gold to gain,13860
Nay, she would be a fool indeed
Who failed her interest to speed
Through giving all her love to one.
I swear by Saint Lifard of Meun
The fool doth all her ’vantage lose
Who one from out the crowd doth choose.
A captive she consents to be
And falleth most deservedly
To grief and misery a prey,
For that on one she cast away13870
Her heart. If he abandon her,
Where shall she find a comforter?
For if a woman holdeth fast
To one, his love will soon be past,
And in the end, poor wretch, she’s left
Of friends, of goods, of hope, bereft.
LXXIII
This tells how Dido, mighty Queen
Of Carthage, racked with sorrow keen
For that great love she suffered through
Æneas, with a sword-thrust slew13890
Herself, and how fair Phillis won
A cruel death through Demophon.
Dido great queen of Carthage, strove
Vainly to keep Æneas’ love,
