“No other lady shall I see;
Forth must I fare on woeful quest
To dwell where never man may be,
Of beasts and birds to be the guest.
And when ye knaw my soul has rest,
Call then yourselves a parliament,
And choose a king as seems you best.
Do all as this my testament.”
Forth must I fare on woeful quest
To dwell where never man may be,
Of beasts and birds to be the guest.
And when ye knaw my soul has rest,
Call then yourselves a parliament,
And choose a king as seems you best.
Do all as this my testament.”
Then there was wailing in the hall;
Men wept as there were no surcease,
And not a man among them all
Might speak for tears. Upon their knees
They knelt and made their woeful pleas,
Beseeching him he would not go,
Else were they desolate. But, “Cease,”
Answered the king; “it shall be so!”
Men wept as there were no surcease,
And not a man among them all
Might speak for tears. Upon their knees
They knelt and made their woeful pleas,
Beseeching him he would not go,
Else were they desolate. But, “Cease,”
Answered the king; “it shall be so!”
And so his kingdom he forsook;
He had no kirtle and no hood;
A simple palmer’s cloak he took;
No shoes he had, no store of food.
He had no kirtle and no hood;
A simple palmer’s cloak he took;
No shoes he had, no store of food.
[12]
