The Duke of Gueldres' Wedding
"O shall I learn to brace a sword,
And brighten up a lance?
I've learned to pull the flowers all day,
All night I've learned to dance!
"O shall I marry a Flemish knight,
And learn a Flemish tongue?
Would I had died an hour ago,
When I was blithe and young?"
Twice the moon and thrice the moon
Has waxed and waned away;
The streets of Gueldres town are braw
With sammet and with say;
And out of every window hang
The crimson squares of silk;
The fountains run with claret wine,
The runnels flow with milk.
The ladies and the knights of France,
How gallantly they ride!
And all in silk and red roses
The fairest is the bride.
"Now welcome, Mary Harcourt,
Thrice welcome, lady mine;
There's not a knight in all the world
Shall be so true as thine.
" There's venison in the aumbry, Mary,
There's claret in the vat.
Come in and dine within the hall
Where once my mother sat."
They had not filled a cup at dine,
A cup but barely four.
When the Duke of Limburg's herald
Came riding to the door.
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