Romance of the Rose (Ellis)/Chapter 33
XXXIII
Dan William Lorris when he died,
Had written nothing more beside
The verses thou hast read. But when
A forty years had flitted, then
John Clopinel the end did speed—
Behold his work, which all may read.4320
And, shall I bow then to despair,
Abandoning Hope? ’Fore Heaven I swear
That ne’er shall be, for thus were I
An outcast, and most worthily
Scorned and despised. If hope once fled
My heart, far better were I dead.
But Love declared that he should stay
My steps and be my guide alway,
Where’er I trod. But, after all,
Will Hope prove faithful ? Though men call4330
Uncertainty of Hope
Her courteous, sweet and debonair,
Small wit have they who trust her fair
And specious seeming. Yea, although
Sweet kindness she at times may show
To lovers, other whiles will she
Lure them to deepest misery.
And oftentimes will Hope pretend
One’s love to be, but in the end
Prove false, and many have found her thus.
Most sweet and dear, but treacherous.4540
How many by her wiles have been
Drawn on to love, yet ne’er have seen
Fulfilment. Nothing more she knows
Of what shall hap, than he who throws
The dice, and often those who trust
In Hope’s fair promises are thrust
From highest heaven to deepest hell,
As many a love-lorn wight could tell.
And many a worthy man, alas!
Through her hath seen his best days pass4350
To wreck and ruin. With her can be
Nought certain, for uncertainty.
Alone[errata 1] she lives on. Yet her will
It is, the longing to fulfil
Of those who wait on her. Oh why
Should I then blame her wrathfully?
Yet what avails her help or aid?
Have I gained aught from her that made
My sufferings less? Nowise I trow.
For ne’er I find her promise grow4360
To ripeness, and a promise fair
That doth not fruit in season bear,
Hath little worth; I still remain
As one beneath some curse or bane
That waxeth ever. Danger, Fear,
And Shame and Jealousy draw near
To mock and gibe, while Evil-Tongue
With speech envenomed worketh wrong
To all good men, and dealeth death
On every side with poisonous breath.4370
Fair-Welcome they in prison hold,
To whom my thoughts would I unfold
Freely, and reft of that delight,
God grant me soon to die outright.
Alas! I well-nigh choke with rage
If I but let that hag engage
My thoughts, whose vigilance, from sight
Keepeth Fair-Welcome day and night.
Love’s three gifts
Thereby my woes will mount apace,
Although the God of Love’s sweet grace,4380
Gave me three gifts of sovereign power,
Alas! small help in this dark hour
Are they. Sweet-Thought avails me not,
While of Soft-Speech no chance I’ve got,
And nought can Sweet-Looks do for me;
Unless God help me speedily,
They must to me be lost past doubt.
If dear Fair-Welcome should wear out
His life in dreary prison cell,
Held fast therein by treason fell,4390
He of my death the cause will be,
For never, as I deem, will he
Escape alive. Escape! alas!
Small might have I through such a pass
To bring him. What could my strength do
A fortress-wall to batter through
And draw him forth? My strength is gone
Since that I madly made me one
Of Love’s sworn servants. Idleness
It was, with shame I now confess,4400
That brought my life to this estate,
When she, at my request, the gate
Of this fair garden open threw;
Alas! that she no better knew
Than hearken my insane desire;
Such foolish asking should inspire
Nought but contemptuous scorn, and she
Should have reproved my idiocy—
A madman’s prayer should not be more
Considered than an apple core.4410
And mad was I, and therefore fell
Through her good-nature to the hell
I now endure of sighs and tears,
And doublings, miseries, and fears.
Why reject Reason?
Right well hath Reason understood
My case; ah! why did I her good
And kind advice, then, cast away,
Love to forego? Woe worth the day!
With justice did her lips reprove
The hasty way in which to Love4420
I gave myself; ’twas thence, alas!
My misery grew: could aught surpass
My madness? Could I but forget
The vows my lips have sworn! and yet
What say I? Should I then betray
My master, Love, and cast away
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
My will to his, and thus deserve
His praise. If one of us should swerve4460
From rectitude, alas! ’twere I,
Not Love, who ever faithfully
Keepeth his word; ’tis I alone
My sin and folly must atone
By suffering. But whence cometh this
Malfeasance? I know not, ywis,
To Love he will be faithful
And ne’er shall know; but Love shall have
Me wholly, or to lose or save.
Yea, he may take my well-loved life,
Or give it over unto strife4470
Through hopeless years, I bond thereto
As helpless otherwise to do;
Ere long perchance kind death will come
To end my woes, and call me home.
But if the God of Love, who wears
My heart so hardly, while it cares
Alone to pleasure him, demands
My life, I yield it to his hands.
Or cheerfully will bear what he
Lays on me of calamity.4480
’Tis his to do whate’er he will.
And mine to bend, and suffer still
His yoke. This thing alone I ask,
That whatsoe’er of toil or task
May fall upon me, or if death
Be mine, he let my latest breath
Protect Fair-Welcome, who will make
My sepulchre for friendship’s sake.
Receive, O God of Love, my prayer,
Ere yet I die, for him who ne’er4490
Proved false. The testament
Hear of your liegeman, whose intent
Hath been to serve you well, and who
Hath ne’er unfaithful been to you—
Suffer Fair-Welcome to receive
My heart, nought else have I to leave.