{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/eng/boeb/boeb21.htm","path":"neu/eng/boeb/boeb21.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/boeb/boeb21.htm","text":"BE it right, or wrong, these men among\n \u00a0\u00a0On women do complain;\n Affirming this, how that it is\n \u00a0\u00a0A labour spent in vain\n To love them wele; for never a dele\n \u00a0\u00a0They love a man again:\n For let a man do what he can,\n \u00a0\u00a0Their favour to attain,\n Yet, if a new do them pursue,\n \u00a0\u00a0Their first true lover then\n Laboureth for nought; for from her thought\n \u00a0\u00a0He is a banished man.\nI say not nay, but that all day\n \u00a0\u00a0It is both writ and said\n That woman's faith is, as who saith,\n \u00a0\u00a0All utterly decayed;\n But, nevertheless, right good witn\u00e8ss\n \u00a0\u00a0In this case might be laid,\n That they love true, and contin\u00f9e,\n \u00a0\u00a0Record the Nut-brown Maid:\n Which, when her love came, her to prove,\n \u00a0\u00a0To her to make his moan,\n Would not depart; for in her heart\n \u00a0\u00a0She loved but him alone.\nThen between us let us discuss\n \u00a0\u00a0What was all the manere\n Between them two: we will also\n \u00a0\u00a0Tell all the pain, and fere,\n That she was in. Now I begin,\n \u00a0\u00a0So that ye me answ\u00e8re;\n Wherefore, all ye, that present be\n \u00a0\u00a0I pray you, give an ear.\n I am the knight; I come by night,\n \u00a0\u00a0As secret as I can; p. 130\n Saying,' Alas! thus standeth the case,\n \u00a0\u00a0I am a banished man.'\nSHE\nAnd I your will for to fulfil\n \u00a0\u00a0In this will not refuse;\n Trusting to shew, in word\u00e8s few,\n \u00a0\u00a0That men have an ill use\n (To their own shame) women to blame,\n \u00a0\u00a0And causeless them accuse:\n Therefore to you I answer now,\n \u00a0\u00a0All women to excuse,--\n Mine own heart dear, with you what chere?\n \u00a0\u00a0I pray you, tell anone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nHE\nIt standeth so; a dede is do\n \u00a0\u00a0Whereof great harm shall grow\n My destiny is for to die\n \u00a0\u00a0A shameful death, I trowe; p. 132\n Or else to flee: the one must be.\n \u00a0\u00a0None other way I know,\n But to withdraw as an outlaw,\n \u00a0\u00a0And take me to my bow.\n Wherefore, adieu, my own heart true!\n \u00a0\u00a0None other rede I can:\n For I must to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nO Lord, what is this worldys bliss,\n \u00a0\u00a0That changeth as the moon!\n My summer's day in lusty May\n \u00a0\u00a0Is darked before the noon.\n I hear you say, farewell: Nay, nay,\n \u00a0\u00a0We d\u00e8part not so soon.\n Why say ye so? wheder will ye go?\n \u00a0\u00a0Alas! what have ye done?\n All my welf\u00e0re to sorrow and care\n \u00a0\u00a0Should change, if ye were gone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nI can believe, it shall you grieve,\n \u00a0\u00a0And somewhat you distrain;\n But, afterward, your pain\u00e8s hard\n \u00a0\u00a0Within a day or twain\n Shall soon aslake; and ye shall take\n \u00a0\u00a0Comfort to you again.\n Why should ye ought? for, to make thought\n \u00a0\u00a0Your labour were in vain.\n And thus I do; and pray you to.,\n \u00a0\u00a0As heartily as I can;\n For I must to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nNow, sith that ye have shewed to me\n \u00a0\u00a0The secret of your mind,\n I shall be plain to you again,\n \u00a0\u00a0Like as ye shall me find.\n Sith it is so, that ye will go,\n \u00a0\u00a0I wolle not leave behind;\n Shall never be said, the Nut-brown Maid\n \u00a0\u00a0Was to her love unkind: p. 134\n Make you read\u1ef3, for so am I,\n \u00a0\u00a0Although it were anone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nYet I you rede to take good heed\n \u00a0\u00a0What men will think and say:\n Of young and old it shall be told.,\n \u00a0\u00a0That ye be gone away,\n Your wanton will for to fulfil,\n \u00a0\u00a0In green wood you to play;\n And that ye might from your delight\n \u00a0\u00a0No longer make delay.\n Rather than ye should thus for me\n \u00a0\u00a0Be called an ill wom\u00e0n,\n Yet would I to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nThough it be sung of old and young,\n \u00a0\u00a0That I should be to blame, p. 135\n Theirs be the charge, that speak so large\n \u00a0\u00a0In hurting of my name:\n For I will prove, that, faithful love\n \u00a0\u00a0It is devoid of shame;\n In your distress, and heaviness,\n \u00a0\u00a0To part with you, the same:\n And sure all tho, that do not so,\n \u00a0\u00a0True lovers are they none;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nI counsel you, remember how,\n \u00a0\u00a0It is no maiden's law,\n Nothing to doubt, but to renne out\n \u00a0\u00a0To wood with an outl\u00e0w:\n For ye must there in your hand bear\n \u00a0\u00a0A bow, read\u1ef3 to draw;\n And, as a thief, thus must you live,\n \u00a0\u00a0Ever in dread and awe;\n Whereby to you great harm might grow:\n \u00a0\u00a0Yet had I lever than, p. 136\n That I had to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nI think not nay, but as ye say,\n \u00a0\u00a0It is no maiden's lore;\n But love may make me for your sake,\n \u00a0\u00a0As I have said before,\n To come on foot, to hunt, and shoot\n \u00a0\u00a0To get us meat in store;\n For so that I your company\n \u00a0\u00a0May have, I ask no more:\n From which to part, it maketh my heart\n \u00a0\u00a0As cold as any stone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nFor an outl\u00e0w this is the law,\n \u00a0\u00a0That men him take and bind;\n Without pit\u1ef3, hang\u00e8d to be,\n \u00a0\u00a0And waver with the wind. p. 137\n If I had nede, (as God forbede!)\n \u00a0\u00a0What rescue could ye find?\n Forsooth, I trow, ye and your bow\n \u00a0\u00a0For fear would draw behind:\n And no mervayle: for little avail\n \u00a0\u00a0Were in your counsel then:\n Wherefore I will to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nRight well know ye, that women be\n \u00a0\u00a0But feeble for to fight;\n No womanhede it is indeed\n \u00a0\u00a0To be bold as a knight:\n Yet, in such fear if that ye were\n \u00a0\u00a0With enemies day or night,\n I would withstand, with bow in hand,\n \u00a0\u00a0To greve them as I might,\n And you to save; as women have\n \u00a0\u00a0From death men many a one:\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nYet take good hede; for ever I drede\n \u00a0\u00a0That ye could not sustain\n The thorny ways, the deep vall\u00e8ys,\n \u00a0\u00a0The snow, the frost, the rain,\n The cold, the heat: for dry, or wet,\n \u00a0\u00a0We must lodge on the plain;\n And, us above, none other roof\n \u00a0\u00a0But a brake bush, or twain;\n Which soon should grieve you, I believe,\n \u00a0\u00a0And ye would gladly then\n That I had to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nSith I have here been partyn\u00e8re\n \u00a0\u00a0With you of joy and bliss,\n I must als\u00f2 part of your woe\n \u00a0\u00a0Endure, as reason is:\n Yet am I sure of one pleas\u00f9re;\n \u00a0\u00a0And, shortly, it is this:\n That, where ye be, me seemeth, pard\u00e8,\n \u00a0\u00a0I could not fare amiss. p. 139\n Without more speech, I you beseech\n \u00a0\u00a0That we were soon agone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nIf ye go thyder, ye must consider,\n \u00a0\u00a0When ye have lust to dine,\n There shall no meat be for you gete,\n \u00a0\u00a0Nor drink, beer, ale, nor wine.\n No shet\u00e8s clean, to lie between,\n \u00a0\u00a0Made of thread and twine;\n None other house, but leaves and boughs,\n \u00a0\u00a0To cover your head and mine;\n O mine heart sweet, this evil di\u00e8te\n \u00a0\u00a0Should make you pale and wan;\n Wherefore I will to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nAmong the wild dere, such an arch\u00e8re,\n \u00a0\u00a0As men say that ye be, p. 140\n Ne may not fail of good vit\u00e0yle,\n \u00a0\u00a0Where is so great plent\u1ef3:\n And water clear of the ryv\u00e9re\n \u00a0\u00a0Shall be full sweet to me;\n With which in hele I shall right wele\n \u00a0\u00a0Endure, as ye shall see;\n And, or we go, a bed or two\n \u00a0\u00a0I can provide anone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nLo! yet, before, ye must do more,\n \u00a0\u00a0If ye will go with me:\n As cut your hair up by your ear,\n \u00a0\u00a0Your kirtle by the knee;\n With bow in hand, for to withstand\n \u00a0\u00a0Your enemies, if need be:\n And this same night before day-light,\n \u00a0\u00a0To wood-ward will I flee.\n If that ye will all this fulfil,\n \u00a0\u00a0Do it shortly as ye can p. 141\n Else will I to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nI shall as now do more for you\n \u00a0\u00a0Than 'longeth to womanhede;\n To shorte my hair, a bow to bear,\n \u00a0\u00a0To shoot in time of need.\n O my sweet mother, before all other\n \u00a0\u00a0For you I have most drede:\n But now, adieu! I must ensue,\n \u00a0\u00a0Where fortune doth me lead.\n All this make ye: Now let us flee;\n \u00a0\u00a0The day cometh fast upon;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nNay, nay, not so; ye shall not go,\n \u00a0\u00a0And I shall tell ye why,--\n Your appetite is to be light\n \u00a0\u00a0Of love, I wele espy: p. 142\n For, like as ye have said to me,\n \u00a0\u00a0In like wise hardely\n Ye would answ\u00e8re whosoever it were\n \u00a0\u00a0In way of compan\u1ef3.\n It is said of old, Soon hot, soon cold\n \u00a0\u00a0And so is a wom\u00e0n.\n Wherefore I to the wood will go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nIf ye take heed, it is no need\n \u00a0\u00a0Such words to say by me;\n For oft ye prayed, and long assayed,\n \u00a0\u00a0Or I you loved, pard\u00e8:\n And though that I of ancestry\n \u00a0\u00a0A baron's daughter be,\n Yet have you proved how I you loved\n \u00a0\u00a0A squire of low degree;\n And ever shall, whatso befall;\n \u00a0\u00a0To die therefore anone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nA baron's child to be beguiled!\n \u00a0\u00a0It were a curs\u00e8d dede;\n To be fel\u00e0we with an outl\u00e0we!\n \u00a0\u00a0Almighty God forbede!\n Yet better were, the poor squy\u00e8re\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone to forest yede,\n Than ye should say another day,\n \u00a0\u00a0That, by my curs\u00e8d dede,\n Ye were betrayed: Wherefore, good maid,\n \u00a0\u00a0The best rede that I can,\n Is, that I to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nWhatever befall, I never shall\n \u00a0\u00a0Of this thing you upbraid:\n But if ye go, and leave me so,\n \u00a0\u00a0Then have ye me betrayed.\n Remember you wele, how that ye dele;\n \u00a0\u00a0For, if ye, as ye said,\n Be so unkind, to leave behind,\n \u00a0\u00a0Your love, the Nut-brown Maid, p. 144\n Trust me trul\u1ef3, that I shall die\n \u00a0\u00a0Soon after ye be gone;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nIf that ye went, ye should repent;\n \u00a0\u00a0For in the forest now\n I have purvayed me of a maid,\n \u00a0\u00a0Whom I love more than you;\n Another fayr\u00e8re, than ever ye were,\n \u00a0\u00a0I dare it wele avow;\n And of you both each should be wroth\n \u00a0\u00a0With other, as I trow:\n It were mine ease, to live in peace;\n \u00a0\u00a0So will I, if I can;\n Wherefore I to the wood will go,\n \u00a0\u00a0Alone, a banished man.\nThough in the wood I understood\n \u00a0\u00a0Ye had a paramour, p. 145\n All this may nought remove my thought,\n \u00a0\u00a0But that I will be your:\n And she shall find me soft and kind,\n \u00a0\u00a0And courteys every hour;\n Glad to fulfil all that she will\n \u00a0\u00a0Command me to my power:\n For had ye, lo! an hundred mo,\n \u00a0\u00a0Of them I would be one;\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nMine own dear love, I see the proof\n \u00a0\u00a0That ye be kind and true;\n Of maid, and wife, in all my life,\n \u00a0\u00a0The best that ever I knew.\n Be merry and glad, be no more sad,\n \u00a0\u00a0The case is chang\u00e8d new;\n For it were ruth, that, for your truth,\n \u00a0\u00a0Ye should have cause to rue.\n Be not dismayed, whatsoever I said\n \u00a0\u00a0To you, when I began; p. 146\n I will not to the green wood go,\n \u00a0\u00a0I am no banished man.\nThese tidings be more glad to me,\n \u00a0\u00a0Than to be made a queen,\n If I were sure they should endure:\n \u00a0\u00a0But it is often seen,\n When men will break promise, they speak\n \u00a0\u00a0The word\u00e8s on the splene.\n Ye shape some wile me to beguile,\n \u00a0\u00a0And steal from me, I ween:\n Then, were the case worse than it was,\n \u00a0\u00a0And I more wo-begone:\n For, in my mind, of all mankind\n \u00a0\u00a0I love but you alone.\nYe shall not nede further to drede;\n \u00a0\u00a0I will not dispar\u00e0ge\n You, (God defend!) sith ye descend\n \u00a0\u00a0Of so great a line\u00e0ge. p. 147\n Now understand; to Westmoreland,\n \u00a0\u00a0Which is mine heritage,\n I will you bring; and with a ring,\n \u00a0\u00a0By way of marri\u00e0ge\n I will you take, and lady make,\n \u00a0\u00a0As shortly as I can:\n Thus have you won an erly's son,\n \u00a0\u00a0And not a banished man.\nAUTHOR\nHere may ye see, that women be\n \u00a0\u00a0In love, meek, kind, and stable;\n Let never man reprove them then,\n \u00a0\u00a0Or call them vari\u00e0ble;\n But, rather, pray God that we may\n \u00a0\u00a0To them be comfort\u00e0ble;\n Which sometime proveth such, as he loveth,\n \u00a0\u00a0If they be charit\u00e0ble.\n For sith men would that women should\n \u00a0\u00a0Be meek to them each one;\n Much more ought they to God obey,\n \u00a0\u00a0And serve but Him alone.","title":"A Book of Old English Ballads: The Nut-brown Maid","type":"page"}