A BRIEF Proem to the Fourth Book prepares us for thetreachery of Fortune to Troilus; from whom she turned awayher bright face, and took of him no heed, “and cast him cleanout of his lady’s grace, and on her wheel she set up Diomede.”Then the narrative describes a skirmish in which the Trojanswere worsted, and Antenor, with many of less note, remained inthe hands of the Greeks. A truce was proclaimed for theexchange of prisoners; and as soon as Calchas heard the news,he came to the assembly of the Greeks, to “bid a boon.” Havinggained audience, he reminded the besiegers how he had comefrom Troy to aid and encourage them in their enterprise; willingto lose all that he had in the city, except his daughter Cressida,whom he bitterly reproached himself for leaving behind. Andnow, with streaming tears and pitiful prayer, he besought themto exchange Antenor for Cressida; assuring them that the daywas at hand when they should have both town and people. Thesoothsayer’s petition was granted; and the ambassadors chargedto negotiate the exchange, entering the city, told their errand toKing Priam and his parliament.
This Troilus was present in the placeWhen asked was for Antenor Cresside;For which to change soon began his face,As he that with the wordes well nigh died;But natheless he no word to it seid;* *saidLest men should his affection espy,With manne’s heart he gan his sorrows drie;* *endure
And, full of anguish and of grisly dread,Abode what other lords would to it say,And if they woulde grant, — as God forbid! —Th’exchange of her, then thought he thinges tway:* *twoFirst, for to save her honour; and what wayHe mighte best th’exchange of her withstand;This cast he then how all this mighte stand.
Love made him alle *prest to do her bide,* *eager to make her stay*And rather die than that she shoulde go;But Reason said him, on the other side,“Without th’assent of her, do thou not so,Lest for thy worke she would be thy foe;And say, that through thy meddling is y-blow* *divulged, blown abroadYour bothe love, where it was *erst unknow.”* *previously unknown*
For which he gan deliberate for the best,That though the lordes woulde that she went,He woulde suffer them grant what *them lest,* *they pleased*And tell his lady first what that they meant;And, when that she had told him her intent,Thereafter would he worken all so blive,* *speedilyThough all the world against it woulde strive.
Hector, which that full well the Greekes heard,For Antenor how they would have Cresseide,Gan it withstand, and soberly answer’d;“Sirs, she is no prisoner,” he said;“I know not on you who this charge laid;But, for my part, ye may well soon him tell,We use* here no women for to sell.” *are accustomed
The noise of the people then upstart at once,As breme* as blaze of straw y-set on fire *violent, furiousFor Infortune* woulde for the nonce *MisfortuneThey shoulde their confusion desire“Hector,” quoth they, “what ghost* may you inspire *spiritThis woman thus to shield, and *do us* lose *cause us to*Dan Antenor? — a wrong way now ye choose, —
“That is so wise, and eke so bold baroun;And we have need of folk, as men may seeHe eke is one the greatest of this town;O Hector! lette such fantasies be!O King Priam!” quoth they, “lo! thus say we,That all our will is to forego Cresseide;”And to deliver Antenor they pray’d.
Though Hector often prayed them “nay,” it was resolved thatCressida should be given up for Antenor; then the parliamentdispersed. Troilus hastened home to his chamber, shut himselfup alone, and threw himself on his bed.
And as in winter leaves be bereft,Each after other, till the tree be bare,So that there is but bark and branch y-left,Lay Troilus, bereft of each welfare,Y-bounden in the blacke bark of care,Disposed *wood out of his wit to braid,* *to go out of his senses**So sore him sat* the changing of Cresseide. *so ill did he bear*
He rose him up, and ev’ry door he shet,* *shutAnd window eke; and then this sorrowful manUpon his bedde’s side adown him set,Full like a dead image, pale and wan,And in his breast the heaped woe beganOut burst, and he to worken in this wise,In his woodness,* as I shall you devise.** *madness **relate
Right as the wilde bull begins to spring,Now here, now there, y-darted* to the heart, *pierced with a dartAnd of his death roareth in complaining;Right so gan he about the chamber start,Smiting his breast aye with his fistes smart;* *painfully, cruellyHis head to the wall, his body to the ground,Full oft he swapt,* himselfe to confound. *struck, dashed
His eyen then, for pity of his heart,Out streameden as swifte welles* tway; *fountainsThe highe sobbes of his sorrow’s smartHis speech him reft; unnethes* might he say, *scarcely“O Death, alas! *why n’ilt thou do me dey?* *why will you notAccursed be that day which that Nature make me die?*Shope* me to be a living creature!” *shaped
Bitterly reviling Fortune, and calling on Love to explain why hishappiness with Cressicla should be thus repealed, Troilusdeclares that, while he lives, he will bewail his misfortune insolitude, and will never see it shine or rain, but will end hissorrowful life in darkness, and die in distress.
“O weary ghost, that errest to and fro!Why n’ilt* thou fly out of the woefulest *wilt notBody that ever might on grounde go?O soule, lurking in this woeful nest!Flee forth out of my heart, and let it brest,* *burstAnd follow alway Cresside, thy lady dear!Thy righte place is now no longer here.
“O woeful eyen two! since your disport* *delightWas all to see Cressida’s eyen bright,What shall ye do, but, for my discomfort,Stande for naught, and weepen out your sight,Since she is quench’d, that wont was you to light?In vain, from this forth, have I eyen twayY-formed, since your virtue is away!
“O my Cresside! O lady sovereignOf thilke* woeful soule that now cryeth! *thisWho shall now give comfort to thy pain?Alas! no wight; but, when my hearte dieth,My spirit, which that so unto you hieth,* *hastenethReceive *in gree,* for that shall ay you serve; *with favour**Forthy no force is* though the body sterve.* *therefore no matter* *die“O ye lovers, that high upon the wheelBe set of Fortune, in good adventure,God lene* that ye find ay** love of steel,<69> *grant **alwaysAnd longe may your life in joy endure!But when ye come by my sepulture,* *sepulchreRemember that your fellow resteth there;For I lov’d eke, though I unworthy were.
“O old, unwholesome, and mislived man,Calchas I mean, alas! what ailed theeTo be a Greek, since thou wert born Trojan?O Calchas! which that will my bane* be, *destructionIn cursed time wert thou born for me!As woulde blissful Jove, for his joy,That I thee hadde where I would in Troy!”
Soon Troilus, through excess of grief, fell into a trance; inwhich he was found by Pandarus, who had gone almostdistracted at the news that Cressida was to be exchanged forAntenor. At his friend’s arrival, Troilus “gan as the snow againstthe sun to melt;” the two mingled their tears a while; thenPandarus strove to comfort the woeful lover. He admitted thatnever had a stranger ruin than this been wrought by Fortune:
“But tell me this, why thou art now so madTo sorrow thus? Why li’st thou in this wise,Since thy desire all wholly hast thou had,So that by right it ought enough suffice?But I, that never felt in my serviceA friendly cheer or looking of an eye,Let me thus weep and wail until I die. <70>
“And over all this, as thou well wost* thy selve, *knowestThis town is full of ladies all about,And, *to my doom,* fairer than suche twelve *in my judgment*As ever she was, shall I find in some rout,* *companyYea! one or two, withouten any doubt:Forthy* be glad, mine owen deare brother! *thereforeIf she be lost, we shall recover another.
“What! God forbid alway that each pleasanceIn one thing were, and in none other wight;If one can sing, another can well dance;If this be goodly, she is glad and light;And this is fair, and that can good aright;Each for his virtue holden is full dear,Both heroner, and falcon for rivere. <71>
“And eke as writ Zausis,<72> that was full wise,The newe love out chaseth oft the old,And upon new case lieth new advice; <73>Think eke thy life to save thou art hold;* *boundSuch fire *by process shall of kinde cold;* *shall grow cold byFor, since it is but casual pleasance, process of nature*Some case* shall put it out of remembrance. *chance
“For, all so sure as day comes after night,The newe love, labour, or other woe,Or elles seldom seeing of a wight,Do old affections all *over go;* *overcome*And for thy part, thou shalt have one of tho* *thoseT’abridge with thy bitter paine’s smart;Absence of her shall drive her out of heart.”
These wordes said he *for the nones all,* *only for the nonce*To help his friend, lest he for sorrow died;For, doubteless, to do his woe to fall,* *make his woe subside*He raughte* not what unthrift** that he said; *cared **follyBut Troilus, that nigh for sorrow died,Took little heed of all that ever he meant;One ear it heard, at th’other out it went.
But, at the last, he answer’d and said,“Friend, This leachcraft, or y-healed thus to be,Were well sitting* if that I were a fiend, *reckedTo traisen* her that true is unto me: *betrayI pray God, let this counsel never the,* *thriveBut do me rather sterve* anon right here, *dieEre I thus do, as thou me wouldest lear!”* *teach
Troilus protests that his lady shall have him wholly hers tilldeath; and, debating the counsels of his friend, declares thateven if he would, he could not love another. Then he points outthe folly of not lamenting the loss of Cressida because she hadbeen his in ease and felicity — while Pandarus himself, thoughhe thought it so light to change to and fro in love, had not donebusily his might to change her that wrought him all the woe ofhis unprosperous suit.
“If thou hast had in love ay yet mischance,And canst it not out of thine hearte drive,I that lived in lust* and in pleasance *delightWith her, as much as creature alive,How should I that forget, and that so blive?* *quicklyO where hast thou been so long hid in mew,*<74> *cageThat canst so well and formally argue!”
The lover condemns the whole discourse of his friend asunworthy, and calls on Death, the ender of all sorrows, to cometo him and quench his heart with his cold stroke. Then he distilsanew in tears, “as liquor out of alembic;” and Pandarus is silentfor a while, till he bethinks him to recommend to Troilus thecarrying off of Cressida. “Art thou in Troy, and hast nohardiment [daring, boldness] to take a woman which that loveththee?” But Troilus reminds his counsellor that all the war hadcome from the ravishing of a woman by might (the abduction ofHelen by Paris); and that it would not beseem him to withstandhis father’s grant, since the lady was to be changed for thetown’s good. He has dismissed the thought of asking Cressidafrom his father, because that would be to injure her fair fame, tono purpose, for Priam could not overthrow the decision of “sohigh a place as parliament;” while most of all he fears to perturbher heart with violence, to the slander of her name — for hemust hold her honour dearer than himself in every case, aslovers ought of right:
“Thus am I in desire and reason twight:* *twistedDesire, for to disturbe her, me redeth;* *counselethAnd Reason will not, so my hearte dreadeth.”* *is in doubt
Thus weeping, that he coulde never ceaseHe said, “Alas! how shall I, wretche, fare?For well feel I alway my love increase,And hope is less and less alway, Pandare!Increasen eke the causes of my care;So well-away! *why n’ ill my hearte brest?* *why will notFor us in love there is but little rest.” my heart break?*
Pandare answered, “Friend, thou may’st for meDo as thee list;* but had I it so hot, *pleaseAnd thine estate,* she shoulde go with me! *rankThough all this town cried on this thing by note,I would not set* all that noise a groat; *valueFor when men have well cried, then will they rown,* *whisperEke wonder lasts but nine nights ne’er in town.
“Divine not in reason ay so deep,Nor courteously, but help thyself anon;Bet* is that others than thyselfe weep; *betterAnd namely, since ye two be all one,Rise up, for, by my head, she shall not go’n!And rather be in blame a little found,Than sterve* here as a gnat withoute wound! *die
“It is no shame unto you, nor no vice,Her to withholde, that ye loveth most;Parauntre* she might holde thee for nice,** *peradventure **foolishTo let her go thus unto the Greeks’ host;Think eke, Fortune, as well thyselfe wost,Helpeth the hardy man to his emprise,And weiveth* wretches for their cowardice. *forsaketh
“And though thy lady would a lite* her grieve, *littleThou shalt thyself thy peace thereafter make;But, as to me, certain I cannot ’lieveThat she would it as now for evil take:Why shoulde then for fear thine hearte quake?Think eke how Paris hath, that is thy brother,A love; and why shalt thou not have another?
“And, Troilus, one thing I dare thee swear,That if Cressida, which that is thy lief,* *loveNow loveth thee as well as thou dost her,God help me so, she will not take agrief* *amissThough thou *anon do boot in* this mischief; *provide a remedyAnd if she willeth from thee for to pass, immediately*Then is she false, so love her well the lass.* *less
“Forthy,* take heart, and think, right as a knight, *thereforeThrough love is broken all day ev’ry law;Kithe* now somewhat thy courage and thy might; *showHave mercy on thyself, *for any awe;* *in spite of any fear*Let not this wretched woe thine hearte gnaw;But, manly, set the world on six and seven, <75>And, if thou die a martyr, go to heaven.”
Pandarus promises his friend all aid in the enterprise; it is agreedthat Cressida shall be carried off, but only with her ownconsent; and Pandarus sets out for his niece’s house, to arrangean interview. Meantime Cressida has heard the news; and,caring nothing for her father, but everything for Troilus, sheburns in love and fear, unable to tell what she shall do.
But, as men see in town, and all about,That women use* friendes to visite, *are accustomedSo to Cresside of women came a rout,* *troopFor piteous joy, and *weened her delight,* *thought to please her*And with their tales, *dear enough a mite,* *not worth a mite*These women, which that in the city dwell,They set them down, and said as I shall tell.
Quoth first that one, “I am glad, truely,Because of you, that shall your father see;”Another said, “Y-wis, so am not I,For all too little hath she with us be.”* *beenQuoth then the third, “I hope, y-wis, that sheShall bringen us the peace on ev’ry side;Then, when she goes, Almighty God her guide!”
Those wordes, and those womanishe thinges,She heard them right as though she thennes* were, *thence; in someFor, God it wot, her heart on other thing is; other placeAlthough the body sat among them there,Her advertence* is always elleswhere; *attentionFor Troilus full fast her soule sought;Withoute word, on him alway she thought.
These women that thus weened her to please,Aboute naught gan all their tales spend;Such vanity ne can do her no ease,As she that all this meane while brenn’dOf other passion than that they wend;* *weened, supposedSo that she felt almost her hearte dieFor woe, and weary* of that company. *weariness
For whiche she no longer might restrainHer teares, they began so up to well,That gave signes of her bitter pain,In which her spirit was, and muste dwell,Rememb’ring her from heav’n into which hellShe fallen was, since she forwent* the sight *lostOf Troilus; and sorrowfully she sight.* *sighed
And thilke fooles, sitting her about,Weened that she had wept and siked* sore, *sighedBecause that she should out of that rout* *companyDepart, and never playe with them more;And they that hadde knowen her of yoreSaw her so weep, and thought it kindeness,And each of them wept eke for her distress.
And busily they gonnen* her comfort *beganOf thing, God wot, on which she little thought;And with their tales weened her disport,And to be glad they her besought;But such an ease therewith they in her wrought,Right as a man is eased for to feel,For ache of head, to claw him on his heel.
But, after all this nice* vanity, *sillyThey took their leave, and home they wenten all;Cressida, full of sorrowful pity,Into her chamber up went out of the hall,And on her bed she gan for dead to fall,In purpose never thennes for to rise;And thus she wrought, as I shall you devise.* *narrate
She rent her sunny hair, wrung her hands, wept, and bewailedher fate; vowing that, since, “for the cruelty,” she could handleneither sword nor dart, she would abstain from meat and drinkuntil she died. As she lamented, Pandarus entered, making hercomplain a thousand times more at the thought of all the joywhich he had given her with her lover; but he somewhatsoothed her by the prospect of Troilus’s visit, and by thecounsel to contain her grief when he should come. ThenPandarus went in search of Troilus, whom he found solitary in atemple, as one that had ceased to care for life:
For right thus was his argument alway:He said he was but lorne,* well-away! *lost, ruined“For all that comes, comes by necessity;Thus, to be lorn,* it is my destiny. *lost, ruined
“For certainly this wot I well,” he said,“That foresight of the divine purveyance* *providenceHath seen alway me to forgo* Cresseide, *loseSince God sees ev’ry thing, *out of doubtance,* *without doubt*And them disposeth, through his ordinance,In their merites soothly for to be,As they should come by predestiny.
“But natheless, alas! whom shall I ’lieve?For there be greate clerkes* many one *scholarsThat destiny through argumentes preve, *proveAnd some say that needly* there is none, *necessarilyBut that free choice is giv’n us ev’ry one;O well-away! so sly are clerkes old,That I n’ot* whose opinion I may hold. <76> *know not
“For some men say, if God sees all beforn,Godde may not deceived be, pardie!Then must it fallen,* though men had it sworn, *befall, happenThat purveyance hath seen before to be;Wherefore I say, that from etern* if he *eternityHath wist* before our thought eke as our deed, *knownWe have no free choice, as these clerkes read.* *maintain
“For other thought, nor other deed also,Might never be, but such as purveyance,Which may not be deceived never mo’,Hath feeled* before, without ignorance; *perceivedFor if there mighte be a variance,To writhen out from Godde’s purveying,There were no prescience of thing coming,
“But it were rather an opinionUncertain, and no steadfast foreseeing;And, certes, that were an abusion,* *illusionThat God should have no perfect clear weeting,* *knowledgeMore than we men, that have *doubtous weening;* *dubious opinion*But such an error *upon God to guess,* *to impute to God*Were false, and foul, and wicked cursedness.* *impiety
“Eke this is an opinion of someThat have their top full high and smooth y-shore, <77>They say right thus, that thing is not to come,For* that the prescience hath seen before *becauseThat it shall come; but they say, that thereforeThat it shall come, therefore the purveyanceWot it before, withouten ignorance.
“And, in this manner, this necessity*Returneth in his part contrary again;* *reacts in the oppositeFor needfully behoves it not to be, direction*That thilke thinges *fallen in certain,* *certainly happen*That be purvey’d; but needly, as they sayn,Behoveth it that thinges, which that fall,That they in certain be purveyed all.
“I mean as though I labour’d me in thisTo inquire which thing cause of which thing be;As, whether that the prescience of God isThe certain cause of the necessityOf thinges that to come be, pardie!Or if necessity of thing comingBe cause certain of the purveying.
“But now *enforce I me not* in shewing *I do not lay stress*How th’order of causes stands; but well wot I,That it behoveth, that the befallingOf thinges wiste* before certainly, *knownBe necessary, *all seem it not* thereby, *though it does not appear*That prescience put falling necessairTo thing to come, all fall it foul or fair.
“For, if there sit a man yond on a see,* *seatThen by necessity behoveth itThat certes thine opinion sooth be,That weenest, or conjectest,* that he sit; *conjecturestAnd, furtherover, now againward yet,Lo! right so is it on the part contrary;As thus, — now hearken, for I will not tarry; —
“I say that if th’opinion of theeBe sooth, for that he sits, then say I this,That he must sitte by necessity;And thus necessity in either is,For in him need of sitting is, y-wis,And, in thee, need of sooth; and thus forsoothThere must necessity be in you both.
“But thou may’st say he sits not thereforeThat thine opinion of his sitting soothBut rather, for the man sat there before,Therefore is thine opinion sooth, y-wis;And I say, though the cause of sooth of thisComes of his sitting, yet necessityIs interchanged both in him and thee.
“Thus in the same wise, out of doubtance,I may well maken, as it seemeth me,My reasoning of Godde’s purveyance,And of the thinges that to come be;By whiche reason men may well y-seeThat thilke* thinges that in earthe fall,** *those **happenThat by necessity they comen all.
“For although that a thing should come, y-wis,Therefore it is purveyed certainly,Not that it comes for it purveyed is;Yet, natheless, behoveth needfullyThat thing to come be purvey’d truely;Or elles thinges that purveyed be,That they betide* by necessity. *happen
“And this sufficeth right enough, certain,For to destroy our free choice ev’ry deal;But now is this abusion,* to sayn *illusion, self-deceptionThat falling of the thinges temporelIs cause of Godde’s prescience eternel;Now truely that is a false sentence,* *opinion, judgmentThat thing to come should cause his prescience.
“What might I ween, an’* I had such a thought, *ifBut that God purveys thing that is to come,For that it is to come, and elles nought?So might I ween that thinges, all and some,That *whilom be befall and overcome,* *have happenedBe cause of thilke sov’reign purveyance, in times past*That foreknows all, withouten ignorance.
“And over all this, yet say I more thereto, —That right as when I wot there is a thing,Y-wis, that thing must needfully be so;Eke right so, when I wot a thing coming,So must it come; and thus the befallingOf thinges that be wist before the tide,* *timeThey may not be eschew’d* on any side.” *avoided
While Troilus was in all this heaviness, disputing with himself inthis matter, Pandarus joined him, and told him the result of theinterview with Cressida; and at night the lovers met, with whatsighs and tears may be imagined. Cressida swooned away, sothat Troilus took her for dead; and, having tenderly laid out herlimbs, as one preparing a corpse for the bier, he drew his swordto slay himself upon her body. But, as God would, just at thatmoment she awoke out of her swoon; and by and by the pairbegan to talk of their prospects. Cressida declared the opinion,supporting it at great length and with many reasons, that therewas no cause for half so much woe on either part. Hersurrender, decreed by the parliament, could not be resisted; itwas quite easy for them soon to meet again; she would bringthings about that she should be back in Troy within a week ortwo; she would take advantage of the constant coming andgoing while the truce lasted; and the issue would be, that theTrojans would have both her and Antenor; while, to facilitateher return, she had devised a stratagem by which, working onher father’s avarice, she might tempt him to desert from theGreek camp back to the city. “And truly,” says the poet, havingfully reported her plausible speech,
And truely, as written well I find,That all this thing was said *of good intent,* *sincerely*And that her hearte true was and kindTowardes him, and spake right as she meant,And that she starf* for woe nigh when she went, *diedAnd was in purpose ever to be true;Thus write they that of her workes knew.
This Troilus, with heart and ears y-sprad,* *all openHeard all this thing devised to and fro,And verily it seemed that he had*The selfe wit;* but yet to let her go *the same opinion*His hearte misforgave* him evermo’; *misgaveBut, finally, he gan his hearte wrest* *compelTo truste her, and took it for the best.
For which the great fury of his penance* *sufferingWas quench’d with hope, and therewith them betweenBegan for joy the amorouse dance;And as the birdes, when the sun is sheen, *brightDelighten in their song, in leaves green,Right so the wordes that they spake y-fere* *togetherDelighten them, and make their heartes cheer.* *glad
Yet Troilus was not so well at ease, that he did not earnestlyentreat Cressida to observe her promise; for, if she came notinto Troy at the set day, he should never have health, honour, orjoy; and he feared that the stratagem by which she would try tolure her father back would fail, so that she might be compelledto remain among the Greeks. He would rather have them stealaway together, with sufficient treasure to maintain them all theirlives; and even if they went in their bare shirt, he had kin andfriends elsewhere, who would welcome and honour them.
Cressida, with a sigh, right in this wiseAnswer’d; “Y-wis, my deare hearte true,We may well steal away, as ye devise,And finde such unthrifty wayes new;But afterward full sore *it will us rue;* *we will regret it*And help me God so at my moste needAs causeless ye suffer all this dread!
“For thilke* day that I for cherishing *that sameOr dread of father, or of other wight,Or for estate, delight, or for wedding,Be false to you, my Troilus, my knight,Saturne’s daughter Juno, through her might,As wood* as Athamante <78> do me dwell *madEternally in Styx the pit of hell!
“And this, on ev’ry god celestialI swear it you, and eke on each goddess,On ev’ry nymph, and deity infernal,On Satyrs and on Faunes more or less,That *halfe goddes* be of wilderness; *demigodsAnd Atropos my thread of life to-brest,* *break utterlyIf I be false! now trow* me if you lest.** *believe **please
“And thou Simois, <79> that as an arrow clearThrough Troy ay runnest downward to the sea,Bear witness of this word that said is here!That thilke day that I untrue beTo Troilus, mine owen hearte free,That thou returne backward to thy well,And I with body and soul sink in hell!”
Even yet Troilus was not wholly content, and urged anew hisplan of secret flight; but Cressida turned upon him with thecharge that he mistrusted her causelessly, and demanded of himthat he should be faithful in her absence, else she must die at herreturn. Troilus promised faithfulness in far simpler and brieferwords than Cressida had used.
“Grand mercy, good heart mine, y-wis,” quoth she;“And blissful Venus let me never sterve,* *dieEre I may stand *of pleasance in degree in a position to rewardTo quite him* that so well can deserve; him well with pleasure*And while that God my wit will me conserve,I shall so do; so true I have you found,That ay honour to me-ward shall rebound.
“For truste well that your estate* royal, *rankNor vain delight, nor only worthinessOf you in war or tourney martial,Nor pomp, array, nobley, nor eke richess,Ne made me to rue* on your distress; *take pityBut moral virtue, grounded upon truth,That was the cause I first had on you ruth.* *pity
“Eke gentle heart, and manhood that ye had,And that ye had, — as me thought, — in despiteEvery thing that *sounded unto* bad, *tended unto, accorded with*As rudeness, and peoplish* appetite, *vulgarAnd that your reason bridled your delight;This made, aboven ev’ry creature,That I was yours, and shall while I may dure.
“And this may length of yeares not fordo,* *destroy, do awayNor remuable* Fortune deface; *unstableBut Jupiter, that of his might may doThe sorrowful to be glad, so give us grace,Ere nightes ten to meeten in this place,So that it may your heart and mine suffice!And fare now well, for time is that ye rise.”
The lovers took a heart-rending adieu; and Troilus, sufferingunimaginable anguish, “withoute more, out of the chamberwent.”