That servis vnto loue, as ay is dewe,

Most qmonly has ay his obseruance,

And of thaire sleuth tofore have repentance.

XLVII.

Thus maist thou seyne yt myn effectis grete,
Vnto the quhich ze aught and maist weye,
No lyte offense to sleuth is forget,

And therefore in this wise to thame seye,
As I the here have bid, and conueye
The matere all the better tofore said,
Thus sall on the my charge bene laid.

XLVIII.

i Say on than, Quhare is becummyn for schame The songis new, the fresch carolis and dance,

flowers put forth and birds sing on the trees, and gyn or begin to pair, and renew or increase their kind.

The following verses in this and the next stanza are very obscure. i Say on than.] When you descend to earth again. "What is 66 now become of the songs, carols, and dances, the tournaments and "feats of gallantry, that whilom were so frequent amongst you ?”— This complaint of Venus leads to conjecture, that the time here mentioned might have been immediately on the death of King Henry V. whose wars in France, though glorious, had been disastrous both to France and England, and particularly to the nobility

The lusty lyf, the mony change of game,
The fresche aray, the lusty contenance,
The besy awayte, the hertly obseruance
That quhilum was amongis thame so ryf,
Bid thame repent in tyme, and mend thaire lyf.

XLIX.

Or I sall, with my fader old Saturne,

And wt alhale oure hevinly alliance,

Our glad aspectis from thame writhe and turne,
That all the warld sall waile thaire governance,
Bid thame betyme, yt thai haue repentance,
And thaire hertis hale renew my lawe,
And I my hand fro beting sall wtdrawe.

L.

This is to say, contynew in my seruise,
Worschip my law, and my name magnifye,

of both kingdoms. Few families but what had been thrown into mourning by those bloody wars. This was not, therefore, the era of gallantry, or of the festivals of Venus.

Without such occasional allusion, the complaint of Venus seems to be unnatural, and rather an excrescence on the poem.

That am zour hevin and zour paradise, And I zour confort here sall multiplye, And, for zoure meryt here perpetualye, Ressaue I sall zour saulis of my grace,

To lyve wt me as goddis in this place.

THE

KING'S QUAIR.

CANTO IV.

HE IS CONDUCTED TO THE PALACE OF MINERVA.

I.

W Thumble thank, and all the reverence
That feble wit and conyng may atteyne,

I tuke my leve; and from hir presence
Gude Hope and I togider both tueyne
Departit are, and schortly for to seyne
He hath me led redy wayis ryt

Vnto Minerve's Palace faire and bryt.

II.

Quhare as 1 fand, full redy at the zate,
The maister portare, callit Pacience,
That frely lete vs in, vnquestionate,

And there we sawe the perfyt excellence,

* The said renewe, the state, the reuerence, The strenth, the beautee, and the ordour digne, Off hir court-riall, noble and benigne.

III.

And straught vnto the presence sodeynly
Off dame Minerue, the pacient goddesse,
Gude Hope my gyde led me redily,

To quhom anon, wt dredefull humylnesse
Off my cummyng, the cause I gan expresse,
And all the processe hole, vnto the end,
Off Venus charge, as likit her to send.

IV.

Off quhich ryt thus hir ansuere was in bref:
My son, I have wele herd, and vnderstond,
Be thy reherse, the mater of thy gref,
And thy request to procure, and to' fond
Off thy penance sum confort at my hond,
Be counsele of thy lady Venus clere,
To be with hir thyne help in this matere.

k The said renewe.] This must surely be an error in the copy, as it appears to be unintelligible.

To fond.] To find of thy penance some comfort from me.