But still among, to embellish her coloúr,
The rose was meynt 1 aye with the lily flow'r ;
And though the rose some deal gan to pace,
Yet still the lily bideth in his place,

Till nature made thèm eft again to meet.~
For now she brent, and now she gan to cold.
And aye
the more she gan behold

This Jason young, the more she gan desire
To look on him; so was she set a-fire
With his beauté, and his seemliness,
And every thing she inly gan impress.
What that she saw, in mind and in thought
She all emprinteth, and forgetteth nought.
For she considereth every circumstance,
Both of his port and his governance;
His sunnish hair, crisped like golden wire,
His knightly look, and his manly cheer, &c.

The first book concludes with the destruction of Troy, by Hercules; the second relates the building of the new city by Priam, the mission of Antenor into Greece, the predatory expedition of Paris, &c. and ends with the landing of the Greeks before Troy. The third book contains the whole history of the siege till the death of Hector; the fourth relates the election of Palamedes as commander of the 1 Mixed.

Greeks, and the deposition of Agamemnon, as also the remainder of the siege, the story of the "horse of brass," and the destruction of the city. The fifth and last book describes the miseries endured by the Greeks on their passage home, and gives the genealogy of "Pirrhus, how his father hight "Peleus," &c. In this book the poet implores the favour of his readers, assuring them that

Though so be that they not ne read

In all this book no rethorikes newe,

Yet this I hope, THAT THEY SHALL FIND ALL

TRUE.

One of the most amusing passages in this poem is contained in the 17th chapter of the second book, and relates to a well known event in the life of Venus. Lydgate thus expresses his indignation against Vulcan,

The smotry smith, this swarte Vulcanus,
That whilom in heart was so jealous
Toward Venus, that was his wedded wife,
Whereof there rose a deadly mortal strife,
When he with Mars gan her first espie,
Of high malice, and cruel false envy',
Through the shining of Phebus' beames bright,
Lying a-bed with Mars her owne knight.

⚫ Smoky, or smutty.

For which in heart he brent as any glede,*
Making the slander all abroad to spread,
And gan thereon falsely for to muse.

And God forbid that any man accuse
FOR SO LITTLE, any woman ever!
Where love is set, hard is to dissever!
For though they do such thing of gentleness,
Pass over lightly, and bear none heaviness,
Lest that thou be to women odious!

And yet this smith, this false Vulcanus,
Albe that he had them thus espied,
Among Paynims yet was he deified!

And, for that he so FALSELY THEM AWOKE,
I have him set last of all my book,

2

Among the gods of false mawmentry, &c.

Upon this occasion, the morals of our poetical monk are so very pliant, that it is difficult to suppose him quite free from personal motives which might have influenced his doctrine. Perhaps he had been incommoded by some intrusive husband, at a

A burning coal. Sax.

• Mahometry, i. c. idolatry. It may be proper to observe, that no part of this passage is to be found in Colonna's original. In general, indeed, Lydgate's is by no means a translation, but a very loose paraphrase.

moment when he felt tired of celibacy, and wished to indulge in a temporary relaxation from the severity of monastic discipline.1

The picture of Venus is thus curiously described,

And she stant naked in the wavy sea,
Environ her with goddesses three,
That be assigned, with busy attendance,
To wait on her, and do her observance.
And flowers freshe, blue, red, and white,
Be her about, the more for to delight.
And on her head she hath a chaplet
Of roses red, full pleasantly y-set,

AND FROM THE HEADE DOWN UNTO HER FOOT,
WITH SUNDRY GUMS AND OINTEMENTES SOOTE
SHE IS ENOINTE, SWEETER FOR TO SMELL.
And all aloft, as these poets tell,

Be doves white, fleeing, and eke sparrows,
And her beside, Cupid with his arrows, &c.

[Book XI. chap. 17.]

Suspecting that Lydgate had borrowed this singular passage from some French paraphrase of Colonna's work, I examined the anonymous translation in the Museum (Bibl. Reg. 16. F. ix.), but could not find any traces of such a deviation from the original.

The following particulars, in the description of Fortune, are rather singular :

And thus this lady, wilful and reckléss,

As she that is froward and perverse

Hath IN HER CELLAR DRINKES FULL DIVERSE.
For she to some, of fraud and of fallace,
Minstreth piment, baum, and hypocras;
And suddenly, when the soote is past,
She of custome can give him a cast,
For to conclude falsly in the fine,
Of better eysell1 and of eager wine;
And corrosives, that fret and pierce deep;
And narcoticks that cause men to sleep, &c.
[Book XI. cap. 1.]

These, it is true, are not very poetical passages, nor are we to expect from Lydgate much liveliness of fancy, or brilliancy of expression. His merit, such as it is, cannot easily be exemplified in short extracts; and is rather likely to find favour in the eyes of the antiquarian, than of the poet. By readers of the former description, the following passages, from the description of Troy, may perhaps be perused with patience.

Aisil, Old Fr.; vinegar. (Vide Tresor de Borel.)