"Now assay," said Sir Ector unto Sir Kay. And anon he pulled at the sword with all his might; but it would not be. 80 "Now shall ye essay," said Sir Ector to Arthur.

"I will well," said Arthur, and pulled it out easily. And therewithal Sir Ector knelt down to the earth, and Sir Kay.

And so anon was the coronation made. And there was he sworn unto his lords and the commons for to be a true king, 85 to stand with true justice from thenceforth the days of this life.

SIR THOMAS WYATT

How the Lover Perisheth in his Delight, as the Fly in the Fire

Some fowls there be that have so perfect sight

Summer is come, for every spray now springs;
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale;
The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;
The fishes flete with new repairèd scale;

The adder all her slough away she slings;
The swift swallow pursueth the flies smale;
The busy bee her honey now she mings.
Winter is worn, that was the flowers' bale:
And thus I see among these pleasant things
Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs!

The Death of Priam

(From translation of the Aeneid, Book II)

Amid the court, under the heaven, all bare,
A great altar there stood, by which there grew
An old laurel tree, bowing thereunto,

Which with his shadow did embrace the gods.
Here Hecuba, with her young daughters all
About the altar swarmed were in vain;

Like doves, that flock together in the storm,

The statues of the gods embracing fast.

But when she saw Priam had taken there

His armour, like as though he had been young:

"What furious thought my wretched spouse," quod she
"Did move thee now such weapons for to wield?
Why hastest thou? This time doth not require
Such succour, ne yet such defenders now:

No, though Hector my son were here again.
Come hither; this altar shall save us all :
Or we shall die together." Thus she said.
Wherewith she drew him back to her, and set
The aged man down in the holy seat.

But lo! Polites, one of Priam's sons,
Escaped from the slaughter of Pyrrhus,

Comes fleeing through the weapons of his foes,
Searching, all wounded, the long galleries

And the void courts; whom Pyrrhus all in rage
Followed fast to reach a mortal wound;

And now in hand, well near strikes with his spear,
Who fleeing forth till he came now in sight
Of his parents, before their face fell down
Yielding the ghost with flowing streams of blood.
Priamus then, although he were half dead,
Might not keep in his wrath, nor yet his words;
But crieth out: "For this thy wicked work,
And boldness eke such thing to enterprise,
If in the heavens any justice be,
That of such things takes any care or keep,
According thanks the gods may yield to thee;
And send thee eke thy just deserved hire,
That made me see the slaughter of my child,
And with his blood defile the father's face.
But he, by whom thou feign'st thyself begot,
Achilles, was to Priam not so stern.

40

WILLIAM TYNDALE

The Beatitudes

1. When he sawe the people, he went up into a mountayne; and when he was set, his diciples cam unto hym.

2. And he openned his mought, and taught them, saynge, 3. Blessed are the poore in sprete, for theirs is the kyng5 dome off heven.

10

4. Blessed are they that morne, for they shalbe comforted. 5. Blessed are the meke, for they shall inheret the erth.

6. Blessed are they which honger and thurst for rightewesnes, for they shalbe filled.

7. Blessed are the mercifull, for they shall obteyne mercy. 8. Blessed are the pure in herte, for they shall se God. 9. Blessed are the maynteyners of peace, for they shalbe called the chyldren of God.

10. Blessed are they which suffre persecucion for right15 ewesnes sake, for theirs ys the kyngdome off heven.

11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revyle you, and persecute you, and shall falsly say all manner of yvell saynges agaynst you ffor my sake.

12. Reioyce, and be glad, for greate is youre rewarde in 20 heven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before youre dayes.

JOHN LYLY

Queen Elizabeth

(From Euphues and His England)

This queen being deceased, Elizabeth, being of the age of twenty-two years, of more beauty than honor, and yet of more honor than any earthly creature, was called from a prisoner to be a prince, from the castle to the crown, from the 5 fear of losing her head, to be supreme head.

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Touching the beauty of this prince, her countenance, her personage, her majesty, I cannot think that it may be sufficiently commended, when it cannot be too much marveled at ; so that I am constrained to say as Praxitiles did, when he began to paint Venus and her son, who doubted whether the 10 world could afford colors good enough for two such fair faces, and I, whether our tongue can yield words to blaze that beauty, the perfection whereof none can imagine; which seeing it is so, I must do like those that want a clear sight, who, being not able to discern the sun in the sky, are en- 15 forced to behold it in the water. Zeuxis, having before him fifty fair virgins of Sparta whereby to draw one amiable Venus, said that fifty more fairer than those could not minister sufficient beauty to show the goddess of beauty; therefore, being in despair either by art to shadow her, or by imagina- 20 tion to comprehend her, he drew in a table a fair temple, the gates open, and Venus going in so as nothing could be perceived but her back, wherein he used such cunning that Apelles himself, seeing this work, wished that Venus would turn her face, saying that if it were in all parts agreeable to the back, 25 he would become apprentice to Zeuxis, and slave to Venus.

In the like manner fareth it with me, for having all the ladies in Italy, more than fifty hundred, whereby to color Elizabeth, I must say with Zeuxis that as many more will not suffice, and therefore in as great an agony paint her court 30 with her back towards you, for that I cannot by art portray her beauty, wherein, though I want the skill to do it as Zeuxis did, yet viewing it narrowly, and comparing it wisely, you all will say that if her face be answerable to her back, you will like my handicraft and become her handmaids. In the 35 mean season, I leave you gazing until she turn her face, imagining her to be such a one as nature framed, to that end that no art should imitate, wherein she hath proved herself to be exquisite, and painters to be apes.