These thre ladies, al of on entent, Thre goostly gyftes, hevynly, and devyne, Unto the kyng anon they dyd present; And to his hignesse they dyd anon enclyne, And what they weren pleynly to determyne; Grace gaf hym first at his comynge, Two riche gyftes, sciens and cunnynge. [Sidenote: Intende prospere procede et regna.] Nature gaf hym eke strengthe, and fayrnesse, For to be lovyd and dred of every wight; Fortune gaf hym eke prosperite, and richesse; With this scripture aperyng in ther sight, To hym applied of verey due right, "First undirstonde and wilfully procede, And longe to regne," the scripture seide in dede. This is to mene, who so undirstondith aright, Thow shalt be fortune have long prosperite; And be nature thow shalt have strengthe, and myght, Forth to procede in long felicite; And grace also hath grauntyd unto the, Vertuously longe in thi roiall citee, With septre and crowne to regne in equyte. On the right hand of these Empresses, Stode thir[171] maydenys verey celestialle; Like Phebus bemys shone there golden tresses, Upon there hedes ech havyng a crownalle, Of port and chere semyng immortalle: In sight transsendyng alle erthely creatures, So angelik they weren of there figures. [Footnote 171: sevyn.] Al clad in white, in tokene of clennesse, Liche pure virgynes as in there ententys, Schewynge outward an hevenly fresshe brightnesse; Stremyd with sonnys weren alle there garmentys, Aforne provyded for pure innocentys: Most colombyne of chere and of lokyng, Meekly roos up at the comyng of the kyng. They had on bawdrikes al on saphire hewe, Goynge outward gan the kyng salue, Hym presentyng with ther gyftes newe, Lik as thei[172] thought it was to them due; Whiche gostly giftes, here in ordre suwe, Down descendyng as silver dewe from hevene, Al grace includyd[173] withinne the giftes sewene. [Footnote 172: them.] [Footnote 173: include.] These riall giftes ben of vertu most Goostly corages, most soveraygnely delite, The[174] giftes callyd of the Holy Goost, Outward figuryd be seven dowys white; Seyenge[175] to hym, lik as clerkes write, "God the fulfille with intelligence And with a spirit of goostly sapience [Footnote 174: these.] [Footnote 175: And seyyng.] [Sidenote: Impleat te Deus sp'u sapiciencie et intellectus sp'u consilii et fortitudinis sciencie et pietatis et sp'u timoris Domin'.] God sende also to thi moost availe, The to preserve from alle hevynesse; A spirit of strenghthe, and of good counsaile, Of cunnyng, drede, pite, and of lownesse:" Thus thise ladies gan there gyftes dresse, Graciously at there out comyng, Be influence light upon the kyng. These Empresses hadde on there left syde, Othere vij virgines, pure and clene, Be attendaunce continually to abyde, Al clad in whit, smete ful of sterrers shene; And to declare what they wolde mene, Unto the kyng with fulle gret reverence, These weren there gyftes shortly in sentence;