BALADE. +Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere; +Ester, ley thou thy meknesse al a-doun; 250 +Hyd, Ionathas, al thy frendly manere; +Penalopee, and Marcia Catoun, +Mak of your wyfhod no comparisoun; +Hyde ye your beautes, Isoude and Eleyne, My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne. 255 +Thy faire body, lat hit nat appere, +Lavyne; and thou, Lucresse of Rome toun, +And Polixene, that boghten love so dere, And Cleopatre, with al thy passioun, Hyde ye your trouthe of love and your renoun; 260 And thou, Tisbe, that hast of love swich peyne; My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne. Herro, Dido, Laudomia, alle y-fere, And Phyllis, hanging for thy Demophoun, +And Canace, espyed by thy chere, 265 Ysiphile, betraysed with Jasoun, Maketh of your trouthe neyther boost ne soun; Nor Ypermistre or Adriane, ye tweyne; My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne. This balade may ful wel y-songen be, 270 *As I have seyd erst, by my lady free; *For certeynly, alle these mow nat suffyse *To apperen with my lady in no wyse. *For as the sonne wol the fyr disteyne, *So passeth al my lady sovereyne, 275 That is so good, so fair, so debonaire; I prey to god that ever falle hir faire! +For, nadde comfort been of hir presence, +I had ben deed, withouten any defence, +For drede of Loves wordes and his chere; 280 +As, when tyme is, her-after ye shal here. Behind this god of love, upon the grene, +I saugh cominge of ladyës nyntene +In real habit, a ful esy paas; +And after hem com of women swich a traas, 285 That, sin that god Adam had mad of erthe, The thridde part of mankynd, or the ferthe, +Ne wende I nat by possibilitee, Had ever in this wyde worlde y-be; +And trewe of love thise women were echoon. 290 +Now whether was that a wonder thing or noon, +That, right anoon as that they gonne espye +This flour, which that I clepe the dayesye, +Ful sodeinly they stinten alle at ones, And kneled doun, as it were for the nones, 295 *And songen with o vois, 'Hele and honour *To trouthe of womanhede, and to this flour *That berth our alder prys in figuringe! *Hir whyte coroun berth the witnessinge!' And with that word, a-compas enviroun, 300 +They setten hem ful softely adoun. First sat the god of love, and sith his quene +With the whyte coroun, clad in grene; +And sithen al the remenant by and by, As they were of estaat, ful curteisly; 305 +Ne nat a word was spoken in the place +The mountance of a furlong-wey of space. I kneling by this flour, in good entente