"As also 'cause his princely high degree Provokes him study ancient histories, Where, as in mirror, he may plainly see How valiant knights have won the masteries In battles fierce by prowess and by might, To run like race, and prove a worthy knight. "And as they sought to climb to honour's seat, (p. 398) So doth my Lord seek therein to excel, That, as his name, so may his fame be great, And thereby likewise idleness expel; For so he doth to virtue bend his mind, That hard it is his equal now to find. "To write his princely virtues, and declare His valour, high renown, and majesty, His brave exploits and martial acts, that are Most rare, and worthy his great dignity, My barren head cannot devise by wit To extol his fame by words and phrases fit. "This worthy Prince, whom I so much commend, (Yet not so much as well deserves his fame,) By royal blood doth lineally descend From Henry King of England, Fourth by name, His eldest son, and heir to the crown, And, by his virtues, Prince of high renown. "For by the graft the fruit men easily know, Encreasing the honour of his pedigree; His name Lord Henry, as our stories show, And by his title Prince of Wales is he. Who with good right, his father being dead, Shall wear the crown of Britain on his head. "This mighty Prince hath made me undertake To write the siege of Troy, the ancient town, And of their wars a true discourse to make; From point to point as Guido set it down, Who long since wrote the same in Latin verse, Which in the English now I will rehearse." In the poem called the "Siege of Troy," written in different metre, Lydgate, addressing Henry, "O most worthy Prince! of Knighthood (p. 399) source and well!" thus proceeds to state the circumstances under which he wrote his work: