Incessantly we crye, And the supplye, Suffer nat our lorde to dye, But to lyue; For eternally that he shal lyue Is oure byleue. [Sidenote: M. xx.] Kynges, prynces, remembre, whyle ye may, Do for yoursilfe, for that shal ye fynde Executours often maketh delay, The bodye buryed, the soule sone oute of mynde; Marke this wel, and graue it in youre mynde, Howe many grete estates gone are before, And howe after ye shal folowe by course of kynde: Wherfore do for youresilfe; I can say no more. Though ye be gouernours, moste precious in kynde, Caste downe your crounes and costely appareyle, Endored with golde and precyous stones of Ynde, For al in the ende lytyl shal auayle; Whan youre estates Deth lyketh to assayle, Your bodyes bulgynge with a blyster sore, Than withstande shal neyther plate ne mayle: Wherfore do for youresilfe; I can say no more. There is a vertue that moost is auaunsed, Pure perseueraunce called of the porayle, By whome al vertues are enhaunsed, Which is not wonne but by diligente trauayle: Ware in the ende; for and that vertue fayle, Body and soule than are ye forlore: Wherfore, if ye folowe wyll holsom counsayle, Do for youresilfe; I can say no more. Kynges, prynces, moste souerayne of renoune, Remembre oure maister that gone is byfore: This worlde is casual, nowe vp, nowe downe; Wherfore do for yoursilfe; I can say no more. Amen. _Honor tibi, Deus, gloria, et laus!_ Smerte, _maister de ses ouzeaus_. [276] _The Epitaffe of the moste noble and valyaunt Jaspar late duke of Beddeforde_] The old ed. is a quarto, n. d. Above these words, on the title-page, is a woodcut, exhibiting the author (with a falcon on his hand) kneeling and presenting his work to the king. On the reverse of the last leaf is Pynson’s device. If not really written by Smert (or Smart), the duke’s falconer, (see stanza 3, and the subscription at the conclusion, “_Smert, maister de ses ouzeaus_”) this curious poem was not, at all events, as the style decidedly proves, the composition of Skelton, to whom it was first attributed by Bishop Tanner. I now print it from a transcript of the (probably unique) copy in the Pepysian library,—a transcript which appears to have been made with the greatest care and exactness; but I think right to add, that have not had an opportunity of seeing the original myself.