The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)Skelton, John
General
The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)
Skelton, John
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
_Ic dien_ serueth for the[43] erstrych[44] fether, 80
_Ic dien_ is the language of the land of Beme;
In Affryc tongue _byrsa_ is a thonge of lether;
In Palestina there is Ierusalem.
_Colostrum_ now for Parot, whyte bred and swete creme!
Our Thomasen[45] she doth trip, our Ienet she doth shayle:
Parrot hath a blacke beard and a fayre grene tayle.
Moryshe myne owne shelfe, the costermonger sayth;[46]
Fate, fate, fate, ye Irysh[47] water lag;
In flattryng fables men fynde but lyttyl fayth:
But _moveatur terra_, let the world wag; 90
Let syr Wrig wrag[48] wrastell with syr Delarag;[49]
Euery man after his maner of wayes,
_Pawbe une aruer_, so the Welche man sayes.
Suche shredis of sentence, strowed in the shop
Of auncyent Aristippus and such other mo,
I gader togyther and close in my crop,[50]
Of my wanton conseyt, _unde depromo_
_Dilemmata docta in pædagogio_
_Sacro vatum_, whereof to you I breke:
I pray you, let Parot haue lyberte to speke. 100
But ware the cat, Parot, ware the fals cat!
With, Who is there? a mayd? nay, nay, I trow:
Ware ryat, Parrot, ware ryot, ware that!
Mete, mete for Parrot, mete, I say, how!
Thus dyuers of language by lernyng I grow:
With, Bas me, swete Parrot, bas me, swete swete;
To dwell amonge ladyes Parrot is mete.
Parrot, Parrot, Parrot, praty popigay!
With my beke I can pyke my lyttel praty too;
My delyght is solas, pleasure, dysporte, and pley; 110
Lyke a wanton, whan I wyll, I rele to and froo:
Parot can say, _Cæsar, ave_, also;
But Parrot hath no fauour to Esebon:
Aboue all other byrdis, set Parrot alone.
_Ulula_, Esebon, for Ieromy doth wepe!
Sion is in sadnes, Rachell ruly doth loke;
Madionita Ietro, our Moyses kepyth his shepe;
Gedeon is gon, that Zalmane vndertoke,
Oreb _et_ Zeb, of _Judicum_ rede the boke;
Now Geball, Amon, and Amaloch,—harke, harke! 120
Parrot pretendith to be a bybyll clarke.
O Esebon, Esebon! to thé is cum agayne
Seon, the regent _Amorræorum_,
And Og, that fat hog of[51] Basan, doth retayne,
The crafty _coistronus Cananæorum_;[52]
And _asylum_, whilom _refugium miserorum_,
_Non fanum, sed profanum_, standyth in lyttyll sted:
_Ulula_, Esebon, for Iepte is starke ded!
Esebon, Marybon, Wheston next Barnet;
A trym tram for an horse myll it were a nyse thyng; 130
Deyntes for dammoysels, chaffer far fet:
Bo ho doth bark wel, but Hough ho he rulyth[53] the ring;
From Scarpary to Tartary renoun therin doth spryng,
With, He sayd, and we said, ich wot now what ich wot,
_Quod magnus est dominus Judas Scarioth_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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