Of my suit I make an end:
On my knees I pardon crave for my offence,
Which did from love and true affection first commence.
"Commend me to thy lovely lady,
Bear to her this chain of gold;
And these bracelets for a token;
Grieving that I was so bold:
All my jewels in like sort take thou with thee,
For they are fitting for thy wife, but not for me.
"I will spend my days in prayer,
Love and all her laws' defye;
In a nunnery will I shroud mee
Far from any companye:
But ere my prayers have an end, be sure of this,
To pray for thee and for thy love I will not miss.
"Thus farewell, most gallant captain!
Farewell too my heart's content
Count not Spanish ladies wanton,
Though to thee my love was bent:
Joy and true prosperity goe still with thee!"
"The like fall ever to thy share, most fair ladìe."
NOTES
- Both Shenstone and Wordsworth have employed this graceful romance as a model;
the former in hisMoral tale of Love and Honour; the latter in hisArmenian Lady's
Love.-- Editor. - Recent evidence, with good reason maintaines that Sir John Bolle, of Thorpe Hall,
Lincolnshire, was the gallant hero of the romance.-- Editor