Classic Poem

[God that dyde a-pon A tre]
[And bought e vs w i t h hys blode so]e ffree,
[To hys blys tham] bringe
[That lystenythe vnto my] talkinge!
[Oftyn tymys we] talke of diu er es trauells,
[Of saute, Sege, and of grete ba]ttells
[Bothe in Romans and in rym]e,
[What hathe ben done be-fore thys tyme;
[But y wylle telle you nowe pre]sent —
[Vnto my tale yf ye] take tent —
[Howe the v. Harry oure leg]e,
[W i t h hys ryalte he sette a sege
[By-fore Rone, that ryche Cytt]e,
[And endyd hyt at hys o]wne to bee;
[A more solempne sege was n]eu er sett;
[Syn Ierusalem and Troy] were gett,
[So moche folke was neuyr] seene
[One kynge w i t h soo many vndyr heuyne:
[Lystenythe vnto me A lytylle space,
[And I shalle telle you howe hyt was;
[And the better telle I may,]
ff[or at that sege w i t h the kyng I lay,]
& [there to I toke a-vyse]
[Lyke as my wyt wolde suffyce,
[Whenne Pountlarge w i t h sege was wou n ne
[And ouyr sayne, then enter was be-gu n ne.]
the duke of [Exceter, that hende,]
to Rowne the king [yn sothe hym sende,]
& Herrotts w i th him, to tha t Citye
to looke if itt wold yeeleden bee,
& alsoe ioy to looken the ground
all about the Cittye round,
& how they might best lay a seege;
but they wold not obey their leege.
when the duke of great renowne
was come before tha t royall towne,
he displayd his banners great plen[tye,]
& herotts into the cittye sent hee,
to warne them on paine of death
" tha t they our king shold not greeu[e,]
nor [be] w i th-standing of his might,
but deliuer this cittye soone in his sight.
& soe hee told them w i thouten bad,
he wold no ffurther till hee tha t hadd;
ffor ere hee went ffarr ffrom this place,
hee wold itt winne by gods grace."
but tha t they ffrenchmen make no answer,
but bade them on their wayes to ffare,
& made assignment w i th their hand
tha t he shold there no longer stand,
& shotten out ordinance w i th great en[vye,]
& maden ware dispitteouslye.
then came fforth K nigh ts keene
on horsbace w i th armour sheene,
& there mustered the Duke againe.
on both p ar tyes many were slaine,
& this was done w i thout delay;
to pont large the duke tooke the way,
& told the K nigh t of tha t cittye
how itt stoode, & in what degree.
to my talking & you will take heede,
I shall tell you of accursed deede,
& how sinfully the ffrenchmen did thore
or our king came them before,
ffor all the suburbs of tha t ffaire towne,
both kirkes & houses, droue them downe,
& att port Hillary the hend,
a p a rish church they all to-rend;
of St. Hillary was the same
tha t after the port bare the name;
and att the same port downe the drew
a church tha t was of S t A NDREW ,
& alsoe an abbey of S t G ERUAIS ,
for there the duk[e o]f Clarence lodged was
att the port d[e Pounte] downe the beate
[A] c[hyrche of oure la]dy [swe]te,
[And othyr of Synt Kateryn, that maydyn meke,
[And of Synt sauyoure a nothyr eke;
[And of Seynt Mathewe they drewne downe one,
[And lefte there-of stondyng neuyr a stone;
[At Martyrvyle a-doune they mynde
[Of Synt Mychelle a Chyrche fynde,
[And of Synt Povle a nothyr thoo,
[And mynede] down [a nothyr a lytylle fro.]
the hedges, garden[s and streys,
[They drewe hem in-to the Cytte euery pece,]
bushes & bryars both the[y brende,]
& made them bare men [as my honde]
& yett there was a proud a[raye]
round about the Cittye gay;
well was itt ordered ffor the [warre]
w i th all the defence tha t might [darre;]
for the walls all were able,
& the diches deepe, defencab[le;]
the diches tha t were the walls [a-boute,]
all the lands sayd there about,
hitt was deepe, & therto w[yde,]
w i th a strong trench o[n euery syde,]
[A trenche hyt was w i t h a depe dyssende,]
tha t was made the diche to de[fende,]
tha t no man shold come them [nere]
but in their danger hee [were;]
ffor who soe come the [trenche w i t h -yn,]
harmelesse they might [not oute wynne]
& all the ditches through
pittffalls were then b
& euery pittfall a s[pere hyghthe,]
for therin shold sta[nde noo man to fyght e ,]
& all was for to [make hem clere]
tha t no gunnes [a-boute them were;]
& ffrom the p[yttefalle vnto the walle]
tha t was high [and stowte w i t h -alle,]
itt was a[s thycke of caltrappys sette]
as m[eyschys be yn a nette.]
w i thin the [Cytte aftyr the walle]
morter . . . . .
w i th carts . . . . .
as a . . . . . .
tha t . . . . . .

[Of pryncehode and no]ble the flow[r]e
[Thoughe alle pryncys of hon]our are sett,
[Nexte the beste he myghte] be sett.
[At the northe syde by-t]weene,
[There was loggyd Excetyr þe ke]ne,
[And at the Porte Denys] he lay,
[Where freynysche men yssuy]n out ouery day.
[He bet hem in at euery sch]amffull brunnt,
[And wanne worschyppe] as hee was woont
[Of alle pryncys manhode to] report,
[Set hym for on of] the best sort.
[Bytwyne hym and Claren]ce then,
[Erle Marchalle, a man-]full man,
[Loggyd hym next the castell]e gate,
[And kepythe hyt bothe erly] and late.
[And forthe in the same] way,
[The lorde Haryngton] here he lay
[Talbot, from deumfrount] when he come,
[He loggyd hym next] that groome
[The Erle of Vrmounde] then lay hee
[Next Clarence w i t h a grete meanye,
[And Cornewale, that comely knyghte,
[He lay with Clarence bothe day and] night,
[And many knyghtys in a froun]t
[Thatnowe come not] in [my mynde to counte]
. . . . . .
. . . . . . uze

. w en w.
& he gran[te]d them comp[assyon,]
soe that then w i thout lett
o u r shipps might passe w i th our [frette]
then passed our shipps forth in [fere,]
& cast their Anchor Rowne fu[lle nere,]
as thicke in soyne as they neu[ er did stonde;]
then were the beseeged by watte[r and by londe.]
& when tha t warwicke tha t end [hadde made,]
then to the k ing againe hee ro[de,]
betwixt St Katherins & the [kynge]
there he ordered his lodgin[g]
well entred the Abbey w[as,]
& soone yeelded, by gods gr[ace;]
& after w i thin a litle space
he lodged att the port M[artynvace,]
there as spitefull warr[e there was.]
euer they came forth o[wte in þ a t place,]
but then be dreuethe [hem yn a-gayne]
manfully w i th migh[t e and mayne;]
& Salsbury was fain [to ryde,]
& yett hee turned [and dyd a-byde,
[By Huntyngdon there lende]
till the seege wa[s at an ende,]
& the Gloster, tha t [gracyus home,]
from the [sege of Chirboroughe when he come]
. . . warryour aght
. . . . . Knight
. . . . t noble Knight
. . . . he was full right
[Mon senoure P]ewnes, this was hee,
[Captayne of the p]ort of St Hillarye;
[The Bastard of Teyn]osa, a warryour wight.
. . . tive of much might,
[And of alle the] men tha t were w i thout
[Of alle the Cytte ro]und about;
[And euery on of the]se Captaines had
[V. ML men and moo in l]ade;
[And they nomberyd] were w i thin,
[Whenn oure sege] did begin,
[To .iij. CCC. ML an]d ten,
[Of wymmen, chyldryn,] and men;
[Of pepylle hyt was a gr]eat rowte,
[A kynge to lay a se]ge about
[And there-to they were fulle] hardy indeede
[Bothe in foote and eke in] steede
. . . . er ty men
. . . . did know
. . . . . to come out
. . . . . e port.