Troilus and Criseyde

Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and  Diane M. Brendan





TROILUS AND CRISEYDE

by Geoffrey Chaucer



Contents:






BOOK I. Incipit Liber Primus

                 The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen,                1
               That was the king Priamus sone of Troye,
               In lovinge, how his aventures fellen
               Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye,
               My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.                   5
               Thesiphone, thou help me for tendyte
               Thise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte!

               To thee clepe I, thou goddesse of torment,
               Thou cruel Furie, sorwing ever in peyne;
               Help me, that am the sorwful instrument                10
               That helpeth lovers, as I can, to pleyne!
               For wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,
               A woful wight to han a drery fere,
               And, to a sorwful tale, a sory chere.

               For I, that god of Loves servaunts serve,              15
               Ne dar to Love, for myn unlyklinesse,
               Preyen for speed, al sholde I therfor sterve,
               So fer am I fro his help in derknesse;
               But nathelees, if this may doon gladnesse
               To any lover, and his cause avayle,                    20
               Have he my thank, and myn be this travayle!

               But ye loveres, that bathen in gladnesse,
               If any drope of pitee in yow be,
               Remembreth yow on passed hevinesse
               That ye han felt, and on the adversitee                25
               Of othere folk, and thenketh how that ye
               Han felt that Love dorste yow displese;
               Or ye han wonne hym with to greet an ese.

               And preyeth for hem that ben in the cas
               Of Troilus, as ye may after here,                      30
               That love hem bringe in hevene to solas,
               And eek for me preyeth to god so dere,
               That I have might to shewe, in som manere,
               Swich peyne and wo as Loves folk endure,
               In Troilus unsely aventure.                            35

               And biddeth eek for hem that been despeyred
               In love, that never nil recovered be,
               And eek for hem that falsly been apeyred
               Thorugh wikked tonges, be it he or she;
               Thus biddeth god, for his benignitee,                  40
               So graunte hem sone out of this world to pace,
               That been despeyred out of Loves grace.

               And biddeth eek for hem that been at ese,
               That god hem graunte ay good perseveraunce,
               And sende hem might hir ladies so to plese,            45
               That it to Love be worship and plesaunce.
               For so hope I my soule best avaunce,
               To preye for hem that Loves servaunts be,
               And wryte hir wo, and live in charitee.

               And for to have of hem compassioun                     50
               As though I were hir owene brother dere.
               Now herkeneth with a gode entencioun,
               For now wol I gon streight to my matere,
               In whiche ye may the double sorwes here
               Of Troilus, in loving of Criseyde,                     55
               And how that she forsook him er she deyde.

                 It is wel wist, how that the Grekes stronge
               In armes with a thousand shippes wente
               To Troyewardes, and the citee longe
               Assegeden neigh ten yeer er they stente,               60
               And, in diverse wyse and oon entente,
               The ravisshing to wreken of Eleyne,
               By Paris doon, they wroughten al hir peyne.

               Now fil it so, that in the toun ther was
               Dwellinge a lord of greet auctoritee,                  65
               A gret devyn that cleped was Calkas,
               That in science so expert was, that he
               Knew wel that Troye sholde destroyed be,
               By answere of his god, that highte thus,
               Daun Phebus or Apollo Delphicus.                       70

               So whan this Calkas knew by calculinge,
               And eek by answere of this Appollo,
               That Grekes sholden swich a peple bringe,
               Thorugh which that Troye moste been for-do,
               He caste anoon out of the toun to go;                  75
               For wel wiste he, by sort, that Troye sholde
               Destroyed ben, ye, wolde who-so nolde.

               For which, for to departen softely
               Took purpos ful this forknowinge wyse,
               And to the Grekes ost ful prively                      80