To Mistress Margaret Hussey

MERRY Margaret, as midsummer flower,

Gentle as falcon or hawk of the tower,

With solace and gladness,

Much mirth and no madness,

All good and no badness;

So joyously,

So maidenly,

So womanly,

Her dreaming;

In every thing

Far far passing

That I can indite

Or suffice to write

Of merry Margaret, as midsummer flower,

Gentle as falcon or hawk of the tower.

As patient and as still,

And as full of good will,

As the fair Isyphill,

Coliander,

Sweet pomander,

Good Cassander;

Steadfast of thought,

Well made, well wrought.

Far may be sought

Erst that ye can find

So courteous, so kind,

Of merry Margaret, as midsummer flower,

Gentle as falcon or hawk of the tower.

John Skelton

Upon a Dead Man's Head

Skelton Laureate, upon a dead man's head that was sent to him from an honorable gentlewoman for a token, devised this ghostly [spiritual] meditation in English, covenable [sacred] in sentence, commendable, lamentable, lacrimable, profitable for the soul.

YOUR ugly token

My mind hath broken

From worldly lust,

For I have discuss'd

We are but dust

And die we must.

  It is general

To be mortal:

I have well espi'd

No man may him hide

From Death hollow-eyed

With sinews widered*,           [withered]

With bones shidered*,           [shattered]

With his worm-eaten maw,

And his ghastly jaw

Gasping aside,

Naked of hide,

Neither flesh nor fell.

  Thou by my counsel

Look that ye spell

Well this gospel,

For whereso we dwell

Death will us quell

And with us mell*.           [intermingle]

  For all our pamper'd paunchis*           [pauches]

There may no fraunchis*           [franchise]

Nor worldly bliss

Redeem us from this:

Our days be dated

To be checkmated

With draughts of Death,

Stopping our breath;

Our eyen sinking,

Our bodies stinking,

Our gums grinning,

Our souls brinning*.           [burning]

To whom, then, shall we sue

For to have rescue

But to sweet Jesu

On us then for to rue?

  O goodly Child

Of Mary mild,

Then be our shild*,           [shield]

That we be not exil'd

To the dyne dale*           [dark valley]

Of bottomless bale*,           [sorrow]

Nor to the lake

Of fiends black.

  But grant us grace

To see Thy face,

And to purchase

Thine heavenly place,

And thy palace

Full of solace

Above the sky

That is so high,

Eternally

To behold and see

The Trinity.

Mirres vous y*.           [See thyself in it]

John Skelton

To Mistress Margery Wentworth

WITH margerain* gentle           [majoram]

  The flower of goodlihead*,           [beauty]

Embroidered the mantle

Is of your maidenhead.

Plainly I cannot glose*;              [explain]

  Ye be, as I divine,

The pretty primrose,

  The goodly columbine.

With margerain gentle,

  The flower of goodlihead,

Embroidered the mantle

  Is of your maidenhead.

Benign, courteous, and meek,

  With wordes well devised;

In you, who list to seek,

  Be virtues well comprised.

With margerain gentle,

  The flower of goodlihead,

Embroidered the mantle

  Is of your maidenhead.

John Skelton

To Mistress Isabel Pennell

BY Saint Mary, my lady,

Your mammy and your daddy,

Brought forth a goodly baby!

  My maiden Isabel,

Reflaring rosabel*,           [reflowering rose]

The fragrant camomel;

  The ruddy rosary*,           [rose-bush]

The sovereign rosemary,

The pretty strawberry;

  The columbine, the nept*,           [catmint]

The gillyflower well set,

The proper violet:

  Ennewed your colour

Is like the daisy flower

After the April shower;

  Star of the morning gray,

The blossom on the spray,

The freshest flower of May;

  Maidenly demure,

Of womanhood the lure;

Wherefore I make you sure

  It were an heavenly health,

It were an endless wealth,

A life for God Himself,

  To hear this nightingale

Among the birdes smale*,           [small]

Warbling in the vale,

  Dug, dug,

  Jug, jug,

Good year and good luck,

With chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck*!           [affectionate term]

John Skelton