HKB
all without, Full the castle all about, Of all manner of minstrales And gestiours,<23> that telle tales Both of weeping and of game,* *mirth Of all that longeth unto Fame.
There heard I play upon a harp, That sounded bothe well and sharp, Him, Orpheus, full craftily; And on this side faste by Satte the harper Arion,<24> And eke Aeacides Chiron <25> And other harpers many a one, And the great Glasgerion; <26> And smalle harpers, with their glees,* instruments Satten under them in sees, seats And gan on them upward to gape, And counterfeit them as an ape, Or as craft counterfeiteth kind. art counterfeits nature Then saw I standing them behind, Afar from them, all by themselve, Many thousand times twelve, That made loude minstrelsies In cornmuse and eke in shawmies, <27> And in many another pipe, That craftily began to pipe, Both in dulcet <28> and in reed, That be at feastes with the bride. And many a flute and lilting horn, And pipes made of greene corn, As have these little herde-grooms, shepherd-boys That keepe beastes in the brooms. There saw I then Dan Citherus, And of Athens Dan Pronomus, <29> And Marsyas <30> that lost his skin, Both in the face, body, and chin, For that he would envyen, lo! To pipe better than Apollo. There saw I famous, old and young, Pipers of alle Dutche tongue, <31> To learne love-dances and springs, Reyes, <32> and these strange things. Then saw I in another place, Standing in a large space, Of them that make bloody soun’, martial In trumpet, beam, and clarioun; horn <33> For in fight and blood-sheddings Is used gladly clarionings. There heard I trumpe Messenus. <34> Of whom speaketh Virgilius. There heard I Joab trump also, <35> Theodamas, <36> and other mo’, And all that used clarion In Catalogne and Aragon, That in their times famous were To learne, saw I trumpe there. There saw I sit in other sees, Playing upon sundry glees, Whiche that I cannot neven, *name More than starres be in heaven; Of which I will not now rhyme, For ease of you, and loss of time: For time lost, this knowe ye, By no way may recover’d be.
There saw I play jongelours,* jugglers <37> Magicians, and tregetours,<38> And Pythonesses, <39> charmeresses, And old witches, and sorceresses, That use exorcisations, And eke subfumigations; <40> And clerkes eke, which knowe well scholars All this magic naturel, That craftily do their intents, To make, in certain ascendents, <41> Images, lo! through which magic To make a man be whole or sick. There saw I the queen Medea, <42> And Circes <43> eke, and Calypsa.<44> There saw I Hermes Ballenus, <45> Limote, <46> and eke Simon Magus. <47> There saw I, and knew by name, That by such art do men have fame. There saw I Colle Tregetour <46> Upon a table of sycamore Play an uncouth thing to tell; strange, rare I saw him carry a windmell Under a walnut shell. Why should I make longer tale Of all the people I there say, *saw From hence even to doomesday?