The Knight's Tale
Folio 13r
45 of 58 folios
That whilom / was ycleped Scithia
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And wedded / the queene ypolita
And broghte hire hom with hym / in his contree
With muchel glorie / and greet solempnitee
And eek / hir yonge suster Emelye
And thus with victorie / and with melodye
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Lete I this noble duc to Atthenes ryde
And al his hoost . in armes hym bisyde
¶ And certes / if it nere to long to heere
I wolde haue toold / fully the manere
How / wonnen was the regne of Femenye
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By Theseus / and by his Chiualrye
And of the grete bataille / for the nones
Bitwixen Atthenes / and Amazones
And how assegeged was ypolita
The faire hardy queene of Scithia
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And of the feste / þt was at hir weddynge
And of the tempest at hir hom comynge
But al that thyng I moot as now forbere
I haue god woot a large feeld to ere
And wayke / been the oxen in my plogh
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The remenant of the tale / is long ynogh
I wol nat letten eek / noon of this route
Lat euery felawe / telle his tale aboute
And lat se now / who shal the souper wynne
And ther I lefte / I wol ayein bigynne
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This duc of whom I make menciou
Whanne he was come / almoost to the town
In al his wele / and in his mooste pryde
He was war / as he caste his eye asyde
Wher þt ther kneled / in the heighe weye
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A compaignye of ladyes / tweye and tweye
Ech after oother/ clad in clothes blake
But swich a cry / and swich a wo they make
That in this world / nys creature lyuynge
That herde / swich another waymentynge