Transcriber’s Note: Volume I is available as PG ebook #59997.

THE
POETICAL WORKS OF SKELTON.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN,
Great New Street, Fetter Lane.

THE
POETICAL WORKS
OF
JOHN SKELTON:

WITH NOTES,
AND
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS WRITINGS,
BY THE
REV. ALEXANDER DYCE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:
THOMAS RODD, GREAT NEWPORT STREET.
MDCCCXLIII.

THE POETICAL WORKS
OF
JOHN SKELTON.

SPEKE, PARROT.[1]
THE BOKE[2] COMPILED BY MAISTER SKELTON, POET LAUREAT, CALLED SPEAKE, PARROT.

[Lectoribus auctor recipit[3] opusculi hujus auxesim.

Crescet in immensum me vivo pagina præsens;

Hinc mea dicetur Skeltonidis aurea fama.

Parot.]

Lucanus.[4] Tigris et Euphrates uno se fonte resolvunt.

My name is Parrot, a byrd of paradyse,

By nature deuysed of a wonderous[5] kynde,

Dyentely dyeted with dyuers dylycate spyce,

Tyl Euphrates, that flode, dryueth me into Inde;

Where men of that countrey by fortune me fynd,

And send me to greate ladyes[6] of estate:

Then Parot must haue an almon or a date;

Topographia, quam habet hæc avicula in deliciis.

A cage curyously caruen, with syluer pyn, 10

Properly paynted, to be my couertowre;

A myrrour of glasse, that I may toote therin;

These maidens ful mekely with many a diuers[7] flowre

Freshly they dresse, and make swete my bowre,

With, Speke, Parrot, I pray you, full curtesly they say;

Parrot is a goodly byrd, a[8] prety popagey:

Delectatur in factura sua, tamen res est forma fugax.

With my becke bent, my[9] lyttyl wanton eye,

My fedders freshe as is the emrawde grene,

About my neck a cyrculet lyke the ryche rubye,

My lyttyll leggys, my feet both fete and clene, 20

I am a mynyon to wayt vppon a[10] quene;

My proper Parrot, my lyttyl prety foole;

With ladyes I lerne, and go with them to scole.

Psittacus a vobis aliorum nomina disco: Hoc per me didici dicere,[11] Cæsar, ave.

Hagh, ha, ha, Parrot, ye can laugh pretyly!

Parrot hath not dyned of al this[12] long day:

Lyke your[13] pus cate, Parrot can mute and cry

In Lattyn, in Ebrew, Araby, and Caldey;[14]

In Greke tong Parrot can bothe speke and say,

As Percyus, that poet, doth reporte of me,

Quis expedivit psittaco suum chaire? 30

Docibilem se pandit in omni idiomate. Polichronitudo Basileos.

Dowse[15] French of Parryse Parrot can lerne,

Pronounsynge my purpose after my properte,

With, Perliez byen, Parrot, ou perlez rien;

With Douch, with Spanysh, my tong can agre;

In Englysh to God Parrot can supple,[16]

Cryst saue Kyng Henry[17] the viii., our royall kyng,

The red rose in honour to florysh and sprynge!

Katerina universalis vitii ruina, Græcum est. Fidasso de cosso, i. habeto fidem in temet ipso. Auctoritate[m] inconsultam taxat hic. Lege Flaccum, et observa plantatum diabolum.

With Kateryne incomparable, our ryall[18] quene also,

That pereles pomegarnet, Chryst saue her noble grace!

Parrot, saves[19] habler Castiliano, 40

With fidasso de cosso[20] in Turkey and in Trace;

Vis consilii expers,[21] as techith me Horace,

Mole ruit sua, whose dictes ar[22] pregnaunte,

Souentez foys,[23] Parrot, en souenaunte.

Sæpenumero hæc pensitans psittacus ego pronuntio.[24] Aphorismo, quia paronomasia certe incomprehensibilis.

My lady maystres,[25] dame Philology,

Gaue me a gyfte in my nest whan I[26] laye,

To lerne all language, and it to spake aptely:

Now pandez mory,[27] wax frantycke, some men[28] saye;

Phroneses for[29] Freneses may not holde her way.

An almon now for Parrot, dilycatly drest; 50

In Salve festa dies, toto theyr doth[30] best.

Aptius hic loquitur animus quam lingua. Notum adagium et exasperans.

Moderata juvant, but toto doth excede;

Dyscressyon is moder of noble vertues all;

Myden[31] agan in Greke[32] tonge we rede;

But reason and wyt wantyth theyr prouyncyall

When wylfulnes is vycar generall.

Hæc res acu tangitur, Parrot, par ma foy:

Ticez vous, Parrot, tenez vous coye.

Besy, besy,[33] besy, and besynes agayne!

Que pensez voz, Parrot? what meneth this besynes? 60

Vitulus in Oreb troubled Arons brayne,

Melchisedeck mercyfull made Moloc mercyles;

To wyse is no vertue, to medlyng, to restles;

In mesure is tresure, cum sensu maturato;[34]

Ne tropo sanno,[35] ne tropo mato.

Aram was fyred with Caldies fyer called Ur;

Iobab[36] was brought vp in the lande of Hus;[37]

The lynage of Lot toke supporte of Assur;

Iereboseth is Ebrue, who lyst the cause[38] dyscus.

Peace, Parrot, ye prate, as ye were ebrius: 70

Howst thé, lyuer god van hemrik, ic seg;

In Popering[39] grew peres, whan Parrot was an eg.

What is this to purpose? Ouer in a whynnymeg![40]

Hop Lobyn of Lowdeon wald haue e[41] byt of bred;

The iebet of Baldock was made for Jack Leg;

An arrow vnfethered and without an hed,

A bagpype[42] without blowynge standeth in no sted:

Some run to far before, some run to far behynde,

Some be to churlysshe, and some be to kynde.

Ic dien serueth for the[43] erstrych[44] fether, 80

Ic dien is the language of the land of Beme;

In Affryc tongue byrsa is a thonge of lether;

In Palestina there is Ierusalem.

Colostrum now for Parot, whyte bred and swete creme!

Our Thomasen[45] she doth trip, our Ienet she doth shayle:

Parrot hath a blacke beard and a fayre grene tayle.

Moryshe myne owne shelfe, the costermonger sayth;[46]

Fate, fate, fate, ye Irysh[47] water lag;

In flattryng fables men fynde but lyttyl fayth:

But moveatur terra, let the world wag; 90

Let syr Wrig wrag[48] wrastell with syr Delarag;[49]

Euery man after his maner of wayes,

Pawbe une aruer, so the Welche man sayes.

Suche shredis of sentence, strowed in the shop

Of auncyent Aristippus and such other mo,

I gader togyther and close in my crop,[50]

Of my wanton conseyt, unde depromo

Dilemmata docta in pædagogio

Sacro vatum, whereof to you I breke:

I pray you, let Parot haue lyberte to speke. 100

But ware the cat, Parot, ware the fals cat!

With, Who is there? a mayd? nay, nay, I trow:

Ware ryat, Parrot, ware ryot, ware that!

Mete, mete for Parrot, mete, I say, how!

Thus dyuers of language by lernyng I grow:

With, Bas me, swete Parrot, bas me, swete swete;

To dwell amonge ladyes Parrot is mete.

Parrot, Parrot, Parrot, praty popigay!

With my beke I can pyke my lyttel praty too;

My delyght is solas, pleasure, dysporte, and pley; 110

Lyke a wanton, whan I wyll, I rele to and froo:

Parot can say, Cæsar, ave, also;

But Parrot hath no fauour to Esebon:

Aboue all other byrdis, set Parrot alone.

Ulula, Esebon, for Ieromy doth wepe!

Sion is in sadnes, Rachell ruly doth loke;

Madionita Ietro, our Moyses kepyth his shepe;

Gedeon is gon, that Zalmane vndertoke,

Oreb et Zeb, of Judicum rede the boke;

Now Geball, Amon, and Amaloch,—harke, harke! 120

Parrot pretendith to be a bybyll clarke.

O Esebon, Esebon! to thé is cum agayne

Seon, the regent Amorræorum,

And Og, that fat hog of[51] Basan, doth retayne,

The crafty coistronus Cananæorum;[52]

And asylum, whilom refugium miserorum,

Non fanum, sed profanum, standyth in lyttyll sted:

Ulula, Esebon, for Iepte is starke ded!

Esebon, Marybon, Wheston next Barnet;

A trym tram for an horse myll it were a nyse thyng; 130

Deyntes for dammoysels, chaffer far fet:

Bo ho doth bark wel, but Hough ho he rulyth[53] the ring;

From Scarpary to Tartary renoun therin doth spryng,

With, He sayd, and we said, ich wot now what ich wot,

Quod magnus est dominus Judas Scarioth.

Tholomye and Haly were cunnyng and wyse

In the volvell, in the quadrant, and in the astroloby,

To pronostycate truly the chaunce of fortunys dyse;

Som trete of theyr tirykis, som of astrology,

Som pseudo-propheta with chiromancy:[54] 140

Yf fortune be frendly, and grace be the guyde,

Honowre with renowne wyll ren on[55] that syde.

Monon calon agaton,

Quod Parato

In Græco.

Let Parrot, I pray you, haue lyberte to prate,

For aurea lingua Græca ought to be magnyfyed,

Yf it were cond perfytely, and after the rate,

As lingua Latina, in scole matter occupyed;

But our Grekis theyr Greke so well haue applyed, 150

That they cannot say in Greke, rydynge by the way,

How, hosteler, fetche my hors a botell of hay!

Neyther frame a silogisme in phrisesomorum,

Formaliter et Græce, cum medio termino:

Our Grekys ye walow in the washbol Argolicorum;

For though ye can tell in Greke what is phormio,

Yet ye seke out your Greke in Capricornio;

For they[56] scrape[57] out good scrypture, and set in a gall,

Ye go about to amende, and ye mare all.

Some argue secundum quid ad simpliciter, 160

And yet he wolde be rekenyd pro Areopagita;

And some make distinctions multipliciter,

Whether ita were before non, or non[58] before ita,

Nether wise nor wel lernid, but like hermaphrodita:

Set sophia asyde, for euery Jack Raker

And euery mad medler must now be a maker.

In Academia Parrot dare no probleme kepe;

For Græce fari[59] so occupyeth the chayre,

That Latinum fari may fall to rest and slepe,

And syllogisari was drowned at Sturbrydge fayre; 170

Tryuyals[60] and quatryuyals so sore now they appayre,

That Parrot the[61] popagay hath pytye to beholde

How the rest of good lernyng is roufled[62] vp and trold.

Albertus de modo significandi,

And Donatus be dryuen out of scole;

Prisians hed broken now handy dandy,

And Inter didascolos is rekened for a fole;

Alexander, a gander of Menanders[63] pole,

With Da Cansales, is cast out of the gate,

And Da Racionales dare not shew his pate. 180

Plauti[64] in his comedies a chyld shall now reherse,

And medyll with Quintylyan in his Declamacyons,[65]

That Pety Caton can scantly construe a verse,

With Aveto in Græco, and such solempne salutacyons,

Can skantly the tensis of his coniugacyons;

Settynge theyr myndys so moche of eloquens,

That of theyr scole maters lost is the hole sentens.

Now a nutmeg, a nutmeg, cum gariopholo,[66]

For Parrot to pyke vpon, his brayne for to stable,

Swete synamum styckis and pleris cum musco![67] 190

In Paradyce, that place of pleasure perdurable,

The progeny of Parrottis were fayre and fauorable;

Nowe in valle Ebron Parrot is fayne to fede:

Cristecrosse and saynt Nycholas, Parrot, be your good spede!

The myrrour that I tote in, quasi diaphanum,

Vel quasi speculum, in ænigmate,

Elencticum,[68] or ells enthymematicum,[69]

For logicions to loke on, somwhat sophistice:

Retoricyons[70] and oratours in freshe humanyte,

Support Parrot, I pray you, with your suffrage ornate, 200

Of confuse tantum auoydynge the chekmate.

But of that supposicyon that callyd is arte

Confuse distributive, as Parrot hath deuysed,

Let euery man after his merit take his parte,

For in this processe Parrot nothing hath surmysed,

No matter pretendyd, nor nothyng enterprysed,

But that metaphora, allegoria with all,

Shall be his protectyon, his pauys, and his wall.

For Parot is no churlish chowgh, nor no flekyd pye,

Parrot is no pendugum, that men call a carlyng, 210

Parrot is no woodecocke, nor no butterfly,

Parrot is no stameryng stare, that men call a starlyng;

But Parot is my[71] owne dere harte and my dere[72] derling;

Melpomene, that fayre mayde, she burneshed his beke:

I pray you, let Parrot haue lyberte to speke.

Parrot is a fayre byrd for a lady;

God of his goodnes him framed and wrought;

When Parrot is ded, she dothe not putrefy:

Ye, all thyng mortall shall torne vnto nought,

Except mannes soule, that Chryst so dere bought; 220

That neuer may dye, nor neuer dye shall:

Make moche of Parrot, the[73] popegay ryall.[74]

For that pereles prynce that Parrot dyd create,

He made you of nothynge by his magistye:

Poynt well this probleme that Parrot doth prate,

And remembre amonge how Parrot and ye

Shall lepe from this lyfe, as mery as we be;

Pompe, pryde, honour, ryches, and worldly lust,

Parrot sayth playnly, shall tourne all to dust.

Thus Parrot dothe pray you 230

With hert most tender,

To rekyn with this recule now,[75]

And it to remember.

Psittacus, ecce, cano, nec sunt mea carmina Phœbo

Digna scio, tamen est plena camena deo.

Secundum Skeltonida famigeratum,

In Piereorum catalogo numeratum.

Itaque consolamini invicem in verbis istis, &c.[76]

Candidi lectores, callide callete; vestrum fovete Psittacum, &c.[77]

[Galathea.

Hic occurrat[78] memoriæ Pamphilus de amore Galatheæ.

Speke, Parotte, I pray yow, for Maryes saake,

Whate mone he made when Pamphylus loste hys make.

Parrotte.

In ista cantilena[79] ore stilla plena abjectis frangibulis et aperit.

My propire Besse, 240

My praty Besse,

Turne ones agayne to me:

For slepyste thou, Besse,

Or wakeste thow, Besse,

Myne herte hyt ys with thé.

Quid quæritis tot capita, tot census?

My deysy delectabyll,

My prymerose commendabyll,

My vyolet amyabyll,

My ioye inexplicabill,

Nowe torne agayne to me. 250

I wylbe ferme and stabyll,

And to yow seruyceabyll,

And also prophytabyll,

Yf ye be agreabyll

To turne agayne to me,

My propyr Besse.

Maro: Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella, Et fugit ad salices, &c.

Alas, I am dysdayned,

And as a man halfe maymed,

My harte is so sore payned!

I pray thé, Besse, vnfayned, 260

Yet com agayne to me!

Be loue I am constreyned

To be with yow retayned,

Hyt wyll not be refrayned:

I pray yow, be reclaymed,

And torne agayne to me,

My propyr Besse.

Quod[80] Parot, the popagay royall.