John Skelton (1460 – 1529)
English poet, variously asserted to have been born in Armathwaite, Cumberland, or Yorkshire.
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Steadfast of thought,
Well made, well wrought,
Far may be sought,
Ere that ye can find
So courteous, so kind
As merry Margaret,
This midsummer flower,
Gentle as falcon
Or hawk of the tower.
In the spight of his teeth.
There is nothynge that more dyspleaseth God,
Than from theyr children to spare the rod.
Like Andromach, Hector's wife,
Was weary of her life,
When she had lost her joy,
Noble Hector of Troy;
In like manner alsó
Increaseth my deadly woe,
For my sparrow is go.
Gentle Paul, laie doune thy sweard
For Peter of Westminster hath shaven thy beard.
For though my ryme be ragged,
Tattered and jagged,
Rudely rayne beaten,
Rusty and moughte eaten,
It hath in it some pyth.
I say, thou mad March hare,
I wonder how ye dare
Open your jangling jaws
To preach in any clause,
Like prating popping daws,
Against her excellence,
Against her reverence,
Against her pre-eminence,
Against her magnificence,
That never did offence.
Old proverbe says,
That byrd ys not honest
That fyleth hys owne nest.
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