I know some pepper-nosed dame

Will term me fool, and saucy jack,

That dare their credit so defame

And lay such slanders on their back:

What, though on me they pour their spite? I may not use the gloser's trade,

I cannot say the crow is white,

But needs must call a spade a spade.

A Dream.

LAID in my quiet bed to rest,

When sleep my senses all had drown'd,
Such dreams arose within my breast
As did with fear my mind confound.

Methought, I wander'd in a wood
Which was as dark as pit of hell;
In midst whereof such waters stood,
That where to pass I could not tell.

The lion, tiger, wolf, and bear,

There thunder'd forth such hideous cries,

As made huge echoes in the air,

And seem'd almost to pierce the skies,

Long vex'd with care I there abode,
And to get forth I wanted power:
At every footstep that I trode

I fear'd some beast would me devour.

Abiding thus perplex'd with pain,

This case within myself I scann'd;

That human help was all in vain,

Unless the Lord with us do stand.

Then, falling flat upon my face,
In humble sort to God I pray'd,
That, in this dark and dreadful place,
He would vouchsafe to be mine aid.

Arising then a wight with wings
Of ancient years methinks I see:
A burning torch in hand he brings,
And thus began to speak to me:

"That God, whose aid thou didst implore, "Hath sent me hither for thy sake! "Pluck up thy sprites, lament no more! "With me thou must thy journey take."

Against a huge and lofty hill

With swiftest pace methinks we go,

Where such a sound mine ears did fill,
As mov'd my heart to bleed for wo.

Methought I heard a woful wight

In doleful sort pour forth great plaints, Whose cries did so my mind affright,

That e'en with fear each member faints.

"Fie!" quoth my guide, "what means this change? "Pass on apace, with courage bold:

"Hereby doth stand a prison strange,

"Where wondrous things thou may'st behold."

Then came we to a fort of brass,

Where, peering through great iron grates,

We saw a woman sit, alas,

Which ruthfully bewail'd her fates.

Her face was far more white than snow,
And on her head a crown she ware,

Beset with stones, that glister'd so

As hundred torches had been there.

Her song was "Wo! and welaway!

"What torments here do I sustain!"

A new mishap did her dismay

Which more and more increas'd her pain.

An ugly creature, all in black,

Ran to her seat, and flang her down, Who rent her garments from her back,

And spoil'd her of her precious crown.

This crown he plac'd upon his head;
And, leaving her in doleful case,
With swiftest pace away he fled;
And darkness came in all the place.

But then to hear the woful moan

And piteous groans that she forth sent,
He had, no doubt, a heart of stone
That could give ear and not lament.

Then, quoth my guide, " Note well my talk, "And thou shalt hear this dream declar'd: "The wood, in which thou first didst walk "Unto the world may be compar'd.

"The roaring beasts plainly express
"The sundry snares in which we fall:
"This gaol, is named Deep-distress,

"In which dame Virtue lies as thrall:

"She is the wight which here within

"So dolefully doth howl and cry:

"Her foe is called Deadly Sin,

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"That proffer'd her this villainy.

My name is Time, whom God hath sent "To warn thee of thy soul's decay : "In time, therefore, thy sins lament, "Lest time from thee be ta'en away."

As soon as he these words had said,
With swiftest pace away he flies;
And I hereat was so afraid,

That drowsy sleep forsook mine eyes.