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Lectoribus auctor recipit opusculi huius auxesim.
Crescet in immensum me vivo pagina presens;
Hinc mea dicetur Skeltonidis aurea fama.
PAROT
My name is Parrot, a byrd of Paradyse,
By Nature devised of a wonderowus kynde,
Deyntely dyeted with dyvers dylycate spyce,
Tyl Euphrates, that flode, dryveth me into Inde;
Where men of that countrey by fortune me fynde,
And send me to greate ladyes of estate;
Then Parot must have an almon or a date.
A cage curyously carven, with sylver pyn,
Properly paynted, to be my covertowre;
A myrrour of glasse, that I may toote therin;
These maidens ful mekely with many a divers 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 prety popagey.’
With my becke bent, my lyttyl wanton eye,
My fedders freshe as is the emrawde grene,
About my neck a cyrculet lyke the ryche rubye,
My lytyll leggys, my feet both fete and clene,
I am a mynyon to wayt uppon a quene;
‘My proper Parrot, my lyttyl prety foole.’
With ladyes I lerne, and go with them to scole.
‘Hagh, ha, ha, Parrot, ye can laugh pretyly!’
‘Parrot hath not dyned of al this long day;’
‘Lyke ower pus cate, Parrot can mewte and cry.’
In Lattyn, in Ebrew, Araby, and Caldey;
In Greke tong Parrot can bothe speke and say,
As Percyus, that poet, doth reporte of me,
Quis expedivit psittaco suum chaire?
Dowse 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:
Cryst save Kyng Henry the viii., our royall kyng,
The red rose honour to florysh and sprynge!
With Kateryne incomparable, our ryall quene also,
That pereles pomegarnet, Chryst save her noble grace!
Parrot, saves habler Castiliano,
With fidasso de cosso in Turkey and in Trace;
Vis consilii expers, as techith me Horace,
Mole ruit sua, whose dictes ar pregnaunte,
Soventez foys, Parrot, en sovenaunte.
My lady maystres, dame Philology,
Gave me a gyfte in my nest whan I laye,
To lerne all language, and it to spake aptely:
Now pandez mory, wax frantycke, some men saye;
Phroneses for Freneses may not holde her way.
An almon now for Parrot, dilycatly drest;
In Salve festa dies, toto ys the beste.
Moderata juvant, but toto doth excede;
Dyscressyon is moder of noble vertues all;
Myden agan in Greke tonge we rede;
But reason and wyt wantyth theyr provyncyall,
When wylfulnes is vycar general.
Hec res acu tangitur, Parrot, par ma foy:
Ticez vous, Parrot, tenez vous coye.
Besy, besy, besy, and besynes agayne!
Que pensez voz, Parrot? What meneth this besynes?
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,
Ne tropo sanno, ne tropo mato.
Aram was fyred with Caldies fyer called Ur;
Iobab was brought up in the lande of Hus;
The lynage of Lot supporte of Assur;
Iereboseth is Ebrue, who lyst the cause dyscus.
Peace, Parrot, ye prate, as ye were ebrius:
Howst the, lyver God van Hemrik, ic seg;
In Popering grew peres, whan Parrot was an eg.
What is this to purpose? Over in a whynnymeg!
Hop Lobyn of Lowdeon wald have e byt of bred;
The Jebet of Baldock was made for Jack Leg.
An arrow unfethered and without an hed,
A bagpype wihout 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 serveth for the erstych fether,
Ic dien is the language of the land of Beme;
In Affryc tongue byrsa is a thonge of lether;
In Palestina here is Jerusalem.
Colostrum now for Parrot, whyte bred and swete creme!
Our Thomasen she doth trip, our Jenet she doth shayle;
Parrot hath a blacke beard and a fayre grene tayle.
‘Moryshe myne owne shelfe,’ the costermonger sayth;
‘Fate, fate, fate, ye Irysh water lag.’
In flattryng fables men fynde but lyttyl fayth;
But moveatur terra, let the world wag,
Let syr Wrig-Wrag wrastell with Syr Delarag:
Every 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,
Of my wanton conseyt, unde depromo
Dilemmata docta in paedagogio
Sacro vatum, whereof to you I breke:
I pray you, let Parot have lyberte to speke.
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 dyvers 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;
Lyke a wanton, whan I wyll, I rele to and froo;
Parot can say, ‘Caesar, ave,’ also;
But Parrot hath no favour to Esebon:
Above all other byrdis, set Parrot alone.
Ulula, Esebon, for Jeromy doth wepe!
Sion is in sadnes, Rachell ruly doth loke;
Madionita Jetro, our Moyses kepyth his shepe;
Gedeon is gon, that Zalmane undertoke,
Oret et Zeb, of Judicum rede the boke;
Now Geball, Amon, and Amaloch, – harke, harke!
Parrot pretendith to be a bybyll clarke.
O Esebon, Esebon! To the is cum agayne
Seon, the regent Amorraeorum,
And Og, that fat hog of Basan, doth retayne,
The crafty coistronus Cananaeorum;
And asylum, whilom refugium miserorum,
Non fanum, sed profanum, standyth in lytyll sted;
Ulula, Esebon, for Jepte is starke ded!
Esebon, Marybon, Wheston next Barnet;
A trym tram for an horse myll it were a nyse thyng;
Deyntes for dammoysels, chaffer far fet:
Bo ho doth bark wel, but Hough ho he rulyth 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 cunnynd and wyse
In the volvell, in the quadrant, and in the astroloby,
To pronostycate truly the chaunce of fortunys dyse;
Some trete of theyr tirykis, som of astrology,
Som pseudo-propheta with ciromancy:
Yf fortune be frendly, and grace be the guyde,
Honowre with renowne wyll ren on that syde.
Monon Calon Agaton,
Quod Parato
In Graeco.
Let Parrot, I pray you, have lyberte to prate,
For aurea lingua Graeca ought to be magnyfyed,
As lingua Latina, in scole matter occupyed;
But our Grekis theyr Greke so well have applyed,
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 Graece, 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 scrape out good scrypture, and set in gall,
Ye go about to amende, and ye mare all.
Some argue secundum quid ad simpliciter,
And yet he wolde be rekenyd pro Areopagita;
And some make distinctions multipliciter,
Whether ita were before non, or non before ita,
Nether wise nor wel lernid, but like hermaphrodita:
Set Sophia asyde, for every Jack Raker
And every mad medler must now be a maker.
In Academia Parrot dare no probleme kepe,
For Graece fari so occupyeth the chayre,
That Latinum fari may fall to rest and slepe,
And syllogisari was drowned at Sturbrydge fayre;
Tryvyals and qatryvyals so sore now they appayre,
That Parrot the popagay hath pytye to beholde
How the rest of good lernyng is roufled up and trold.
Albertus de modo significandi,
And Donatus be dryven out of scole;
Prisians hed broken now handy dandy,
And Inter didascolos is rekened for a fole;
Alexander, a gander of Menanders pole,
With Da Cansales, is cast out of the gate,
And Da Racionales dare not shew his pate.
Plauti in his comedies a chyld shall now reherse,
And medyll with Quintylyan in his Declamacyons,
That Pety Caton can scantly construe a verse,
With Aveto in Graeco, and such solempne salutacyons,
Can skantly the tensis of his conjugacyons;
Settynge theyr myndys so moche of eloquens,
That of theyr scole maters lost is the hole sentens.
Now a nutmeg, a nutmeg, cum gariopholo,
For Parrot to pyke upon, his brayne for to stable,
Swete synamum styckis and pleris com musco!
In Paradyce, that place of pleasure perdurable,
The progeny of Parrottis were fayre and favorable;
Nowe in valle Ebron Parrot is fayne to fede:
‘Cristecrosse and Saynt Nicholas, Parrot, be your good spede!’
The myrrour that I tote in, quasi diaphanum,
Vel quasi speculum, in aenigmate,
Elencticum, or ells enthymematicum,
For logicion to loke on, somwhat sophistice:
Retoricyons and oratours in freshe humanyte,
Support Parrot, I pray you, with your suffrage ornate,
Of confuse tantum avoydynge the chekmate.
But of that suppociyon that callyd is arte,
Confuse distributive, as Parrot hath devysed,
Let every man after his merit take his parte,
For in this processe Parrot nothing had surmysed,
No matter pretendyd, nor nothyng enterprysed,
But that metaphora, allegoria with all,
Shall be his pretectyon, his pavys, and his wall.
For Parrot is no churlish chowgh, nor flekyd pye,
Parrot is no pendugum that men call a carlyng,
Parrot is no woodecocke, nor no butterfly,
Parrot is no stameryng stare, that men call a starlyng;
But Parrot is my owne dere harte and my dere derling.
Melpomene, that fayre mayde, she burneshed his beke:
I pray you, let Parrot have lyberte to speke.
Parrot is a fayre byrd for a lady;
God of his goodnes him framed and wrought;
When Parrot is ded, he dothe not putrefy:
Ye, all thyng mortall shall torne unto nought,
Except mannes soule, that Chryst so dere bought;
That never may dye, nor never dye shall:
Make moche of Parrot, the popegay ryall.
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 wordly lust,
Parrot sayth playnly, shall tourne all to dust.
Thus Parrot dothe pray you
With hert most tender,
To rekyn with this recule now,
And it to remember.
Psittacus, ecce, cano, nec sunt mea carmina Phebo
Digna scio, tamen est plena camena deo.
Secundum Skeltonida famigeratum,
In Piereorum catalogo numeratum.
Itaque consolamini invicem in verbis istis, &c.
Candidi lectores, callide callete; vestrum fovete Psittacum, &c.
GALATHEA
Speke, Parrote, I pray yow, for Maryes saake,
Whate mone he made when Pamphylus loste hys make.
PARROTTE
My propire Besse,
My praty Besse,
Turne ones agayne to me:
For slepyste thou, Besse,
Or wakeste thow, Besse,
Myne herte hyt ys with the.
My deysy delectabyll,
My prymerose commendabyll,
My vyolet amyabyll,
My joye inexplicabill,
Now torne agayne to me.
I wyl be ferme and stabyll,
And to yow servyceabyll,
And also prophytabyll,
Yf ye be agreabyll,
My propyr Besse,
To turne agayne to me.
Alas, I am dysdayned,
And as a man halfe maymed,
My harte is sore payned!
I pray the, Besse, unfayned,
Yet com agayne to me!
Be love I am contreyned
To be with yow retayned,
Hyt wyll not be refrayned:
I pray you be reclaymed,
My propyr Besse,
And torne agayne to me!
Quod Parrot, the popagay royall.
Martialis cecinit carmen fit mihi scutum:
Est mihi lasciva pagina, vita proba.
GALATHEA
Now kus me, Parrot, kus me, kus, kus, kus:
Goddys blessyng lyght on thy swete lyttyll mus!
Vita et anima,
Zoe kai psyche.
Concumbunt Grece. Non est hic sermo pudicus.
Ergo
Attica dictamina
Sunt plumbi lamina,
Vel spuria vitulamina:
Avertat haec Urania!
Amen
Amen, Amen,
And set to a D,
And then it is ‘Amend’,
Our new found A. B. C.
Candidi lectores calide callete; vestrum fovete Psittacum.
Lenvoy primere
Go, litell quayre, namyd the Popagay,
Home to resorte Jerobesethe perswade;
For the cliffes of Scaloppe they rore wellaway,
And the sandes of Cefas begyn to waste and fade,
For replicacion restles that he of late ther made;
Now Neptune and Eolus ar agreed of lyclyhode,
For Tytus at Dover abydythe in the rode;
Lucina she wadythe among the watry floddes,
And the cokkes begyn to crowe agayne the day;
Le tonsan de Jason is lodgid among the shrowdes,
Of Argus revengyd, recover when he may;
Lyacon of Libyk and Lydy hathe cawghte hys pray:
Goe, lytyll quayre, pray them that yow beholde,
In there remembraunce ye may be inrolde.
Yet some folys say that ye arre furnysshyd with knakkes,
That hang togedyr as fethyrs in the wynde;
But lewdlye are they lettyrd that your lernyng lackys,
Barkyng and whyning, lyke churlysshe currys of kynde,
For whoo lokythe wyselye in your warkys may fynde
Muche frutefull mater. But now, for your defence,
Agayne all remordes arme yow with paciens.
Monostichon
Ipse sagax equi verax nuntius ito.
Merda! puros mal desires!
Penultimo die Octobris, 33°.
Secunde Lenvoy.
Passe forthe, Parotte, towardes some passengere,
Require hym to convey yow ovyr the salte fome;
Addressyng your selfe, lyke a sadde messengere,
To ower soleyne seigneour Sadoke, desire hym to cum home,
Makyng hys pylgrimage by nostre dame de Crome:
For Jerico and Jerssey shall mete togethyr as sone
As he to exployte the man owte of the mone.
With porpose and graundepose he may fede hym fatte,
Thowghe he pampyr not hys paunche with the grete seall:
We have longyd and lokyd long tyme for that,
Whyche cawsythe pore suters have many a hongry mele:
As presydent and regente he rulythe every deall.
Now pas furthe, good Parrot, Ower Lorde be your stede,
In this your journey to prospere and spede!
And thowe sum dysdayne yow and sey how ye prate,
And howe your poemys arre barayne of polyshed eloquens,
There is none that your name woll abbrogate
Then nodypollys and gramatolys of smalle intellygens:
To rude ys there reason to reche to your sentence;
Suche malyncoly mastyvys and mangye curre dogges
Ar mete for a swyneherde to hunte after hogges.
Monostichon
Psittace, perge volans, fatuaorum tela retudas.
Merda! puros mal desers!
In diebus Novembris,
34.
Le dereyn Lenveoy.
Prepayre yow, Parrot, brevely your passage to take,
Of Mercury undyr the trynall aspecte,
And sadlye salute ower solen Syre Sydrake,
And shewe hym that all the world dothe conjecte,
How the maters he mellis in com to small effecte;
For he wantythe of hys wyttes that all wold rule alone;
Hyt is no lytyll bordon to bere a grete mylle stone:
To bryng all the see into a cheryston pytte,
To nombyr all the sterrys in the fyrmament,
To rule ix realmes by one mannes wytte,
To suche thynges ympossybyll reason cannot consente:
Muche money, men sey, there madly he hathe spente:
Parrot, ye may prate thys undyr protestacion,
Was nevyr suche a senatour syn Crystes incarnacion.
Wherfor he may now come agayne as he wente,
Non sine postica sanna, as I trowe,
From Calys to Dovyr, to Caunterbury in Kente,
To make reconyng in the resseyte how Robyn loste hys bowe,
To sowe corne in the see sande, ther wyll no crope growe.
Thow ye be tauntyd, Parotte, with tonges attayntyd,
Yet your problemes ar preignaunte, and with loyalte acquayntyd.
Monostichon
I, properans, Parrotte, malas sic corripe linguas. Merda! puros mall desires! Portigues. 15 kalendis Decembris 34.
Distichon miserabile.
Altior, heu, cedro, crudelior, heu, leopardo!
Heu, vitulus bubali fit dominus Priami!
Tetrastichon,
– Unde species Priami est digna imperio.
Non annis licet et Priamus sed honore voceris:
Dum foveas vitulum, rex, regeris, Britonum;
Rex, regeris, non ipse regis: rex inclyte, calle;
Subde tibi vitulum, ne fatuet nimium.
God amend all,
That all amend may!
Amen, quod Parott,
The royall popagay.
Kalendis Decembris,
34.
Lenvoy royall
Go, propyr Parrote, my popagay,
That lordes and ladies thys pamflett may behold,
With notable clerkes: supply to them, I pray,
Your rudenes to pardon, and also that they wolde
Vouchesafe to defend yow agayne the brawlyng scolde,
Callyd Detraxion, encankryd with envye,
Whose tong ys attayntyd with slaundrys obliqui.
For trowthe in parabyll ye wantonlye pronounce,
Langagys divers, yet undyr that dothe reste
Maters more precious then the ryche jacounce,
Diamounde, or rubye, or balas of the beste,
Or eyndye sapher with oryente perlys dreste:
Wherfor your remorders ar madde, or else starke blynde,
Yow to remorde erste or they know your mynde.
Distichon.
I, volitans, Parrote, tuam moderare Minervam:
Vix tua percipient, qui tua teque legent.
Hyperbaton.
Psittacus hi notus seu Persius est, puto, notus,
Nec, reor, est nec erit, licet est erit undique notus.
Maledite soyte bouche malheurewse!
34.
Laucture de Parrot.
O my Parrot, O unice dilecte, votorum meorum omnis lapis, lapis pretiosus operimentum tuum!
PARROT
Sicut Aaron populamque,
sic bubali vitulus,
sic bubali vitulus,
sic bubali vitulus.
Thus myche Parrot hathe opynlye expreste;
Let se who dare make up the reste.
Le Popagay sen va complayndre
Helas! I lamente the dull abusyd brayne,
The enfatuate fantasies, the wytles wylfulnes
Of on and hothyr at me that have dysdayne:
Som sey, they cannot my parables expresse;
Som sey, I rayle att ryott recheles;
Some say but lityll, and thynke more in there thowghte,
How thys prosses I prate of, hyt ys not all for nowghte.
O causeles cowardes, O hartles hardynes!
O manles manhod, enfayntyd all with fere!
O connyng clergye, where ys your redynes
To practise or postyll thys prosses here and there?
For drede ye darre not medyll with suche gere,
Or elles ye pynche curtesy, trulye as I trowe,
Whyche of yow fyrste dare boldlye plucke the crowe.
The skye is clowdy, the coste is nothyng clere;
Tytan hathe truste up hys tressys of fyne golde;
Jupyter for Saturne darre make no royall chere;
Lyacon lawghyth there att, and berythe hym more bolde;
Racell, rulye ragged, she is like to cache colde;
Moloc, that mawmett, there darre no man withsay;
The reste of suche reconyng may make a fowle fraye.
Dixit, quod Parrot, the royall popagay.
Cest chose maleheureuse,
Que mall bouche.
PARROTTE
Jupiter ut nitido deus est veneratus Olympo;
Hic coliturque deus.
Sunt data thura Jovi, rutilo solio residenti;
Cum Jove thura capit.
Jupiter astrorum rector dominusque polorum;
Anglica sceptra regit.
GALATHEA
I compas the conveyaunce unto the capitall
Of ower clerke Cleros. Whythyr, thydyr, and why not hethyr?
For passe a Pase apase ys gon to cache a molle,
Over Scarpary mala vi, Monsyre Cy a sliddyr.
Whate sequele shall folow when pendugims mete togethyr?
Speke, Parrote, my swete byrde, and ye shal have a date,
Of frantycknes and folysshnes whyche ys the grett state?
Parrote.
Difficille hit ys to ansswere thys demaunde;
Yet, aftyr the sagacite of a popagay,
Frantiknes dothe rule and all thyng commaunde;
Wylfulnes and Braynles now rule all the raye.
Agayne Frentike Frenesy there dar no man sey nay,
For Frantiknes, and Wylfulnes, and Braynles ensembyll,
The nebbis of a lyon they make to trete and trembyll;
To jumbyll, to stombyll, to tumbyll down lyke folys,
To lowre, to droupe, to knele, to stowpe, and to play cowche quale,
To fysshe afore the nette, and to drawe polys;
He maketh them to bere babylles, and to bere a lowe sayle;
He caryeth a kyng in hys sleve, yf all the worlde fayle;
He facithe owte at a fflusshe, with, “shewe, take all!”
Of Pope Julius cardys he ys chefe cardynall.
He tryhumfythe, he trumpythe, he turnythe all up and downe,
With, ‘Skyregalyard, prowde palyard, vaunteperler, ye prate!
Hys wolvys hede, wanne, bloo as lede, gapythe over the crowne:
Hyt ys to fere leste he wolde were the garland on hys pate,
Peregall with all prynces farre passyng hys estate;
For of ower regente the regiment he hathe, ex qua vi,
Patet per versus, quod ex vi bolte harvi.
Now, Galathea, lett Parrot, I pray yow, have hys date –
Yett dates now are deynte, and wax verye scante,
For grocers were grugyd at and groynyd at but late;
Grete reysons with resons be now reprobitante,
For reysons are no resons, but resons currant –
Ryn God, rynne Devyll! Yet the date of Ower Lord
And the date of the Devyll dothe sherewlye accord.
Dixit, quod Parrott, the popagay royall.
GALATHEA
Nowe, Parrot, my swete byrde, speke owte yet ons agayne,
Sette asyde all sophysms, and speke now trey and playne.
PAROTTE
So many morall maters, and so lytell usyd;
So myche newe makyng, and so madd tyme spente;
So myche translacion in to Englyshe confused;
So myche nobyll prechyng, and so lytell amendment;
So myche consultacion, almoste to none entente;
So myche provision, and so lytell wytte at nede –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde there can no clerkes rede.
So lytyll dyscressyon, and so myche reasonyng;
So myche hardy dardy, ad so lytyll manlynes;
So prodigall expence and so shamfull reconyng;
So gorgyous garmentes, and so myche wrechydnesse;
So muche portlye pride, with pursys penyles;
So myche spente before, and so myche unayd behynde –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde there can no clerkes fynde.
So myche forcastyng, and so farre an after dele;
So myche poletyke pratyng, and so lytyll stondythe in stede;
So lytell secretnese, and so myche grete councell;
So manye bolde barons there hertes as dull as lede;
So many nobyll bodyes undyr on dawys hede;
So royall a kyng as reynythe uppon us all –
Syns Dewcalions flodde was nevyr sene nor shall.
So many complayntes, and so smalle redresse;
So myche callyng on, and so smalle takyng hede;
So myche losse of merchaundyse, and so remedyles;
So lytell care for the comyn weall, and so myche nede;
So myche dowghtfull daunger, and so lytell drede;
So myche pride of prelattes, so cruell and so kene –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde, I trowe, was nevyr sene.
So many thevys hangyd, and thevys never the lesse;
So myche prisonment, for matyrs not worthe an hawe;
So myche papers weryng for ryghte a smalle exesse;
So myche pelory pajauntes undyr colower of good lawe;
So myche towrnyng on the cooke stole for every guygaw;
So myche mokkyshe makyng of statutes of array –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde was never, I dar sey.
So braynles calvys hedes, so many shepis taylys;
So bolde a braggyng bocher, and flesshe sold so dere;
So many plucte partryches, and so fatte quaylles;
So mangye a mastyfe curre, the grete grey houndes pere;
So bygge a bulke of brow auntlers cabagyd that yere;
So many swannes dede, and so small revell –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde, I trow, no man can tel.
So many trusys takyn, and so lytyll perfyte trowthe;
So myche bely joye, and so wastefull banketyng;
So pynchyng and sparyng, and so lytell profyte growthe;
So many howgye howsys byldyng, and so small howse-holding;
Suche statutes apon diettes, suche pyllyng and pollyng;
So ys all thyng wroghte wylfully withowte reson and skylle;-
Syns Dewcalyons flodde the world was never so yll.
So many vacabondes, so many beggers bolde;
So myche decay of monesteries and of relygious places;
So hote hatered agayste the Chyrche, and cheryte so colde;
So myche of my lordes grace, and in hym no grace ys;
So many holow hartes, and so dowbyll faces;
So myche sayntuary brekyng, and prevylegidde barryd –
Syns Dewcalyons flodde was nevyr sene lor lyerd.
So myche raggyd ryghte of a rammes horne;
So rygorous revelyng, in a prelate specially;
So bold and so braggyng, and was so baselye borne;
So lordlye of hys lokes and so dysdayneslye;
So fatte a magott, bred of a flesshe flye;
Was nevyr suche a fylty gorgon, nor suche an epycure,
Syns Dewcalyons flodde, I make the faste and sure.
So myche prevye wachyng in cold wynters nyghtes;
So myche serchyng of loselles, and ys hymselfe so lewde;
So myche conjuracions for elvyshe myday sprettes;
So many bullys of pardon puplysshyd and shewyd;
So myche crossyng and blyssyng, and hym all beshrewde;
Suche pollaxis and pyllers, suche mulys trapte with gold –
Sens Dewcalyons flodde, in no cronycle ys told.
Dixit, quod Parrot.
Crescet in immensum me vivo Psittacus iste;
Hinc mea dicetur Skeltonidis inclyta fama.
Quod Skelton Lawryat,
Orator Regius.
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