Page 98 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

Thou mayst e’en keep thy garlands fair,
I want them not to deck my hair.‘

‘Now, by my faith,’ cried Little John, ‘that same is a right
good song, and hath truth in it, also.’
‘Glad am I thou likest it, sweet lad,’ said the Cook. ‘Now
sing thou one also, for ne’er should a man be merry alone,
or sing and list not.’
‘Then I will sing thee a song of a right good knight of
Arthur’s court, and how he cured his heart’s wound without
running upon the dart again, as did thy Phillis; for I wot
she did but cure one smart by giving herself another. So, list
thou while I sing:

THE GOOD KNIGHT AND HIS LOVE

‘When Arthur, King, did rule this land,
A goodly king was he,
And had he of stout knights a band
Of merry company.

‘Among them all, both great and small,
A good stout knight was there,
A lusty childe, and eke a tall,
That loved a lady fair.

‘But nought would she to do with he,
But turned her face away;
So gat he gone to far countrye,