“Be strong of heart, and void anon her place; And thilkë dower that ye brought to me, Take it again, I grant it of my grace. Returnë to your father’s house,” quoth he; “No man may always have prosperity; With even heart I rede you to endure The stroke of fortune or of áventúre.”
And she again answér’d in patience: “My Lord,” quoth she, “I know, and knew alway, How that betwixtë your magnificence And my povert’ no wight nor can nor may Make comparison, it is no nay; I held me never digne in no mannére To be your wife, nor yet your chamberére.
“And in this house, where ye me lady made, (The highë God take I for my witness, And all so wisly he my soulë glade), I never held me lady nor mistress, But humble servant to your worthiness, And ever shall, while that my life may dure, Aboven every worldly creatúre.
“That ye so long, of your benignity, Have holden me in honour and nobley, Where as I was not worthy for to be, That thank I God and you, to whom I pray Foryield it you; there is no more to say: Unto my father gladly will I wend, And with him dwell, unto my lifë’s end,
“Where I was foster’d as a child full small, Till I be dead my life there will I lead, A widow clean in body, heart, and all. For since I gave to you my maidenhead, And am your truë wife, it is no dread, God shieldë such a lordë’s wife to take Another man to husband or to make.
“And of your newë wife, God of his grace So grant you weal and all prosperity: For I will gladly yield to her my place, In which that I was blissful wont to be. For since it liketh you, my Lord,” quoth she, “That whilom weren all mine heartë’s rest, That I shall go, I will go when you lest.
“But whereas ye me proffer such dowaire As I first brought, it is well in my mind, It was my wretched clothës, nothing fair, The which to me were hard now for to find. O goodë God! how gentle and how kind Ye