“And though your greenë youthë flow’r as yet, In creepeth age always as still as stone, And death menaceth every age, and smit 2449 In each estate, for there escapeth none: And all so certain as we know each one That we shall die, as uncertáin we all Be of that day when death shall on us fall.

“Acceptë then of us the true intent, 2450 That never yet refused yourë hest, 2451 And we will, Lord, if that ye will assent, Choose you a wife, in short time at the lest, 2452 Born of the gentilest and of the best Of all this land, so that it ought to seem Honour to God and you, as we can deem.