The Spanish LADY's Love.
To a pleasant new Tune,
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WIll you hear a Spanish Lady,
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how she woo'd an English Man,
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Garments gay as rich as may be,
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bedeckt with jewels had she on;
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Of a comely countenance
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and grace was she;
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Both by birth and parentage
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of high degree.
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As his prisoner there he kept her,
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in his hands her life did lye;
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Cupids bands did tye them faster
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by the liking of an eye:
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In his courteous company
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was all her joy;
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To favour him in anything
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she was not coy.
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But at last there came commandment
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for to set all Ladies free,
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With their jewels still adorned,
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none to do them injury.
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O then said this Lady gay,
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Full woe is me;
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O let me still sustain this kind
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captivity.
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Gallant Captain, take some pitty
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on a woman in distress;
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Leave me not within this city,
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for to dye in heaviness;
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Thou hast set this present day
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my body free,
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But my heart in prison still
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remains with thee.
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How shouldst thou, fair Lady, love
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whom thou know'st thy Country?
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Thy fair words make me suspect thee,
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serpents lye where flowers grow.
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All the harm I think on thee,
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most courteou[s] Knight,
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God grant upon my head the same
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may fully light.
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Blessed be the time and season
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that thou came on Spanish ground;
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If you may our foes be termed,
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gentle foes we have you found:
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With our City you have won
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our hearts each one,
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Then to your Country bear away
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that is your own.
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Rest you still, most gallant Lady,
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rest you still and weep no more,
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Of fair flowers you have plenty,
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Spain doth yield you wondrous store.
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Spaniards fraught with jealousie
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we oft do find,
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But English Men throughout the world
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are counted kind.
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Leave me not unto a Spaniard,
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thou alone enjoy'st my heart,
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I am lovely, young and tender,
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love is likewise my desart:
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Still to save thee day and night,
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my mind is prest;
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The wife of every English Man
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is counted blest.
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It would be a shame fair Lady,
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for to bear a woman hence,
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English souldiers never carry
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any such without offence.
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I will quickly change myself,
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if it be so,
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And like a page will follow thee
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where e'er thou go.
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I have neither gold nor silver
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to maintain thee in this case,
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And to travel is great charges,
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as you know in every place.
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My chains and jewels every one
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shall be thy own,
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And eke a hundred pound in gold,
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that lies unknown.
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On the seas are many dangers,
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many storms do there arise,
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Which will be to Ladies dreadful,
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and force tears from watry eyes.
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Well in worth I shall endure
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extreamly,
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For I could find in heart to lose
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my life for thee.
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Courteous Lady, leave this folly,
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here comes all that breeds the strife,
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I in England have already
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a sweet woman to my wife;
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I will not falsifie my vow
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for gold nor gain,
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Nor yet for all the fairest Dames
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that live in Spain.
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O how happy is that woman
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that enjoys so true a friend,
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Many happy days God send her,
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and of my suit i'll make an end:
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On my knees I pardon crave
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for my offence,
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Which love and true affection
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did first commence:
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Commend me to that gallant Lady,
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bear to her this chain of gold,
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With these bracelets for a token,
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grieving that I was so bold;
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All my jewels in like sort
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take thou with thee,
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For they are fitting for thy wife,
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but not for me.
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I will spend my days in prayer,
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love and all her laws defie,
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In a Nunnery I will shrew'd me,
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far from any company:
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But e'er my prayer have an end,
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be sure of this,
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To pray for thee and for thy love,
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I will not miss.
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Thus farewel most gallant Captain,
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farewel to my heart's content;
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Count not Spanish Ladies wanton,
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though to thee my mind was bent:
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Joy and true prosperity
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remain with thee.
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The like fall unto thy share,
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most fair Lady.
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