Two Unfortunate LOVERS:
Or, A Relation of the lamentable End of John True and Susan Mease.
Their Lives this Ditty doth relate,
And how she dy'd unfortunte
To the Tune of, The Bride's Burial, etc.
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ATtend you Lovers and give ear,
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unto my mournful Song,
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Of two that loved faithfully,
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yet did each other wrong:
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At Coventry in Warwickshire,
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this young Man he did dwell,
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His name John True, a Shoomaker,
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and liv'd of it full well.
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At Corly did this Maiden dwell,
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three miles from Coventry,
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Yet for the love he bore to her,
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he would her often see:
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And coming to her on a day,
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he told to her his mind,
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Susan, quoth he, I love thee dear,
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be not to me unkind.
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If thou canst love and fancy me,
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in heart and eke in mind,
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I will prove loving unto thee,
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be not to me unkind.
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Thy chearful looks rejoyce my heart,
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and merry make my mind;
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Sweet Susan then love me again,
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be not to me unkind.
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Good John, I thank you for your love
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and wish you at home to tarry,
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I am too young for you to wed,
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and have no mind to marry.
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Where you do dwell are maidenstore
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of beauty fair and free,
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Set not thy love upon me then,
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for I cannot love thee.
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This answer struck him to the heart
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as cold as any stone,
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Then homewards strait he did return
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with many a sigh and groan:
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Wishing that he had ne'r been born,
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or in his cradle dy'd;
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Unhappy Man to love so true,
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and yet to be deny'd:
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Quoth he, I will to her again,
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and hear what she doth say,
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It may be she may be more kind,
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though first she said me nay;
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Then coming to the town again,
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he sent for her straitway,
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Desiring her to speak with him,
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but still she said him nay.
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Then did he sigh, lament, and grieve,
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and knew not what to say,
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Then did he take his pen in hand,
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and writ these words straitway:
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My Heart's Delight and only Joy,
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kill me not with disdain,
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Vouchsafe that I may speak with thee,
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to rid me out of pain:
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Resolve me, Sweetest, I thee pray,
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why is thy hatred such?
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I know no cause, unless it be
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for loving thee too much:
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As is my name, true is my love,
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sweet Susan, unto thee;
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True is my name, true is my love,
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and ever so shall be.
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My love is loyal, just, and good,
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kill me not with disdain,
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Rather do me the courtesie,
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to love for love again.
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When she had read and understood
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his mind and his intent,
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She then began to like and love,
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and yield him heart's content.
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John, I am thine, if thou be'st mine,
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forever and for aye,
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It was to try thy constancy,
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that I did say thee nay.
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But here's my hand, my heart and love
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i'll ne'r thee more deny;
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My love is constant, firm and true,
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and shall be till I dye.
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Then they imbrac'd each others love,
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and joyn'd in heart and voice,
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That she of him; and he of her
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had made so sweet a choice.
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But Fortune that doth often frown,
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where she before did smile,
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The Man's delight, the Maiden's joy
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full soon she did beguile:
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When she was setled in her love,
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then he would change his mind,
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And for to try her constancy,
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would be to her unkind:
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And thus resolved in his mind,
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he'd come to her no more,
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But went and wooed another Maid,
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which griev'd her heart full sore.
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Quoth he, She proved unto me
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hard-hearted and unkind;
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But now her true love I have won,
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i'll bear the selfsame mind.
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When she perceived his love to her
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not as 'twas wont to be,
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She did lament, sigh, weep and grieve,
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and then these words said she:
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False-hearted wretch adieu, quoth she,
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disloyal and unkind,
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And if I dye for love of thee,
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thou shalt not know my mind.
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Woe to the time I did believe
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that flattering tongue of thine,
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Would God that I had never seen
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the tears of thy false eyn.
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Hard hap had I to set my love
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on one that mocked me,
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Sure all the country did not yield
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a Man so false as he.
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Thus was she brought to mean estate,
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all comfort from her fled,
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She did desire to speak with him,
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before that she was dead.
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Her friends did seek to chear her up,
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and to make glad her mind,
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But she was kill'd with loving him,
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who prov'd to her unkind:
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False-hearted Man, may never Maid
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love thee as I have done,
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But may my death remembred be,
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to time that is to come.
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But may all Maids example take
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by this my mournful death,
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And now, O Lord, receive my soul,
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to thee I yield my breath.
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Thus dy'd the Pattern of true love,
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thus dy'd a vertuous Maid,
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Thus dy'd as good a harmless Lass
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as ever love betray'd.
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Six Maids in white, as custom is
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did bear her to the grave;
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Her Parents grieve, lament and mourn
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no child at all they have.
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Whenas her Lover understood,
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for truth that she was dead,
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He rag'd, and ready was to tare
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the hair from off his head:
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But when he came unto the place
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where his true Lover lay,
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He straightway ran unto the grave,
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and there these words did say:
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Susan, quoth he, I'll kiss thy grave,
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upon my bended knee,
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Whereby I'll shew to all the World,
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how dear I loved thee.
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And as he lay upon the ground,
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he heard a voice to say,
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John True, if e'r thou lov'dst me dear,
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make hast and come away.
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Then started he up from the grave,
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and stood like one struck dumb,
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And when he had regain'd his speech,
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he said, I come, I come.
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And thus like one out of his wits,
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he rag'd in pitious sort,
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That all the Neighbours presently
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were griev'd at his report.
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And thus with sorrow & grief of heart
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he lay a whole fortnight,
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And when he had confest his fault,
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he yield up his spirit.
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According to his heart's desire,
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and as he did request,
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They dig'd his grave, and laid him down
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by her whom he lov'd best.
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You young men all that have true loves
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be sure unto your friend,
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And if you love, be sure your love
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be true unto the end.
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And thus I end my story true,
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so full of grief and woe;
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May never any seek again
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to wrong each other so.
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