The Poetical Works of John Skelton (Vol. 1&2). John Skelton
wot well all I was of no great yeld:
This[178] al thing concluded shalbe at the last,
When death approchyth, then lost is the felde:
Then sythen this world me no longer vphelde,
Nor nought[179] would conserue me here in my place, 90
In manus tuas, Domine, my spirite vp I yelde,
Humbly[180] beseching thé, God, of thy[181] grace!
O ye curtes commyns, your hertis vnbrace
Benyngly now to pray for me also;
For ryght wel you know your kyng I was,
Et, ecce, nunc in pulvere dormio!
[155] Of the death, &c.] From the ed. by Kynge and Marche of Certaine bokes compyled by Mayster Skelton, n. d.—collated with the same work, ed. Day, n. d., and ed. Lant, n. d.; with Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s Workes, 1568; occasionally with the Mirrour for Magistrates, 1587 (in the earlier eds. of which the poem was incorporated), and with a contemporary MS. in the possession of Miss Richardson Currer, which last has furnished a stanza hitherto unprinted.
[156] This world, &c.] MS.:
“For the world hathe conformid me to fall.”
[157] may] MS. “myzt.”
[158] Now there, &c.] MS.:
“Now is ther no helpe but pray for my sovle.”
[159] twenty-two] So MS. and Mir. for Mag. Eds. “xxiii.;” see notes.
[160] it] So other eds. Ed. of Kynge and Marche, “hit.”
[161] That] So MS. Eds. “As.”
[162] the erth] MS. “dethe.”
[163] himselfe assure] So Mir. for Mag. Eds. and MS., “be sure.”
[164] What is it, &c.] MS.:
“What ys it to trust the mutabylyte
Of this world whan no thyng may endure.”
[165] cheryfayre] MS. “cheyfeyre.”
[166] I se wyll, &c.] This stanza only found in MS.
[167] This] See notes.
[168] lyst] MS. “lust”—against the rhyme.
[169] chest] MS. “chestys”—against the rhyme.
[170] euer to incroche] Eds. of Day, and Marshe, “ouer to,” &c. MS. gives this line and the next thus:
“And more to encrese was myne entent
And not beynge ware who shuld it ocupye.”
[171] full] So Mir. for Mag. Not in eds. or MS.
[172] Wyndsore, Eltam, &c.] This line and the next given thus in MS.:
“Wynsore and eton and many oder mo
As Westmynster Eltham and sone went I from all.”
And so, with slight variation, in Nash’s Quaternio: see notes.
[173] my] So Mir. for Mag. Not in eds. or MS.
[174] wandred] Mir. for Mag. “wythered.”
[175] For I, &c.] MS.:
“Now are we departid [i.e. parted] onto domys day.”
[176] Seyth a man is but, &c.] Day’s ed. “Seeth a man is nothing but,” &c. Marshe’s ed. “Sythe a man is nothing but,” &c. Mir. for Mag. “Saying a man is but,” &c. MS. “Seinge a man ys a sak of sterqueryte.”
[177] Were not] So Lant’s ed. and Mir. for Mag. Ed. of Kynge and Marche, “Where no.” Eds. of Day, and Marshe, “Wher no.” MS. “Was not.”
[178] This] Mir. for Mag. “Thus;” but see note.
[179] Nor nought, &c.] Mir. for Mag.:
“For nought would conserue mee here in this place.”
MS.:
“Ne nougt wold concerue me my place.”
[180] Humbly] So other eds. Kynge and Marche’s ed. “Humble.”
[181] thy] Other eds. “his.”
POETA SKELTON[182] LAUREATUS LIBELLUM SUUM METRICE ALLOQUITUR.
Ad dominum properato meum, mea pagina, Percy,
Qui Northumbrorum jura paterna gerit;