Page 405

Thomas Percy. (1729–1811) (continued)

4379

The blinded boy that shootes so trim,
From heaven downe did hie. 1

King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid.

4380

“What is thy name, faire maid?” quoth he.
“Penelophon, O King!” quoth she. 2

King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid.

4381

    And how should I know your true love
  From many another one?
Oh, by his cockle hat and staff,
  And by his sandal shoone.

The Friar of Orders Gray.

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    O Lady, he is dead and gone!
  Lady, he ’s dead and gone!
And at his head a green grass turfe,
  And at his heels a stone. 3

The Friar of Orders Gray.

4383

    Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more!
  Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
  To one thing constant never. 4

The Friar of Orders Gray.

4384

    Weep no more, lady, weep no more,
  Thy sorrowe is in vaine;
For violets pluckt, the sweetest showers
  Will ne’er make grow againe. 5

The Friar of Orders Gray.

4385

He that would not when he might,
He shall not when he wolda. 6

The Friar of Orders Gray.

Note 1.
Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim,
When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid!
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, act ii. sc. 1. [back]

Note 2.
Shakespeare, who alludes to this ballad in “Love’s Labour ’s Lost,” act iv. sc. 1, gives the beggar’s name Zenelophon. The story of the king and the beggar is also alluded to in “King Richard II.,” act v. sc. 3. [back]

Note 3.
Quoted in “Hamlet,” act iv. sc. 3. [back]

Note 4.
See Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, Quotation 17. [back]

Note 5.
See John Fletcher, Quotation 4. [back]

Note 6.
See Heywood, Quotation 9.

He that will not when he may,
When he would, he should have nay.
Cervantes: Don Quixote, part i. book iii. chap. iv. [back]

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