And by the wall she caught a staff anon.
She saw a little shimmering of a light,
For at an hole in shone the moon all bright,
And by that gleam she saw the struggling two,
But knew not, as for certain, who was who,
Save that she saw a white thing in her eye.
And when that she this white thing 'gan espy,
She thought that Allen did a night-cap wear,
And with the staff she drew near, and more near,
And, thinking 'twas the clerk, she smote at full
Disdainful Simkin on his bald ape's skull.
Down goes the Miller, crying' Harow, I die!'
These clerks they beat him well, and let him lie.
They make them ready, and take their horse anon,
And eke their meal, and on their way are gone;
And from behind the mill-door took their cake,
Of half a bushel of flour-a right good bake.

THE

FLOWER AND THE LEAF;

MODERNIZED

BY THOMAS POWELL.

M

THE ARGUMENT.

A GENTLEWOMAN, out of an arbour, in a grove, seeth a great company of knights and ladies in a dance upon the green grass; the which being ended, they all kneel down, and do honour to the Daisy, some to the Flower, and some to the Leaf. Afterward, this Gentlewoman learneth, by one of these Ladies, the meaning thereof, which is this :-They which honour the Flower, a thing fading with every blast, are such as look after beauty and worldly pleasures; but they that honour the Leaf, which abideth with the root, notwithstanding the frost and winter storms, are they which follow virtue and enduring qualities without regard of worldly prospects.

THE

FLOWER AND THE LEAF.

1.

WHEN Phoebus bright his chair of gold so high Had whirled up the starry sky aloft,

And in the Bull was entered certainly;

When sweetest showers of rain descending soft, Had caused the ground full many a time and oft To breathe around a fresh and wholesome air, And every dewy plain was clothed fair

2.

With newest green; and bright and little flowers
Sprung here and there in every field and mead;
So very good and wholesome be the showers,
That they renew whate'er was old or dead
In winter time, and out of every seed
Bursteth the herb, so that each living wight
In this fresh season waxeth glad and light;