Classic Poem

In winsor fforrest I did slay
a bore of passing might & strenght,
whose like in England neu er was
for hugnesse, both for breadth & lenght;

some of his bones in warwicke yett
w i thin the Castle there doth Lye;
one of his sheeld bones to this day
doth hang in the Citye of Couentrye.

on Dunsmore heath I alsoe slewe
a mightye wyld & cruell beast
calld the Duncow of Dunsmore heath,
w hi ch many people had opprest;

some of her bones in warwicke yett
there for a monument doth lye,
w hi ch vnto euery lookers veue
as wonderous strange they may espye

another dragon in this Land
in fight I alsoe did destroye,
who did bothe men & beasts opresse,
& all the countrye sore anoye;

& then to warwicke came againe
like Pilgrim poore, & was not knowen;
& there I liued a Hermitts liffe
a mile & more out of the towne;

where w i th my hands I hewed a house
out of a craggy rocke of stone,
& liued like a palmer poore
w i thin the caue my selfe alone;

& daylye came to begg my foode
of Phillis att my castle gate,
not knowing to my loued wiffe,
who daylye moned for her mate;

till att the last I fell soe sicke,
yea, sicke soe sore tha t I must dye
I sent to her a ring of gold
by w hi ch shee knew me p re sentlye;

then shee, repairing to the graue,
befor tha t I gaue vp the ghost
shee closed vp my dying eyes,
my Phillis faire, whom I loued most

thus dreadfull death did me arrest,
to bring my corpes vnto the graue;
& like a palmer dyed I,
wherby I sought my soule to saue

tho now it be consumed to mold,
my body tha t endured this toyle,
my stature ingrauen in Mold
this p re sent time you may behold.