WHY were ye Calliope embrawdered with letters
of golde ? *

SKELTON LAUREATE, ORATO. REG. MAKETH THIS
AUNSWERE, &c.

  CALLIOPE,
As ye may se,
Regent is she
    Of poetes al,
Whiche gaue to me
The high degre
Laureat to be
    Of fame royall ;
Whose name enrolde
With silke and golde
I dare be bolde
    Thus for to were.
Of her I holde
And her householde ;
Though I waxe olde
    And somdele sere,
Yet is she fayne,
Voyde of disdayn,
Me to retayn
    Her seruiture :
With her certayne
I wyll remayne
As my souerayne
    Moost of pleasure,
Maulqre touz malheureux.

* These pieces on Calliope from Marshe's ed. of Skelton's
Workes, 1568.



Source:
Skelton, John. The Poetical Works of John Skelton. Vol. I.
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1866. 219-220.


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